We had our Apple Day on Thursday. We all walked to Ruchlaw Farm where we picked the apples from an orchard.We learned that the fields around Stenton have names such as ‘Mansion Park’ and ‘Angle Park’. We also learned that some skeletons had been found in a field and that they were from the Bronze Age and were 5000 years old. We learned the correct way to pick apples from the trees which was by twisting them. We learned the names of different apples, such as Peasgood Nonsuch which is a dessert apple. Not all apples taste the same. Some are sweet and crunchy, others are tangy and sour. The  mackintosh red apple is sweet with pink flesh. Bramleys can be kept til next June-they have a waxy skin which helps preserve the apple.

We learned that apples come from all over the world but that local apples taste nicer and have no preservatives in them. They are also better for our environment because they have no air miles and do not cause polution. We enjoyed making apple and banana muffins and pies and learning that all apples are different. We are keeping some of our pies and muffins for our harvest festival. We  also learned how to make apple juice. First we crushed the apples with a crusher. Then we squashed the pulp in the apple press. The juice was cloudy and delicious. We are going to press more apples for juice to drink for our break.

In music we used all the different apple names and put them into a song. We had a music workshop with percussion intstruments. We learned how to play a piece of samba music. It was exciting to learn how to use percussion intsruments like the ganza, cow bells and tamborim.

We learned how to make a successful powerpoint presentation on the computers. We are practising before we prepare our harvest festival presentation.

In gym we have learned how to do the ‘slap hit’ in hockey. We practised tackling each other in small groups and really enjoyed playing the number shooting game.

In maths we have been learning about time. The percentages have been learning the 24 hour clock, the decimals have been learning about minutes to and past  the hour and the fractions have been learning about digital time.