Children study and compare a range of posters on the theme of pets and animals. They look at the meaning behind each and how they are effective through text, colours and pictures. They create their own posters and then web pages using headings, captions and pictures.

Look at evaporation and condensation of water as reversible changes. Discuss everyday examples & uses of evaporation and condensation. Plan and carry out an investigation into the factors that speed up evaporation. Suitable for Y5 pupils.

Start to explore and describe the way some materials change when they are heated. Practical class investigation about toasting bread, with a focus on observation. Introduce concept of reversible and irreversible changes for more able learners. Suitable for Year 2 pupils.

Evaporation is the name of the game in this session as children use it to separate materials in solutions. They investigate a variety of liquids to see which leave a residue after evaporation and grow their own salt crystal. Suitable for Y6 pupils.

This strand begins with children comparing the properties of the three states of matter – solid, liquid and gas. Water is used as an example of a material that can exist in all three states. Use drama to model this. Suitable for Y5 pupils.

Explore pushes and pulls using magnets. Do a test to find out which is the strongest magnet out of three. Record findings. Explore toys and games that use magnets. Think about everyday objects that use the forces exerted by magnets. Suitable for Year 1 pupils.

Children look again at Roman catapults. Using a wide variety of materials, incl some mechanical components, they design & create a working model of a catapult in the Roman style. They develop their ideas, then compete to see whose catapult works best! Suitable for years 3 and 4.

Practical class investigation about melting chocolate and then shaping it before allowing it to cool and harden. Focus on planning a fair test, prediction and use of scientific vocabulary. Optional addition of rice pops to shapes! Suitable for Year 2 pupils.

Leaves are a useful way of identifying plants, but they come in so many shapes and sizes! Children take a closer look at the structure of some collected leaves before creating a dichotomous key to help identify them. Suitable for Y6 pupils.

Go on a walk in the school grounds to discover there are different plants and animals in the local environment. Collect minibeasts. Think about where we might find them. Name, label and draw minibeasts back in the classroom. Suitable for Year 2 pupils.

Why do some materials/objects float or sink? Talk about different materials used to make boats & ships. Carry out investigations: can children make plasticine float? How many pebbles/marbles will sink a plastic container? What happens when you blow air into water? Suitable for Year 1 pupils.

Children continue their investigative work by finding out which material is best for keeping ice cubes cold. What are they going to measure? An understanding of how insulators stop heat from being transferred from or to something is established. Suitable for Year 4 pupils.

Children practise using thermometers to measure temperature accurately. They find the freezing and boiling points of water and discuss what happens if you add salt to the liquid. Use coloured ice cubes to investigate properties of solids and liquids. Suitable for Y5 pupils.

Time to shed some light on what the children already know in this session as they create a concept map and are quizzed on their current understanding! They then identify sources of light and find out why the Moon isn’t one of them! Suitable for Y6 pupils.

Reflection research is in order during this session as children discover that shiny and polished surfaces reflect more light than dull surfaces. Can they use mirrors to bounce torch beams or redirect the laser beam to hit the target? Suitable for Y6 pupils.

Briefly examine the structure of the ear and how vibrations are heard as sounds. Compare light and sound waves further. Discuss echoes and how bats or dolphins use echolocation. Talk about deafness and introduce children to British Sign Language. Suitable for Y5 pupils.

Explain that all sounds are made by objects vibrating and that sound can travel through gases, liquids and solids. Children carry out some short investigations about vibrations and make a string telephone with a partner. Compare light and sound waves. Suitable for Y5 pupils.

Children find out how plants and animals are classified into groups. They then try to identify the minibeasts found during the field trip and create a key using a branching database to enable other children to identify them. Suitable for Year 4 pupils.

Focus on the sense of sight. Play ‘Kim’s Game’ and identify some animal eyes. Discuss sensitivity of eyes and safety. Collect and group information about eye colour and create a pictogram of the results. Draw pictures of animals that can see in the dark. Suitable for Year 1 pupils.

Look at an irreversible change. Children set up an investigation to answer questions about nails rusting. Will they compare nails made from different materials or find out whether or not both water and air are needed for rusting to occur? Suitable for Y6 pupils.