Class 4 Activities

You need

• ✓A plastic bottle (500ml)
• ✓Newspaper strips + flour paste (papier-mâché)
• ✓Poster paints
• ✓Baking soda (2 tablespoons)
• ✓Vinegar (½ cup)
• ✓Red food colour
• ✓Dish soap (a squirt)

How to do it

1. 1Mould papier-mâché around the bottle into a volcano cone shape. Leave the bottle neck open at the top.
2. 2Let dry 24 hours. Paint.
3. 3Explain before the reaction: 'Baking soda is a base. Vinegar is an acid. When they meet, they react — CO₂ gas is produced, which makes the foam.'
4. 4Add baking soda to the bottle. Add a squirt of dish soap and red food colour.
5. 5Pour vinegar in. Step back!
6. 6Repeat: 'Could we make a bigger reaction? What if we add more baking soda?'

You need

• ✓1.5V AA battery
• ✓A small torch bulb or LED
• ✓Two lengths of insulated copper wire (20cm each) with ends stripped
• ✓Aluminium foil
• ✓A few objects to test: pencil, plastic spoon, coin, rubber, a nail

How to do it

1. 1Connect one wire from the battery's positive terminal to one leg of the bulb.
2. 2Connect the second wire from the other bulb leg back to the battery's negative terminal.
3. 3The bulb should light. If not, check all connections are touching bare wire/metal.
4. 4Ask: 'What if we break the circuit? Let us remove one wire.' Bulb goes out. 'That is an open circuit.'
5. 5Now test conductors: place each material in the gap in the circuit. Does the bulb light?
6. 6Sort: conductors (metals, graphite in pencil) vs. insulators (plastic, rubber).

You need

• ✓A tiled room (kitchen or bathroom)
• ✓Paper and pencil to record
• ✓A ruler to measure one tile (to find the real-world dimensions)
• ✓Optional: graph paper to draw the room

How to do it

1. 1Count the tiles across the width and length of the room.
2. 2Calculate area: length × width = total tiles. Count all tiles directly and compare.
3. 3Calculate perimeter: add all four sides. Walk the perimeter counting tiles.
4. 4Measure one tile with the ruler. 'Each tile is 30cm × 30cm. So the real area is...'
5. 5Draw the room on graph paper, one square per tile.
6. 6Try an irregular shape: L-shaped verandah. Divide it into rectangles and add their areas.

You need

• ✓Graph paper or plain paper with hand-drawn grid
• ✓A ruler and pencil
• ✓Measuring tape
• ✓Coloured pencils

How to do it

1. 1Choose a topic: birth months of family members, or heights.
2. 2Collect data by asking each family member.
3. 3Draw a bar graph: label the x-axis with categories, y-axis with numbers.
4. 4Draw and colour one bar per category.
5. 5Analyse: 'Which month has the most birthdays? What is the range of heights?'
6. 6Write 3 sentences describing what the graph shows.

You need

• ✓Lined paper
• ✓A pen
• ✓A dictionary for checking spellings
• ✓A checklist: opening, 3 reasons with evidence, counter-argument, conclusion

How to do it

1. 1Choose a real issue your child cares about at school.
2. 2Brainstorm: 'Give me 3 reasons why the school should do this.'
3. 3For each reason, find evidence: 'Why do you think this? What have you seen?'
4. 4Anticipate the counter-argument: 'What might the principal say against it? How would you respond?'
5. 5Write: formal letter format, opening statement, 3 reason paragraphs, conclusion with clear ask.
6. 6Read aloud — does it sound convincing? Edit.
7. 7Optional: actually send it.