This is a fun activity where the children will use the string telephones they have made to investigate how sound travels through solids. The main activity is best suited to be done outdoors, in pairs or threes. The children are firstly encouraged to make predictions on whether sound can travel through a number of solids and liquids. This part of the lesson can be done by teacher demonstration while the children discuss and predict what will happen. This leads to a practical investigation to find out how, (and if ), a string telephone works! Encourages prediction, discussion and observation skills

3 worksheets and a wordsearch to teach about the different food groups / healthy living. There are questions on the pyramid and a fun activity where the pupils will talk about what sort of foods are represented by cartoon pictures, then list each food under the 5 main food group headings. As a challenge, the pupils then add other foods to the lists to even them up!

Essentially, here are two really useful 2 homework activities. Activity 1 details how to make a string telephone at home. Secondly, the pupils are asked to research about Alexander Graham Bell. I like to give this homework for the half term before we start the ‘Sounds’ topic in order to enthuse the children and get them started on the topic. It is also useful to have the string telephones for display and use in later investigations.

The review worksheet is useful for discussing and reviewing what the children know about the ‘Sound’ topic at the start of teaching the unit. There are six investigations for the pupils to try! The Investigation sheets are written in simple language to allow pupils to read and follow independently. Sheets could be laminated and allocated to different groups. They can then be tackled as a ‘circuit’ of activities, with groups of 5/6 children spending 20 minutes on each, then circulating.This would represent a full afternoon’s session. Alternatively, 3 activities could be tackled in an hour session, with two sessions required to complete the whole six investigations! Preparation is the key to the success of these investigations; you will need various materials such as string telephones, balloons, a nailboard, paper straws and glass bottles filled with various amounts of water! Recording of the investigations should be instant and simple; pupils can expand on their findings in a follow up lesson, where their initial ideas can be discussed and improved.

This is a Y5/6 science assessment on the key facts learnt in the ‘Sounds’ topic. It could be given at the end of a unit, as assessment; at the start of a unit as a pre - learning task or as a whole class teaching activity.