Geography: Blog items
Year 5 Building Frame Structures!
Date: 8th Jan 2022 @ 5:34pm
Upon our return to Year 5, we spent Wednesday afternoon building our own frame structures... out of raw spaghetti!
We spent time as a class looking at beautiful buildings around the world, some that we knew (Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and London Bridge) and some that we didn't know (The Louvre... in Abu Dhabi and The Centre Pompidou).
Next, we had to design what we wanted to build and explain why we wanted to build a frame structure in the way we had designed.
Then came the hard part! Putting our ideas into practice with just spaghetti and Blu-Tac. This took a lot of teamwork and patience, but it is fair to say we did an excellent job! Year 5 are really looking forward to our Design Technology unit over this next half-term.
Date: 6th Jan 2022 @ 7:58pm
In Year 4 this week we have started our Geography journey by beginning to learn about our coastlines. This week we focussed on physical and human features of geography and what they mean. We watched an 'ama-sea-ing' video of different clips of the coastlines around the UK.
We then look at different features and decided whether they were human (man made) features or physical (natural) features. A fantastic effort from our Year 4's and it was clear to 'sea' that they enjoyed their lesson!
Date: 30th Nov 2021 @ 3:43pm
In geography this week we explored what human and physical features are. Using our team work skills we sorted pictures and annotated then to identify features. We look at famous landmarks across the UK and identified whether they were were formed from human or physical features and compared them.
Date: 19th Nov 2021 @ 4:12pm
As part of our final Forest School session, we spent our time outdoors learning different types of survival skills.
Year 5 made dens out of different materials and learnt how to secure them using a range of knots and understood why it is important to protect ourselves from cold weather whilst out in nature. We then made a fire and understood why different factors such as the wind and types of energies can have an impact on their effectiveness.
To finish our sessions, we made pizza, shortbread and hot chocolate.
We have had such a great time and learnt so much about the outdoors.
Date: 16th Nov 2021 @ 4:13pm
In Geography we started our journey learning about the UK. We went on ariel tours of England, Northern Island, Scotland and Wales and we were fascinated by the beautiful landscapes and spectactular buildings that the UK has to offer.
We also used atlases to find the UK on a world map and compared it to other countries in the world. We enjoyed looking for places we had visited and those we long to visit.
Date: 22nd Oct 2021 @ 12:50pm
While black history is celebrated year round, Black History Month is marked annually. It recognises and values the inspirational individuals and events that have shaped the black generation. During Black History Month, we remember and celebrate the important people from the past and also those who contribute to and help our society today.
Alongside shared class books highlighting the work and impact of Black people, the month of October began with an assembly to introduce the themes of Black History Month and its importance for us all. Classes have woven some significant figures from Black History into a range of lessons including Reading into Writing:
EYFS and Year 1 – People around the world
Year 2 – Rosa Parks
Year 3 – Mary Seacole
Year 4 – Sporting achievements
Year 5 – Influential musicians
The children's work will be displayed on specially designed black and gold post boxes that will feature, as in previous years, in prominent positions throughout school as we share our learning with other classes and visitors to Boundary.
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 7:48pm
Today Year 1 experienced the musical delights of Travelling By Tuba! During the morning show we watched Stewart and Chris perform different musical intruments and pieces from around the world. It was a very entertaining tour around the world, which we all very much enjoyed! We then took part in a workshop where we had the oppourtunity to play some of the musical instruments. Our workshop involved creating a piece of music to a Brazillian Samba! Our day ended in a musical performance where we shared our learning with our audience!
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 5:01pm
Over the past three weeks, Year 2 have been getting their hands dirty and enjoying learning outside. In the first session, the children explored the different outdoor areas and enjoyed making cake and other treats in the mud kitchen as well as doing some leaf painting. During the second week, we built dens and bird boxes for next year before learning to light a fire so we could cook apples and dip them in melted chocolate of caramel. This week, both classes learnt about the cardinal directions (North, East, South and West) and what each one represents. We created pieces inspired by Andy Goldsworthy to represent the Earth (North), Air (East), Fire (South) and Water (West). Lastly, we enjoyed toasting marshmallows. We have enjoyed our three weeks outside and look forward to our next sessions in the Summer.
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 5:00pm
We took part in 'What's Under Your Feet' task where we had to check the food supply for birds. We threw a pencil onto the grass to select the area and this would be the place we were going to dig up to investigate. Once we had selected our area, we measured 30cm x 30cm ready to dig up. We used a spade to dig up the top layer of grass and soil and tipped it onto a tray. Using rulers and plastic dishes, we placed worms and other wildlife in to measure the lengths of the food source for birds. Whilst we were doing this task, we saw seaguls stamping their feet on the grass to trick the worms into thinking that it's raining so that they would come to the surface.
Blackpool School's OAA Competition
Date: 21st Oct 2021 @ 11:02am
Date: 19th Oct 2021 @ 7:25pm
Today we enjoyed our first Now Press Play session in Year 1! Our experience today was all about the United Kingdom. We put on our headphones and we we're on a school trip to Buckingham Palace, where we met the Queen! However, something very strange was going on and the Queen was behaving very strangely! When we discovered the real Queen in the basement we went on a mission across the UK to foil her imposter and save the Queen!
Date: 14th Oct 2021 @ 6:50pm
Today we continued to learn about the area around our school. Firstly we discussed the features of our area using Google Earth. We worked collaboratively to create a map of our school using an appropriate key. We recapped on all our previous learning and discussed human and physical features, maps and what a good key will look like. We then worked in smaller groups to add key features onto an aerial map of our school. Alongside this, we worked independently to draw and label pictures of the human and physical features we see on our way to school.
Date: 13th Oct 2021 @ 9:18am
During Black History Month we will be reading the story ‘Handa’s Surprise.’ Today we were introduced to the story and we discussed the characters, new vocabulary and where the story was set. We learnt that the story is set in Kenya and we looked at the illustrations to support our understanding with this. We all enjoyed the story and we spent lots of time discussing the key events and the order the cheeky animals took Handa’s fruit! We then worked in small groups to reorder key events in the story. We talked through the story again in our groups and retold it using the picture prompts.
Date: 11th Oct 2021 @ 7:17am
This week we took part in No Pen Day! This included doing our normal lessons but in a slightly different way... with no pens! Some people might think this is hard, but in Year 5, we rose to the challenge!
During Reading into Writing, we annotate a historical narrative using typed features and gluing them down and in Maths, we completed another tri-jigsaw (to do with addition and subtraction, our current topic). During PSHE we took paert in an activity where we tested how far sneezes and coughs go by using a water sprayer, and finally in Geography we had a research lesson about rivers. The research lesson allowed children to find out what they wanted about rivers, and some children even found rivers from their home countries that they didn't know about.
A great day was had by all in Year 5.
Date: 28th Sep 2021 @ 6:33pm
Today we created maps of our classroom environments using loose parts! We firstly talked about what a bird’s eye view meant, and how these photographs and recordings are made. We then looked at our classroom in more detail, discussing what shape various things were, and how we could represent these on our map. We pointed out specific points in the classroom that we would need to include. After we created our maps we then described our work to other groups in the class, explaining our reasons for the choice of equipment we had used.
Date: 23rd Sep 2021 @ 7:02pm
This week in Geography we began to learn about physical and human features. We learnt that human and physical features are things we can see all around us. We discussed how physical features are natural and would be here even if there were no people around. We identified physical features such as seas, grass, mountains and rivers. We also talked about how human features are man made and built by people. It was then time to visit the outdoor areas around school and the Forest School area to identify as many human and physical features as possible. Have a look at what we found!
Date: 18th Sep 2021 @ 8:10am
Today we began our Geography lesson by recapping the four countries in the United Kingdom and their capital cities. We again looked at a UK map and located each country. We then began to identify features of three different locations, Blackpool, Grange Park and London. We looked at a number of photos from each of these places and discussed the similarities and differences. The children understood that Blackpool is on the coast and near to the beach. They were also able to identify that London is a city with tall buildings, a long river and old buildings such as Big Ben.
Date: 13th Sep 2021 @ 12:22pm
This half-term in Cedar, we are going to be eco warriors!
We started our topic by investigating Miss T's rubbish into what is recyclable or non-recylable. We discussed each item and how some parts of the items weren't and some were so we would have to separate them.
We learned about how must plasic there is in the oceans and seas and what we can do to help. We then used some of Miss T's rubbish to junk model our own sea creatures.
Date: 10th Sep 2021 @ 11:17am
Year 5 took to the water designing and creating their own rivers! They began by working in groups to decide how to create an accurate river that would eventually hold water. Using a range of materials they had to use their own thoughts, ideas and imagination to construct their river - some even added trees and boulders for extra realism! Ultimately, all groups took to the outside learning area where Mr. Taylor would 'test the flow' and pour water to down their creations to see if they held water! This launched our Geography topic of rivers as the children then came inside to look at some real rivers, begin to discuss their features and record their own questions that they would like to answer during the half-term.
Creating coastal erosion clay figures
Date: 9th Jul 2021 @ 9:09am
Yesterday in Art, year 4 created the stages of coastal erosion using clay. The children used the skills they have learnt over the past few weeks to create different texture in their clay using their hands and cocktail sticks.
Date: 30th Jun 2021 @ 8:15pm
This week we have started looking at Non-Chronological reports in Reading into Writing. We have been reading a variety of texts to highlight the features so that we can analyse what we need to include in our own success criteria. We have read about lots of interesting facts - we now know that they need to be factual and give information. Our Reports will be about our Geography topic Mountains and Volcanoes so we have been doing lots of reading and learning about different mountains around the world too so we have a great background knowledge for when we draft our reports.
Creating texture with play dough!
Date: 25th Jun 2021 @ 5:07pm
Today in Art, year four explored two of the seven elements of art which were texture and form. They used the play dough to make different forms and create various textures. We also linked this to geography by creating headlands and bays using the play dough which are created through erosion.
Now Press Play - The Water Cycle
Date: 17th Jun 2021 @ 7:53am
Today we went on an adventure in Ethipoia using the Now Press Play Headsets. We learned about the Water Cycle and how a water droplet from a lake or the sea evaporates to become water Vapour, which condenses to form heavy clouds and then precipitates to form rain on mountains/hills so that the water can rejoin the streams and rivers. It was a great adventure where we had to save the village from being in drought because a mean farmer had made a damn. We listened and acted out the story well!
Date: 8th Jun 2021 @ 4:31pm
For Geography this half term we are learning about Mountains and Volcanoes around the world! To start off our topic we had a minature volcanic eruption on the playground and thought about how difficult it might be to live near an active volcano! We then started learning about mountain ranges around the world including the Alps, Rockies, Andes and Himalayas and located them on Google Earth.
Date: 10th May 2021 @ 4:28pm
In Geography, we continued our learning on Australia. We learnt about natural and manmade landmarks. We started by finding some famous landmarks on a map of the UK and then went on to compare these to Australian landmarks.
In groups, we were given a wallet of jigsaw pieces. We had to piece these together to make 5 famous Australia landmarks. We then had names and facts to try to match up to our landmarks. Finally we located these famous attractions on a map of Australia! We just wish we could have visited these amazing places in real life!
