Engaging Minds, Inspiring Science: Braeside Thika's Approach to Learning

Through the course of the academic year, the Year 3 learners in Braeside Thika thoroughly enjoyed learning about many science-related topics. They were able to extend their scientific perspective on their surroundings thanks to the topics discussed. They achieved this by learning about everyday occurrences, the interactions between living organisms and well-known settings, and testing as well as formulating theories about these topics. They were keen to ask their own questions about what they observed and made some decisions about which types of scientific enquiry likely to be the best ways of answering them, including observing changes over time, noticing patterns, and grouping as well as classifying things. They took pleasure in conducting basic comparisons and fair tests as well as acquiring information from secondary sources. They were keen to draw simple conclusions, use scientific terms in their discussions, and record their findings in writing.

One of the topics covered was forces and magnets. Children were eager to compare how things move on different surfaces by engaging in activities and manipulating the different resources available to them. They also noticed that forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance. They carried out an experiment where they observed how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials but not others. They were happy to know that materials attracted by the magnet are known as "magnets," and those repelled are non-magnetic materials. In the same enquiry, they compared and grouped a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they were attracted to a magnet and identified some magnetic materials. They were excited to learn that magnets are made of metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt. They were eager to describe magnets as having two poles, namely north and south. Using magnets, they were curious to predict whether two magnets would attract or repel each other, depending on which poles were facing. They were able to retain the rule that like poles repel and unlike poles attract. 

The children enjoyed their educational trip to Gravity amusement park, which brought the topic of different forces to life. They engaged in learning with fun through various games that involved different forces. They also carried out some experiments on different types of forces. The trip was a fantastic cross-curricular one that enabled the children to incorporate various knowledge and skills. On the way to the park, the children had a look at land use within and bordering Thika. On arrival, they were presented a lesson on forces by a facilitator at the park, and after that, they had an experience with the effect of gravity in the Gravitron. After the gravitron experience, the children had fun playing a variety of games within the park that involved different forces.