This week Year 3 started their new science topic-Rocks. They spent some time investigating the vocabulary they would need for this topic, finding out the meaning of words/phrases like permeable, high density, low density and durable.
The children were then given a range of rocks to investigate. They worked together to come up with ideas for how they could test these rocks to determine their properties. They decided that they could test each rock for durability by scratching it with a split pin, or rubbing it with sandpaper, and observing what happened. They decided to test the density of the rocks by dropping them into water and seeing if they floated or not (making great links to their previous science learning on floating and sinking).
To test how permeable the rocks were, the children poured water onto them and used their science observation skills to see if the rock changed colour, whether the water pooled on the top, of if any came through underneath. They talked about how they rocks would weigh more if they absorbed water too.
