The Animal Kingdom Project (Science, Art and English)

Aims: To understand that the animal kingdom is made up of five groups. To be able to name and explain what is unique about each group. To be able to identify which group different animals belong to.

Investigate these different groups in the animal kingdom: Fish Amphibians Reptiles Birds Mammals

Choose and draw a detailed picture of one of each animal from each group. Decide whether it will be a pencil sketch using line and tone, a colour drawing or a painting.

Extension / challenge: Explain the special features of each animal and why it belongs in that category.

These websites might help you.

Oxford Owls online for reading books about animals https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/animals-and-nature/animal-

kingdom/ http://kinooze.com/animal-kingdom/

The Minibeast Habitats Project (Science, Art and English)

Aims: To identify different minibeasts and explain the habitats that they live in, e.g. under rocks, in open grass, in the air, under trees, under wood, in the soil.To identify how common the different minibeasts are. To explain where the minibeasts are in the food chain.

Do a minibeast hunt in the garden or during one of your daily exercise walks.

a) Draw and label the minibeasts that you found or take photos of them and put them into a word or power point document, labelling each photo to say what it is

b) Draw a chart to show how many of each minibeast you found

Extension / challenge: Describe the habitat of each minibeast. Research what they eat and which predators will want to eat them.

You could check out these websites if you want more information or ideas:

https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/minibeasts

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/05/minibeast-facts/

The Seasonal Changes Project (Science, Maths, Art and English)

Aims: To know and explain the four seasons. To know which weather patterns are expected in each season. To understand and use terms to

explain weather conditions, e.g. windy, rainy, cloudy, sunny, cold, warm, mild, temperature.

a) Draw or paint a picture for each season, (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter), showing what months are in each season and what the weather is usually like

b) Keep a diary for a week to describe the weather. Every day explain:

What time did it get light? Describe what the weather is like Say what the temperature is (use a weather app or

weather report if no thermometers) What time did it get dark? Explain other things you noticed, for example what time

did the sun start to go down, was there an interesting sunset, was there an interesting cloud pattern that you spotted?

You could take photos to go with your writing.You could notice how plants in your garden are changing every day.

Extension / challenge:Find out if the weather we are having is what would be expected for this time of year.

The Super Hero Story Project (English and Art)

Aims: To develop characters in stories. To write a story with a beginning, middle and end. To write a story that has a problem and a solution.

a) Invent your own super hero. Draw a picture of him or her and describe their special powers.

b) Plan a story about a time when your super hero came to the rescue. Think about:

The setting of your story? What was your super hero doing at the beginning of

the story? Who was in trouble? How did your super hero find out about the problem? Did the problem get worse before your super hero

finally saved the day?c) Write the story using this checklist to help you:

Key features of narrative writingHave I used them?

Does mum or dad agree?

BeginningMiddleEndProblemSolutionPast tenseSome sentences have a conjunction, e.g. (and, but, so, because) to add extra informationNoun phrases to describe the characters and setting e.g. beautiful, sunny dayOr powerful, x-ray visionCapital letters for starts of sentences and for names of people and placesFull stops at the end of sentences

The Keep Fit PE Project (PE, Science and English)

Aims: To understand how important exercise is for keeping healthy. To understand the effects of exercise on the body. To understand the importance of warming up and cooling down.

a) Watch and do PE with Joe Wicks on You-tube. You can watch this live at 9.00am every morning but it is available at any other time that is convenient for you.

b) Now plan your own keep fit session to try out on your family.Plan:

How will you help them to warm up their muscles? What exercises will you give them to raise their heart

rate and get them out of breath? How long will they need to exercise before having a

little rest? How will you help them cool down?

c) Interview your family to find out if they got out of breath. How else did they feel after the exercise?

d) Write out your exercise list. Say which exercise was the favourite one and why.

The Information Book Project (Cross-curricular)

Aims: To understand the features of non-fiction writing. To research something that interests you and write about it in your own words. To develop your creativity in making and illustrating books.NB: This project can be done on paper or on the computer.

a) Choose something that you are interested in. It could be an animal or a group of animals in the animal kingdom. It could be another country or a historical event or a hobby. Research some information about your chosen subject.

b) Decide which bits of information you are going to use and which headings you will need. (Ideally aim for 4 pages with different headings.) Remember to show the headings at the top of each page in bold print or capital letters so they stand out.

c) Decide how to lay each page out. What pictures will you use and do they need captions? Where will you put the information writing?

d) Write your book using the checklist below to help you.e) Add a front cover, a contents page, a glossary and the

blurb at the back.

Key features of non-fiction writingHave I used them?

Does mum or dad agree?

Clear headings at the top of each pagePictures with captionsInformation is written in the present tense (unless you are writing about a historical event or something in the past)Some sentences have a conjunction, e.g. (and, but, so, because) to add extra informationSome technical vocabulary such as predator, prey, jaws, tail etcCapital letters for starts of sentences and for names of people and placesFull stops at the end of sentencesYou could include labelled diagramsTitle of bookContents pageGlossary pageBlurb for the back cover