Year 3 Science Day

Science Week Spotlight: Mary Anning – The Fossil Hunter

During Science Week, Year 3 learnt about the amazing fossil hunter Mary Anning. Her discoveries helped scientists understand what life on Earth was like millions of years ago.

Today, we explored how light and shadows work by creating their own shadow puppets. Using card shapes and torches, the children discovered how shadows are formed when light is blocked and how the size and shape of a shadow can change depending on the position of the light source. It was wonderful to see their creativity as they brought their puppets to life.

The children also became young engineers by designing and building their own rollercoasters. They experimented with different heights, slopes and materials to see how they could make a marble travel smoothly along the track. This helped them think about forces, movement and how real rollercoasters are designed.

Year 3 also learned about the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. Mary was born in Lyme Regis in 1799 and spent much of her time searching the beach for fossils. When she was just 12 years old, she helped discover the skeleton of a giant sea creature called an Ichthyosaurus. She later discovered other prehistoric creatures, including the Plesiosaurus.

Mary’s discoveries helped scientists learn more about animals that lived millions of years ago. Today, many of the fossils she found can be seen in museums around the world.

It has been a fantastic week of curiosity, creativity and discovery!

13.3.26 Year 3 Science Week