GRADE FIVE SCIENCE

Hello Boys and Girls, It’s time for Science once again. Have you been enjoying your holidays so far? Have you been reading lots of books? When you read you can go all over the world right there in a book. It’s so exciting, isn’t it Have you been helping your mum and dad around the house, yard, shop, farm?

Have an enjoyable Emancipation Day on August 1. What kinds of foods do you associate with Emancipation Day? Eat as much as you can.

We have been looking at amphibians. Do name a few of them. Do you remember what we have learnt so far about the frog? Tell someone about those facts.

Let’s have a look at the life cycle of a frog.

The frog lays its eggs in water. When they hatch they do not look like the adult frog. They have long tails with which they swim. Have you ever seen them in plentiful supply swimming about in the water? They have a head, fins and external gills. They live in the water. What are they called?

By about eight weeks, these tadpoles develop back legs, then after this the front legs develop. Next the tadpoles lose their eternal gills and develop internal gills. The tail gradually shrinks and then lungs develop, replacing the internal gills. All of this prepares the frog to move to land. When all this is finished, the frog hops on to land. We see here that amphibians undergo metamorphosis, a complete change. Let’s move on to investigate Reptiles. Can you name a few reptiles? Snakes and lizards, crocodiles and alligators, and turtles and tortoises are all reptiles. Reptiles are all vertebrates.

Try to get pictures of reptiles and observe them. Do they have necks? Do they all have tails? Most reptiles have two pairs of limbs and a tail. (Do snakes have tails? How do they move?)

How do reptiles use their limbs to move? Reptiles use their limbs to creep, crawl, run, fight, swim and climb. Have you ever seen a turtle? Have you seen their thick strong limbs? These help them to support their body weight. When you get the chance, look at lizards as they climb. You may be able to see the suction pads that they have at the tip of the ‘toes’ of each limb. Look carefully at the claws of the crocodiles. Turtles have flat long flippers which make them good swimmers.

Have you ever seen how the skin of reptiles is thick, usually forming scales or plates? These scales or plates may be smooth or rough, and prevent them from drying out.

1. Name four amphibians. 2. Name five reptiles. 3. Draw a few of them. 4. Name their external parts. We will continue to look at this next week. Until then be good, Boys and Girls and read, read, read!