Help! A funnel is pulling me inside!

Look out! Do you see a spinning funnel? That is called a tornado! If you want to be prepared, you will have to learn how tornadoes form so you can run away to safety and protect your family and all your loved ones.

Scientists claim that tornadoes start from winds from different altitudes. One is hot and the other is cold (normal) wind. They will blow at different directions around each other, in a pattern like they are 'chasing' each other. When they get faster, a cloud will appear above them. The wind forms into a funnel shaped cloud for the top of the tornado. The cloud will be powerful enough to grow in size and make a thunderstorm. The funnel starts growing and growing until it lowers and lowers then eventually hits the ground and annihilates anything and everything in its path. Tornadoes can destroy nearly everything like houses, cars, people, infrastructures, plants and animals. But tornadoes do have a short life. Some stay as short as only 3 minutes before losing its force then it starts to calm down.

If you see a tornado coming your way, it is best to run away to protect yourself from nature's wrath!

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of an explanation.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write how tornadoes form, how they work and a concluding statement about tornadoes.

Is that mountain shooting out lava?

Ever wonder why some mountains shoot out smoke? These mountains are called volcanoes, and we know that they can cause a lot of disasters. Volcanoes can form from islands.  But how are they created?

If we want to find out, then we need to figure out what's inside the middle of the Earth, because charts say that volcanoes get their lava from underground.

The Earth has an inner core, that is surrounded with an outer core, with a protecting mantle and lastly, the crust. Since the Earth's core is very hot, it melts the mantle into lava. Some of the mantle's lava goes up through the small cracks in the crust that reaches up to the surface, releasing lots of heat. From that, smoke sometimes comes up through the holes in the ground.

The lava starts to create volcanic rock layers on top of each other, eventually forming a cone-like shape. There are different types of volcanoes that have a faster flow of lava and some releases more lava, rocks and gas when it erupts.

Volcanoes are thought to be disastrous mountains, but if there were no volcanoes, we would not have islands that are divided.

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of an explanation.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write about how volcanoes are formed.

The factory is big. Can you spot the synonym?

Learning intention: We are learning to develop our English Grammar.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I give six examples of synonyms. 

Is 'which' a relative pronoun?

Learning intention: We are learning to understand the English Grammar.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I give six examples of relative pronouns.

Is the car long or short?

Learning intention: We are learning to develop our English Grammar.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I give four examples of antonyms that have the opposite meaning to another word.

Are black holes always big?

How are black holes formed?

Black holes are created when giant stars that are as big as our sun (or bigger) explode. They start to pull objects to it, and the middle becomes very dark. Once the things are inside, they are compressed into a smaller size, for example, if the Earth encountered a black hole, it would be the size of a golf ball.

Some theories say that black holes, when things are  inside, end up somewhere else.

Giant stars, when they explode, will create giant black holes. They will travel around, until they lose their energy and then fade away into nothing.

Some black holes become giant. They mostly stay in the centre of the galaxies. They are called 'Supermassive Black Holes.' It is said that radiation cannot escape them, but scientists have not proven that yet. They do know that they cover a large area and that they get their size by 'eating' small stars, space debris and asteroids.

Black holes are thought to suck things in, but some people say that things fall into them. This theory has not been proven yet, for no technology that has been used in space has gone into a black hole yet and no cameras have any recordings.

Black holes are very unique but can be very destructive. Let's hope that a medium sized black hole doesn't goes into our Solar system.

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of an explanation.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write an introduction, an explanation and a conclusion to explain how black holes are formed.

Are pyramids supposed to be flat?

How were Pyramids built?

Pyramids are giant triangular shaped buildings that were tombs for special Egyptian kings called Pharaohs.

Pharaohs planned these pyramids for when they die as a burial place. They ordered giant workforces of around 11,000 workers to build at least one pyramid. They started with pyramids with steps on them, but later on they gained the knowledge to mould limestone to make smooth, angled shapes to form pyramids. The workers worked for days, weeks, months and even years to make the pyramids.

Finally, when they were done, their Pharaoh ordered it as his own burial ground for himself. If not, his other family members. They mostly bury gold weapons and tools with them because they think they need it in the afterlife.

Pyramids lasts for thousands of years and some lay undiscovered, waiting for explorers to find the treasure within them and learn about the life of the Egyptians.

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of an explanation.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write an introduction, explanation and a conclusion to explain how pyramids were built.