A very busy term for Hippos class in Spring two. We have continued to immerse ourselves into our Geography topic of North and South America. After researching both continents, the class created some beautiful, illustrated pieces of writing about the geographical features of both continents. Highest mountains, longest rivers, number of countries, biomes and climates. We then compared two very different places, Virgina City and Rio de Janeiro before comparing them to Braintree. The children also included comparisons on pollution and population.

The writing continued in English with some exciting diary entries. After a VR session in school were the class got to see the Amazon Rainforest and some of the animals, insects that lived there. We got inspired to create a diary as an Amazon explorer. One afternoon we even went into the Amazon Rainforest (Copse) as real explorers to find different species of animals and plants. We listened carefully to noises of the jungle and talked about how we felt discovering jaguars, waterfalls and giant spiders. These experiences fuelled some incredible writing about landing in the rainforest, setting up camps, meeting tribes and discovering waterfalls not to forget also seeing capybaras.

To continue our theme in DT the children adapted a simple recipe for salsa to create a new healthy Mexican dip. After taste testing several salsas on the market the children evaluated the taste, texture and appearance before creating their own recipe. Using chopping, grating and hygiene skills everyone got to make, taste and evaluate their own salsa. The most interesting taste included adding curry spice.

Art was a real hit this term with creating collages of the rainforest. Tables were covered in so many different materials and we decided to use paint for the backgrounds before adding layers and textures.

Science has been full of practical experiments this term that the children have loved. We have been looking into the impact humans have on the environment. After litter picking around the school, we investigated decomposable and non-biodegradable materials.  Choosing pieces of litter found on the playground we set up an experiment to see what materials would decompose in soil. Each week we checked on the items to see how they had changed. The plastic wrappers did not change at all however, the banana skin and paper did start to decompose. We also discovered how microorganisms get into the food chain and used a comparative test to find the best material to remove oil from feathers.