Year 2 - Scientific research and investigation

Can seeds germinate in the dark? This was the question buzzing around the Year 2 classrooms this week as we eagerly watched our cress seeds and waited to see which ones would germinate first. With great excitement, we spotted the first germinated shoots in the petri dish where the seeds were lying on cotton wool and had been given some water. This dish had been on the windowsill, in the sunlight, so it prompted some children to declare that seeds definitely need sunlight to germinate. However, the next day, we noticed that the seeds that had been left inside a cupboard had also started to germinate. As a result, the Year 2 Scientists sensibly concluded that seeds can germinate in the dark. It was clear to see, however, that the shoots that had germinated in the dark were white and spindly and not very healthy, and from that we worked out that seeds can germinate in the dark but they need the sun’s energy to grow healthily.

Maths this week has been all about 3D shapes. The children have continued to be excellent investigators when identifying the features of 3D shapes. We used spaghetti and marshmallow to construct cubes, square-based pyramids and triangle-based pyramids and then the children counted the number of edges (spaghetti) and vertices (marshmallows) in each shape. As a challenge, the children grappled with the tricky idea of finding a link between the number of faces, edges and vertices that is true for all 3D shapes. They started by adding the number of faces and vertices together and then subtracted the number of edges and looked for a pattern. Year 2 would like to challenge anyone reading this at home to have go themselves!