Class 4 have their own website. To view the site go to www.missarnold.co.uk

 

---

Early on the morning of 3rd November Year 4 assembled at Woods Gate to join their coach to travel to the Science Museum.  We departed promptly at 7.30am.  There was quite a lot of traffic but we arrived at the museum in time to have a snack and a drink before making our way to the Imax cinema where we were to watch a 3D film on the International Space Station.  We were told the cinema screen was as tall as four double-decker buses and it was even wider.  We were all given special glases to wear which enabled us to enjoy the film in 3D.  Before we knew it we had travelled 220 miles above the Earth at a speed of 17,500 mph and we had landed on the International Space Station!  The space station had been built piece by piece and equipment was transported by shuttle.  It felt very real.  There were amazing views of earth and we watched the astronauts performing various day-to-day tasks in zero gravity.  We watched them as they went on a space walk outside the space station.  We felt as if we were there too and the 3D effect was so convincing some of us felt compelled to reach out to try to touch. 

 

After the cinema we made our way to an area where we ate our picnic lunch.  After lunch it was time for the rocket show.  We were ushered into a dark room and a man called Alistair introduced himself and welcomed us to the show and told us a little about Isaac Newton and the laws of gravity.  He asked for 2 volunteers to demonstrate how a rocked takes off.  Zara was chosen as one of the volunteers.  Alistair also made an indoor rocket. He filled it with hydrogen and set light to it.  It took off with an enormous bang and the rocket flew across the length of the room. It was very impressive.  He explained to us how rockets go into space and how things orbit the earth.  He told us how the most dangerous part of a space mission is returning to earth because they have to pass through the earth's atmosphere and they do not want to burn up as they enter.  The temperatures they would be exposed to would be 100,000°C but the shuttle is protected by heat proof tiles.  The rocket show was very exciting and there were a lot of very loud bangs!

 

It was time for us to move on to the Launch Pad.  The Launch Pad is a hands-on interactive area which has many examples of forces.  Here are just a few of the interactive exhibits we tried our skills on.

Two girls try to light the bulb by making a circuit		Rotation Station - shifting their weight to the middle makes them spin faster!		The camera detects heat by picking up infrared radiation.

 

Big Machine - The weight on both axles is the same but less force is used to turn the big wheel.		Magnetic Building - How high can you build a magnetic tower? How far can you stretch an arch?		Bubble Wall - Adding soap to water makes it 'stretchy'. This mixture traps air to make bubbles.

 

 

Grab the Bling - Can't touch the watch - it's all done by mirrors!		Press the button, strike a pose and check your shadow.		Lens Line-Up - By placing lenses in lines we can change how things appear. That's how telescopes & microscopes work.

   

After the launch pad there was just enough time for a visit to the shop to select our souvenirs and a last look around the Space Exploration floor. 

 

We re-board our coach at 3.15pm for our return journey. We have a fairly good journey home arriving back at The Granville at 5.15pm.  We all very much enjoyed our day at the Science Museum and had learnt a lot about space, gravity, forces in a fun and exciting way.

---

In the Castle Museum we went upstairs and saw how people lived in the olden days.  We then went downstairs to see the Victorian Streets.  You could pick up a newspaper and go in the shops and talk to the people who were dressed up as shopkeepers.  There was a man dressed as a policeman and he let us go in the prison and in the cells.  Next we saw different clothing throughout history.  Then we went to see a man who showed us lots of different swords.  The swords were very heavy and some of them you had to hold a special way.  Next we went to the shop and bought lots of gifts.

Ellie P & Isabel

 York Minster

We went to the York Minster.  A lady took us round the Minster and she told us about the history of the building.  She told us about the lightning that hit the south transept and the ceiling was burning and the fire spread from ceiling to ceiling.  We were also told about a man called Jonathon Martin who went to the 5 O'clock service and after the service he hid and when everyone had gone he set all the books on fire and then made his escape.  It wasn't discovered until the next day when a boy was walking to school and saw smoke coming out of the door.

Zoe

 Jorvik Centre

 

On Thursday 1st May we arrived at the Jorvik Centre at 10.00am. First of all we went into a time machine.  It was very bumpy and ended up in the year AD866.  We all learnt a lot about the Vikings and how smelly they were!  We went round the Viking village in carriages and learnt how the Vikings lived.  When we got out of the carriage we read about the things the Vikings did.  A lady told us about the jewellery the Vikings wore and about a Viking warrior called Bob (they don't know his real name so they named him Bob!).

We went to the gift shop and bought our souvenirs.  Miss Arnold bought a Viking helmet and wore it on our geography walk to The Shambles.

Clare W & Francesca

 DIG

On Thursday afternoon we went to DIG.  First of all a lady told us how they had found artefacts beneath the ground. Then we were handed some tools so we could start looking for some fake artefacts.  There were four sites - Victorian, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Roman.  We found lots of interesting things - in the Victorian site we found a toilet, in the Roman one there were some coins.  After each groups had done two sites, we went to a table with lots of trays. In the trays were animal bones and even Viking waste!  We had to sort them.  Next,  we went into the Museum part of DIG.  There was a stand where we could write our will and we looked at some books with buttons.  We also went on computers and played computer games. It was great fun.

Ellie R & Joanna

 Betty's

We walked through The Shambles past Whip-ma-Whop-ma-Gate (the shortest street with the longest name!) and learnt about a saint called Margaret Clitherow.  We arrived at Betty's and went downstairs for afternoon tea.  All the teachers told us we must be on our best behaviour because Betty's is a very posh tea room!  Everyone tried to have a straight back as they sat for tea.  The waitress came to our tables holding a tray of caramel shortcake, gingerbread bears, cupcakes and chocolate brownies.  We all chose what we wanted to eat and we were given a drink too.  It was all delicious.  Mrs Evans wasn't well and she was disappointed she could not come to York.  She would have loved to eat all the delicious cakes. Betty's had made a special cake for her retirement, which said 'we will miss you, love Class 4'.  We had to take the cake back with us and we gave it to her in school the following week.

Cathrine & Amelia C

 Sherwood Forest

Friday 2nd May, our last day, we left York and went in our coach to Sherwood Forest, the home of Robin Hood.  First we made wild wood art.  We were all given a pair of gloves and in our groups we collected things around the forest, like blossom, bark, twigs and we made our picture. The pictures were all very good. There was Strawberry the Spider, The Granville Dove, The Tree of Life, Maid Marian, Teepee in Spring.

After the wild wood art we went to the Exhibition Centre where we went in the stocks and the 'character boards' (we put our heads through a hole and we looked like a different person!)  We saw a picture of the oldest oak tree.  We went into the gift shop and we bought our gifts and souvenirs.

We went outside for lunch and we all sat on a fallen tree trunk and ate our picnic.

It was time to get back on our coach and make the journey back to The Granville.  On the way back we watched a video on the coach and we were all given prizes for doing something good.

Ellie K & Hannah

 

---