Science Autumn Term.
Date: 10th Feb 2026 @ 7:19pm
In the Autumn term we have looked at two topics, Under the Sea and Celebrations!
Under the Sea
In this topic, we explored a range of fun activities and hands on experiments to understand lots of information about our oceans and seas.
This linked in with our literacy topic at the start of the term which was the Rainbow Fish. They enjoyed relating what they had learnt in science to their writing in literacy.
Our first lessons explored under the sea habitats, where the children showed that they already had lots of amazing knowledge about different areas of the oceans. We then thought about where we think certain animals might live in the different habitats and why. Reception discussed some brilliant reasonings for why animals lived in specific places and enjoyed learning about the ocean floor, the coral reef and the shoreline.
Reception began to look at different sea animals and worked super hard at understanding the different parts of different fish, they were able to successfully label the parts of the fish using scientific wording such as gills and fins. Using their enquiry questioning they asked some brilliant questions about how do fish breath underwater and found out the answers to their questions during our lessons.
We also conducted an official science experiment, where they had to use a chart to predict whether different items would float or sink. After making some predictations they were able to explain exactly why they thought this, and then see whether they were right as they dropped different items into our water tray assessing whether they did float or they sunk.
Finally, the children spent some time exploring different jobs people can have when working with the ocean and the seas. For example: they learnt all about a deep sea ecologist. What there role is and what they do. They had lots of fun talking about the job and whether they would want to do it themselves.
Celebrations
Over the past few weeks, we have had an amazing time becoming scientists as we explored our Celebrations topic! The children have shown fantastic curiosity, brilliant observation skills.
We began by thinking about celebrations and sharing our own experiences. The children loved discussing what we celebrate and why, and we recorded their wonderful ideas in our floor book. We then used our observation skills to look closely at images, making careful guesses as pictures zoomed in. Everyone was so excited to discover we were looking at a spider’s web! The children learned how spiders build their webs, spotted different shapes and talked about why webs are so strong.
Our classroom quickly turned into a science lab! The children explored spider webs outside, created their own giant webs, and tested which designs would catch the most “flies.” They examined spiders closely and even made their own using craft materials. It was fantastic to hear them confidently naming parts of a spider and describing patterns.
Things became even more exciting when we investigated “creepy crawlies” through fun experiments. The children were amazed by our dancing worms experiment and loved watching raisins bob up and down. They made thoughtful predictions and tried hard to explain what was happening. Freezing creepy crawlies in ice was another highlight – the children tested different materials to work out the best way to free them, spotting patterns and making sensible suggestions.
As we moved towards Christmas, our science learning continued with festive experiments!. The children made their own snow using different materials and carefully compared how each type felt. They used brilliant describing words and confidently explained which snow they preferred and why.
To finish our topic, we investigated chocolate! The children observed how chocolate changes with temperature and tested which chocolate bar was the stretchiest. They carefully measured and recorded their results in simple bar charts like real scientists.
Throughout this unit, the children have developed their skills in observing, predicting, comparing, measuring and recording. Most importantly, they have had so much fun experimenting, exploring and discovering together.