Since moving into Year 6 I have been determined to give the children plenty of opportunities for creativity. This has always been high on the agenda, but with new curriculum and assessments it has become even more important.
These are some of the most successful activities I have carried out so far this year.
Please try them out and feedback. I will endeavour to take photos next time so that I can include them. We were too carried away with what we were doing to remember to take photos!
1) The circulatory system.
I did this with my whole class as I am lucky to have a very small group of 20. With a larger class I would split it as follows:
2 children- lungs. Holding a container with red counters (or similar)
2 children heart- could make a 'bridge'
2 children- body. Holding a container with blue counters (or similar)
Rest of group- blood cells, start off at body with blue counters.
Children process round the body, through the heart, to the lungs where the counter is swapped to show the exchange of gases, back to the heart, round the body where the blood becomes de- oxygenated, back to the heart and so on.
Could have a couple of children beating out a rhythm on drums, or play a suitable tune to keep in time too (I especially like Mr Parr's heart song which you can find here or for lots of others click here )
2) Pollination
Again this can be done with the whole class or groups. No fancy equipment needed, just some space.
Some children- flowers- they need yellow counters/stickers etc. to act as pollen
Fewer children- bees/butterflies (or bats if you have been looking at a range of pollinators!)
Pollinators move from flower to flower, collecting and depositing the 'pollen' as they travel. This demonstrates how pollination occurs.
3) Electrical circuits
All you need is a group of children and a piece of thick cord long enough for everyone to hold when it is in a loop.
The loop is held gently by all (health and safety not to grip too tight to avoid burns)
One (or more) act as the cell and gently pull the cord to demonstrate the flow of electrons in a circuit. The more cells, the more energy . The fewer cells, the lesser the amount of energy.
The others can demonstrate resistance by holding onto the cord more tightly; this makes it harder to move the cord round the circle. If the cord is cut, the circuit is broken and the energy cannot flow all the way around.
4) Not so much drama as freeze framing . Light
Groups of children use string/wool to show the path of light from source to eye . For example one child acts as light source, string goes to object (child two) and then to observer (child 3) . This can help to show how light travels in one continuous line that is reflected from the object to the eye.
Other groups can then narrate the path of the light.
