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Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
Year 4 Physical processes worksheets
Gases all around us
Gases are all around us, but they can be hard to spot! Help your child work through this investigation into the gases we can see and what they're used for.
Repeating experiments: changing sounds
A practical investigation into pitch and how sounds change in different conditions.
Bottle music
For this investigation you will need to ask a parent or adult if you can borrow some glass bottles (milk bottles are ideal). Remember to be careful when handling glass and ask an adult to help you clean the bottles first.
Why do we use grit?
When the roads are slippery in winter we spread grit and then salt on them. But is salt the most effective solid we could use? Conduct this simple experiment to investigate!
What is evaporation?
In this investigation you are going to see if water can move – or does it just change?
Understanding evaporation
Evaporation is the process by which a liquid such as water turns into a gas. In this simple experiment you will investigate how this process takes place.
The science of making music
Look at these pictures of different musical instruments. Which part is vibrating to make the sounds we hear – is it the skin, strings, metal, wood or air inside the instrument? Record which you think it is below each picture.
Solid, liquid or gas?
Look at these cards. Cut them out and then sort them according to whether you think they are a solid, a liquid or a gas. Be careful…some have been put in to challenge you!
Ruler noises
Try this simple experiment at home to investigate the pitch of sound you can make using a ruler.
Observing electricity
Choose a selection of small electrical objects, preferably two-battery operated. Look closely at how the batteries are arranged. Open up a plug and look at the wires, all going in different directions. Can you work with your adult helper to put the plug back together? If you have an electricity meter clock, look at the dial turning and how much electricity you are using.
Moving and vibrating sounds
When sounds are generated by objects, something moves or vibrates. Collect about 10 objects that make a noise (they don’t have to be musical instruments) and see if you can answer these questions.
Making things louder
This simple investigation demonstrates how sound can be amplified and made louder.
Making carbon dioxide
We often drink fizzy drinks such as lemonade and cola. These are made using carbon dioxide. In this simple experiment, you will be able to make raisins dive up and down in a glass by making your own carbon dioxide!
Make your own water cycle
Build your own water cycle and investigate reversible and irreversible changes.
Make your own guitar
A guitar makes music when the strings vibrate. This simple experiment will help you make your own guitar and see how the length and tightness of the strings can affect the notes made.
Make your own circuits game
The aim of this activity is to design and make your own circuits game to help you revise the different circuit symbols.
Kitchen-roll instrument
We’re going to be playing with our voice sounds and muffling them using a kitchen roll. Make different sounds into the tube (ring a bell, clap, whistle, rattle some keys). Blindfold the person who is listening and ask them to guess what sounds you are making.
Gases everywhere
Can you use your knowledge of gases and research skills to find out how each gas is being used? Record your notes next to each picture.
Freezing and melting
Look at the cards and diagram. Can you complete the diagram to show the reversible changes of freezing and melting? Don’t forget to label the states of water too!
Examples of evaporation
Evaporation happens all around us. Can you describe what is happening in these pictures? What conditions can make this change happen? What other examples of evaporation can you think of?