Year 3, Our Living World

Year 3 reaps rich learning experiences from their fascination with all things science related! The boys are intrigued by the world around them and rich discussion is had in class, at Terrey Hills and further afield.

‘Our Living World’ topic during Term 2 and 3 explored the features of living things and ways they can be grouped by their observable features. Students were shown how to research, draw and label their diagrams of a chosen invertebrate and then classify and present within a dichotomous key.

The overarching question asked to the boys was how living things are interdependent. This involved experiential learning through dissecting flowers to learn about pollination and how they reproduce and then identifying the different ways that seeds are transported. The students imitated wind dispersal by making sycamore helicopters.

We visited The Field of Mars nature reserve to identify what we could find under the soil and leaf matter, distinguish between different spider webs and learn about specific trees and plants that can be used for medicinal purposes or food, tools and shelter.

Using a creativity app, the boys learned how to make a process flow chart of an agricultural end product from a plant or animal. The variety presented gave wide ranging examples to learn from each other, such as the origin of cotton and the mechanisms required for a plant or animal to become food, fabric or furniture. Each stage of learning opened up new discussions and avenues to explore and highlighted the love of learning in real world scenarios that the boys could relate to and grow from.