Animals including humans is a Science topic that I usually dread teaching! It is extremely difficult to teach and the children find it very confusing. There is so much vocabulary and I have tried many different ways of making it more accessible for children.
This year, however, I have hit the jackpot when it comes to the children recalling that ever important 'sticky knowledge'. Let me introduce you to.... 'Blood Smoothies'!
The Key Stage 2 National Curriculum requires children to 'identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood'. The composition of blood is lesson 1 in my teaching sequence and we begin making a blood smoothie. The recipe is as follows:
Ingredients
Approximately 300g of raspberries (these represent the red blood cells)
A few small white marshmallows (these represent white blood cells)
1 teaspoon of sprinkles (these represent platelets)
400ml of pineapple juice (this represents plasma)
Place the ingredients into a zip lock freezer bag and squash them all together. (The children loved this part!)
And there you have it! A simple, practical activity that the children will remember.
For more details on my teaching sequence for this topic, see the 'Downloads' section on my website.
Until next time, enjoy!
Mrs G
