Week Ending 24/04/17

In our penultimate week, we have yet again been exceptionally busy in Year Three.

We started the week in Maths looking at Venn diagrams. A Venn diagram takes two (sometimes three) different subjects and shows what they have which separates them and what unites them. This is expressed in a drawing of circles which overlap to show, visually, what unites them.

So, for example, let's say that we want to look at dogs and cats. We would start by drawing our circles, making sure to have an overlap (in the centre) which is the unifying part of our Venn diagram. We could then start by looking at dogs, and listing what we believe they have which cats do not have. This may include: "Bark" and "Come when called". We could then list under cats what they have which dogs do not. This may include: "Meow" and "Come when they feel like coming". In the middle of our Venn diagram we would list what these two animals have in common. This may include: "Fur" and "Paws". In the end, our Venn diagram may look like this:

Here are some more examples of Venn diagrams:

In English we have been looking at the features of a play script. Play scripts are the first step in a play being performed in a theatre. 

The Globe Theatre in London:

We started by looking at a cast list which is the first page of a play script and tells us which actor will be playing which character. It also details the technical staff of the play such as the director of the play and the playwright of the play. A playwright is someone who writes theatrical plays. The cast list that we read was from a play written by William Shakespeare. If you would like to know who Mr Shakespeare was (and see where he was born), please see the video below:

We then looked at Act I Scene I of Mr Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. The play begins with Three Witches. Here is the beginning of the play we read and analysed:

ACT I

SCENE I. A desert place.

[Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches.]

First Witch

When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Second Witch

When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

Third Witch

That will be ere the set of sun.

First Witch

Where the place?

Second Witch

Upon the heath.

Third Witch

There to meet with Macbeth.

First Witch

I come, Graymalkin!

Second Witch

Paddock calls.

Third Witch

Anon.

ALL

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.  

Exeunt

We noticed a few things. Firstly, when people talk there are no speech marks unlike the books we read every day. Secondly, the setting and actions were written in the present tense. There was also something we hadn't seen before. Square brackets are used in a play to contain the setting and action so that the reader understands where the action is being taken place and how the actors have to move. Thirdly, each time a character talks, the dialogue (what they say) is written underneath the character's name. This is to signal to the actor what their lines are. By investigating in pairs we were able to understand all the basic features of a play script.

Finally, in Topic we have been looking at the Water Cycle. The water cycle describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the earth. Out of all the many facts that we have learnt while learning about the water cycle, perhaps the most impressive is this one: all the water on earth today, every drop, is all the water that there has ever been on the planet! To find out why this is, we started to look at all the different ways water is both stored and flows.

While there are many details to the water cycle (as you can see above), it is comprised of three main elements: evaporation, condensation and precipitation. 

Evaporation is how water leaves the ground by evaporating under the heat of the sun, becoming a gas or vapour. Water evaporates from every wet surface. Sometimes, snow can directly become a vapour or gas. This is called sublimation. One of our favourite words from learning about evaporation is evapotranspiration which is the process of water leaving the leafs of flowers.

Condensation is when the evaporated water molecules cool, becoming visible matter which we see as clouds. Clouds are moved by the wind into colder air, forming with other clouds. When they become too heavy to stay in the air, they find release and fall back to earth.

Which leads us to... 

Precipitation is the process of water falling onto the earth. Precipitation takes the form of rain, snow, ice, sleet, hail, fog and mist. While these all have different characteristics, they all remain the same: they are water.

For more information on the water cycle, please see these two videos: