Martial Arts

Two weeks ago we started Martial Arts. The first week we did punching and jumping. We were practising our 'jabbing' with a partner using pads. We were given instructions such as 'right, right, left or right, right, right, left, left. The second week we did kicking so we had to grab hold of the wall and kick onto a paddle that our partner held up.

Here are some pictures:

Play leaders

For the last two weeks, year 5&6 have been training to become play leaders. A play leader is someone who leads games for the younger ones. We have been working in groups of three. We started this project so that the younger pupils in the school had a choice of games to play at lunch time. For the first session we drew a spider diagram and came up with ideas of games. Our next session, we practised our games on Reception children. We personally thought they enjoyed it - they played 'Shark Attack', 'Chicken or Hero' and 'Pac-man'. These games worked just as well for years 1&2 but we also tried others with them which were, 'Dishes and Domes', 'What's the time Mr Wolf' and 'Hide and Seek'. This week we will have our last training session before we find out if we have qualified as a 'Play Leader'. Miss Williams and Mrs Comer have been assessing our skills throughout the sessions.

Making biscuits

Last Tuesday we were given the task from Miss Williams to see what ingredients would work well to make biscuits. There were two groups but we split off into 4 to make different kinds of biscuits such as milk chocolate, white chocolate, raisins and white chocolate and raisins. We milked 4oz of butter, 2oz of sugar, 2 teaspoons of water, 6oz of plain flour. After that we rolled out our mixture to a thickness of around 5mm and floured work surface and we cut them into various shapes. Two groups decided to cover their chocolate with more of the mixture and the other two groups mixed their chocolate/raisins in with their mixture.
Once we had cooked them, we evaluated them against their appearance, texture and taste.

Space assembly

This morning we had a visitor in school called Robin Mobbs. He came to talk to us all about Space. The first thing he showed us was a real size rocket that was laying down by our school (obviously we didn't go outside and he didn't bring a real rocket!) he showed us on Google Earth.

Max took part in one of the experiments this morning, firstly he had to dress up as Galileo and then drop two tennis balls at the same time from the same height. They both hit the floor at the same time, but Max didn't tell us that one was heavier than the other. We assumed tat something heavier would fall quicker than the lighter object, but this was not the case.

Helen Sharman was in fact the first British person to go into Space, not Tim Peake. Michael Foal and a number of others have also been into Space, but because their parents are not both British they were not classed as British astronauts.

Astronauts practice Space walking in a huge swimming pool. To practice what it is like in zero gravity conditions,they go into an aeroplane called the 'Vomit Comet' because it tends to make you sick.

When a launch takes place you have to stand at least you have to stand at least 5 miles away, any closer and you will be killed from the flames or by the sound alone as it is so loud.

Ben got the chance to dress up as an astronaut - unfortunately not in a real Spacesuit as they cost a LOT of money - so Ben's Spacesuit was made from a white bin liner! He had lots of tubing stuffed under his top as this would be used to change the temperature - it can pump hot or cold water through the pipes depending on the temperature.

Ben wore airtight bags on his arms and legs to complete the Spacesuit. The difference in pressure inside and outside of his suits means that it is difficult to bend his arms and legs - he found it incredibly hard work. Astronauts have a similar problem with their gloves too, meaning that it is just as difficult to bend their fingers. To help him move, Ben was giving skateboards to put under his feet to represent how it would feel to walk in Space.