Today, Year Two visited the Centre for Life. They explored lots of zones and even watched a theatre show.
In the Play Zone, the children had the opportunity to look at the giant globe in the entrance. Some of the children chose to draw pictures and add them to the picture gallery. They loved getting into character using the fancy dress costumes, pretending to be astronauts. The boys and girls also enjoyed playing in the shop and kitchen area. They cooked up a storm! Some of the children were feeling very creative and used the equipment to build forts and houses.
In the Wow Zone, the children had a great time transporting grains around a large machine. They had to work together to get the grains from start to finish. Some children had to control the pulley, some had to move the conveyor belt and others had to turn a screw to move the grain from low to high ground. Year Two also loved testing their strength on a pulley seat. They had to use the mechanism to pull themselves up as high as they could. In this zone, the children also explored electricity and forces.
In the Space Zone, the children found out what it is like to live on the International Space Station (ISS). The boys and girls learned that there is no gravity in space and, because of this, things float around. They had the opportunity to sit on a space toilet, touch a piece of the moon and find out what it is like to work in mission control. The children particularly enjoyed taking a photograph of themselves to project into a space helmet, making themselves into an astronaut.
The children visited the Planetarium and they watched a show called Little Bear, all about a baby bear who looked for himself in the stars. They saw lots of beautiful constellations including a lion, dragon and swan. However, when the little bear found his own constellation, the children gasped with excitement.
Finally, Year Two took part in a Living in Space workshop. They found out that an astronaut has to eat a healthy breakfast but it can weigh no more than 100g, otherwise it will be too heavy for the rocket to carry. They had to choose the correct foods and weigh them to make sure they didn’t exceed the limit. To see how the weight of a rocket can affect the distance it travels, some of the children launched rockets up the stairs and compared how far they travelled. Next, they learned about the materials used to make a spacesuit. The children had to sort materials depending on whether they thought they would be found on the inside or outside of a spacesuit. Finally, they explored how challenging it is to complete jobs while wearing a spacesuit.
We had a wonderful day exploring the exhibits and learning lots about space.
