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RAK Academy Science Week: Monday 17th March - Friday 21st March 2025

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RAK Academy Science Week: Monday 17th March - Friday 21st March 2025

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We are excited to celebrate Science Week at RAK Academy Al Hamra (Monday 17th March - Friday 21st March 2025).

This year’s theme is ‘Change and Adapt’, encouraging children to explore how the world is evolving and how we can adapt—whether through science, technology, robotics, engineering, mathematical or environmental action.

On Friday 21st March 2025, children are encouraged to dress as scientists with an emphasis on ‘What would YOU look like as a scientist?’.

Alternatively, children may wish to dress in green or white linking to scientific enquiry and developmental sustainability.

What to Expect:

* Hands-on activities exploring change and adaptation

* Fun experiments and engineering challenges

* Learning about sustainability, waste reduction, up-cycling and energy-saving solutions

* Discovering how science helps us adapt to a changing world that we live in

*inspirational real-life stories of careers in STREAM on our Science Week Padlet

*Green Committee assembly

* international poster competition

This is a fantastic opportunity for our children to build upon their science capital by exploring becoming young scientists themselves, further develop their problem-solving skills, and make links on how science impacts our everyday lives.

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KG1 pupils were introduced to planting seeds as they discovered how plants grow and their simple anatomy. The children were filling up their planting pots with soil understanding that this was where a seed must be placed and that they would need to proved the seed with water for it to grow. Questioning enhanced their understanding deeper when asked ‘what else might a plant need to grow?’ With their response being sunlight, water and soil.

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We encourage our pupils to be enquiry-based learners and our science teaching ensures our pupils develop the necessary disciplinary knowledge as they progress through the school to enable them to become the scientists of the future and imagine the possibilities that lay ahead of them.

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Subject Leader Action Plan 24.25 - Science

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The children embarked on their first lesson in our Electricity unit. They began by identifying various home appliances and classifying them based on their power sources—mains electricity, battery energy, or both. Through engaging discussions and activities, they explored how different devices operate and the importance of energy sources in daily life.

Following this, the children focused on electrical safety, learning key rules for staying safe around electricity and why vigilance is essential when handling electrical appliances. They discussed potential hazards and ways to prevent accidents, reinforcing the importance of responsible electricity use at home and in school.

This hands-on introduction to electricity provided a strong foundation for their learning, sparking curiosity and building essential knowledge for the upcoming lessons in the unit.

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🌍✨ World Science Day Celebration ✨🌍

The children looked wonderful in white today as we celebrated World Science Day for Peace and Development!

It was a fantastic day of reflection on how science can help build a peaceful and sustainable world.

The children were asked to create posters to bring in to be judged. Each phase would have a winner who would take home a science themed prize! 🖍️🎨

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Grade 4 students conducted an exciting investigation into the magnetic properties of objects around the classroom and explored which materials can conduct electricity. They worked collaboratively, testing various items to determine if they were magnetic or non-magnetic and whether they could allow electricity to pass through them.

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The children explored the fauna and flora around our school grounds. They observed, drew, and labeled their findings on recording sheets, noting each organism's habitat and details they knew.

Building on their skills, they created classification keys that now include both plants and animals, using closed questions to sort and identify the living things they discovered.

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In Science, children have completed an investigation on friction - how different surfaces affect the distance an object can move. We tested how far a toy car can move on different textures and surfaces.

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Our young scientists have been busy classifying organisms! Using a Venn diagram, they identified similarities and differences between animals from the desert and then sorted insects into a Carroll diagram based on their observable characteristics. They’re developing sharp observation and classification skills!

Students created closed questions developed from close observation to create their own Dichotomous (Tree) diagrams to classify and then in turn identify animals and plants.

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Children explored the fascinating world of animal classification! The children observed and grouped animals based on key characteristics, learning about categories such as vertebrates, invertebrates, mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and insects.

They also revisited their understanding of what all living organisms need to survive by using the helpful mnemonic MRS GREN. This tool helped them remember the 7 life processes: Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Growth, Reproduction, Excretion, and Nutrition

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This week in science we have been delving deeper into materials. The children spoke like scientists and created feely boards. They are working on recalling materials properties.

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Sound - Which material is the best sound insulator?

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Sound - Which material is the best sound insulator?

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The lesson kicked off with the children learning what an insulator is and how it applies in real life.

Next, the children made predictions on which material— cotton wool, tissue, or bubble wrap—would be the best sound insulator, using their reasoning to guide their guesses. They also carefully identified the variables involved, deciding what they would change and what would stay the same to ensure a fair test.

During the experiment, each group tested their hypothesis by recording sound levels with each material to spot clear patterns.

After gathering their data, the children were able to see which material best insulated sound.

They finished their investigation by writing a conclusion to explain whether their predictions were accurate or not, demonstrating fantastic critical thinking skills and then linking this again to real life.

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The children had an amazing time learning all about sound waves and vibrations!

They built upon their knowledge that sound is created by vibrations that can travel through different materials—solid, liquid and gas. To make it even more exciting, they made their own cup telephones!

With their hands-on experiments, they saw firsthand how vibrations move through the string and carry sound from one cup to the other.

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Parents were encouraged to get their hands dirty as they got stuck in with some practical scientific experiments. "I'm going to carry this out at home, I feel confident to carry this experiment out after today," noted one parent who had taken part in practical science enquiry for the first ever time. 

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Parental Engagement - Empowering parents too!

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Parental Engagement - Empowering parents too!

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The children created holes on a piece of card and shone light through to prove that light only travels in straight lines.

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Grade 5 students learned that light travels in straight lines and explored how the absence of light results in darkness. They discovered that objects are visible when light reflects off them and enters our eyes. An engaging activity involved creating shadow experiments where students shone light through various objects and observed the shadows cast, reinforcing their understanding that light cannot bend around objects, confirming that it travels in straight lines.

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The children applied their knowledge of circuit construction to build a doodle bug.

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Students explored how to build simple series circuits and gain hands-on experience with constructing and troubleshooting circuits. They also develop an understanding of how electrical energy is used in everyday devices and the importance of safety when working with electricity. Additionally, scientific enquiry skills such as predicting, observing, recording results, and explaining outcomes are emphasized through practical investigations and experiments.

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The children built a ramp with different materials to see how the level of friction may change. They also looked at the slopes degree of tilt to explore the force of gravity and its impact on the speed of the car.

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Children explore concepts such as balanced and unbalanced forces to understand why objects stay still or move, and they learn how friction can slow down or stop movement. They also investigate how gravity acts as a force pulling objects toward the

Earth. Hands-on activities may include building simple machines like pulleys and ramps to see how forces work in real life, fostering problem-solving skills and scientific thinking.

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Earth and Space - Earth, Sun and Moon Relationship

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Earth and Space - Earth, Sun and Moon Relationship

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Pupils study seasonal changes and understand how the Earth's tilt and

movement around the Sun result in different seasons. Students develop their scientific enquiry skills by making observations, recording data, and using models to represent celestial movements. This helps them build a deeper understanding of the natural world and nurtures curiosity about space and the Earth's role within it.

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Earth and Space Science, students explore fundamental concepts about our planet and its place in the universe. This topic area covers the structure of the Earth, including its layers and surface features, and introduces students to the solar system, focusing on the relationships between the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. Children learn about the causes of day and night, the phases of the Moon, and how these relate to the Earth's rotation and orbit.

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Understanding of the World - Woodland Animals 

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Understanding of the World - Woodland Animals 

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Woodland Animals and Hibernation – The children have been learning the names of different woodland animals. Using our knowledge of seasons, we then discussed what some woodland animals must do during Winter to keep dry and warm. We have been using the vocabulary ‘hibernation’.

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Shadows – The children have been reading the story ‘Day Monkey, Night Monkey’. The children then made comparisons between ‘day’ and ‘night’. We went outside during the ‘day’ to observe our shadows. We observed our shadows during the day and noticed that our shadows moved.

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The children have learned the names of the four seasons. Using our key text ‘A Walk in the Woods’, the children then made comparisons between the seasons. We thought about the weather, what clothes we must wear and how the trees/plants change during the four seasons.

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The children recorded data in their books as they investigated that the volume of a sound decreases as the distance from the sound source increases.

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Children create a scientific model to test their hypothesis and prove that plants have adapted to their environment.

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Fine motor skills as well as critical thinking lay the foundation of this investigation as the children experiment with creating scientific models to prove an idea.

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The children in KG2 created a model of a cactus needle and a flat deciduous leaf. They wanted to find out which stayed hydrated for longer in the hot, UAE sun to then understand the ‘why’ behind their naturally occurring shape and size. The children understood that this was a scientific model and so would not be completely identical to real life but it is a way scientists can make a hypotheses and then test their hypothesis for themselves.

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The children engaged in a plant dissection activity, carefully identifying, labeling, and noting the function of each part. As an added challenge, they explored the purpose and environmental impact of these features. For instance, they examined how petal colors are adapted to attract specific pollinators, like birds or bees, based on the color spectrum visible to each

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The children worked scientifically by dissecting plants and learning about the anatomy and purpose for each part of the flower in particular.

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Will it float? Children test out materials suitable for a boat looking at the key scientific terms ‘buoyancy’ and ‘density’.

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In grade 1, pupils worked scientifically to test and investigate the properties of materials, using hands on approaches to engage and inspire their learning.

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Children work scientifically creating a model to illustrate the journey our food makes and the importance of each organ working in collaboration and not in an isolated manner. 

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Animals Including Humans - The Digestive System

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Animals Including Humans - The Digestive System

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In science, it is important children learn by doing. The children must also understand that a scientific model is exactly that - a model. There will be components that do not match completely and there will be some elements of a process not shown in a model, and it is essential to make this clear.

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Children use concrete apparatus to understand an abstract concept of teeth having different functions.

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Animals Including Humans - The Digestive System

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Animals Including Humans - The Digestive System

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In our science lessons, the children explored the human digestive system, starting with an important part: the teeth. They began by learning about the different types of teeth and their specific functions, such as how incisors cut food, molars grind it, and canines tear it. To help them understand this better, the children created their own model of teeth, discovering why each type has a unique shape and position in the mouth.

In the upcoming lesson, they shift their focus to the impact of our diet on dental health. The children then learn about how the foods and drinks we consume play a significant role in keeping our teeth and mouth healthy. This will help them connect their knowledge about teeth with practical tips for maintaining good oral hygiene.