Our topic this term is entitled 'Riveting River'. 

How have rivers changed our lives? All over the country and the world rivers shape the land and have shaped history. Since the dawn of time people have lived by, moved towards rivers and even tried to move the rivers themselves. We are going to learn about why rivers are such a powerful force both literally and metaphorically in human history. As a geographer, I will know and be able to describe the features of a river, know and recall the capitals of the countries in the British Isles and relate them to the rivers running through them. From this I will be able to name the seas around the UK and the rivers that feed into them. I will be able to explain the water cycle and how it effects the weather. I will use fieldwork to bolster my academic understanding of how rivers function and relate this to topographical features on maps. We will be able to use compasses to build our knowledge of the UK and wider world. We want them to have an understanding and be able to explain how human choices can impact the environment in both positive and negative ways and make decisions based on this knowledge. As a scientist I will be able to apply my knowledge of the properties of materials to design a protective suit for a river scientist to allow them to work across the globe in all the rivers we have learned about during the topic. We will also use this knowledge practically help scientists clear spills and pollution to solve real life problems which can have a lasting and long term impact on the health of rivers in the UK and beyond. The children will learn fieldwork and practical science investigation skills. These will be repeated several times during the course of the unit particularly the science skills of separating including separating, filtering and sieving. We will enable the children to practice their geography fieldwork skills in the rivers at Kearsney Abbey and Russel Gardens and use these to create presentations. 

-------------------------------------------

Kearsney Abbey

A wonderful day was had by all on our (slightly delayed) trip to Kearsney Abbey. We had a whale of a time splashing about in the river whilst measuring the width and the depth which enabled us to practice our maths in a real-life situation. We also had the chance to pond dip and even managed to catch some sticklebacks! This made the children over the moon.

Aside from our science and maths skills, we also continued with our practice of art and English. We spent some time exploring the senses of autumn before sketching the rivers and ponds to build ideas for watercolor paintings we will be creating before the term is out.

It was great to see the children getting into their  learning with such joy and determination.

 

-----------------------------------

Rivers

As part of our learning this term, we have been looking at the water cycle and how this impacts our daily lives. We have also learned about the impact humanity has on rivers and seas with the construction of dams. The children had some very strong views on this. We have also learned about the journey of a river from source to mouth and all the interesting features along the way.

-------------------------------

Music

This term we have been learning about diatonic scales and the ternary form of music. We have listened to various pieces and composed our own which we played for performance. It has been fun looking at the children’s compositions and hearing them grow in confidence and skill through our discovery. We also had fun listening to opera music, which isn’t to all of our tastes!

-----------------------------------------

Science

We have been exploring the properties of materials this term and using our knowledge to help us separate mixtures. The children have explored various materials and sorted them by their properties. Once we understood their properties, we gave them the challenge of separating various mixtures using a range of resources and their native cunning. We hope that, in the future, the children can use these skills to help cleanse our seas and waters to extend the life of planet Earth.

 

Watercolour Artists

Year 5 have continued their journey as artists through this term. We have been learning about using our sketchbooks to record our ideas and using various media to turn our ideas into well-crafted works of art. This term, we have been focused on creating watercolours which reflect our learning about rivers. We thought about perspective, light, shadow and reflections. We even used our artistic license to change the time of day in our paintings.