Geography

To continue our ‘Rivers’ topic, Y4 visited the Ribble Rivers Trust in Townsley. We were greeted with lots of heavy snowfall but this didn’t dampen our mood! First, we looked at the local river and the activity leaders were very impressed with our knowledge of rivers and how they shape the land. Next, we learnt about the possible dangers of erosion and thought about how we could protect the wildlife living near a river. The children thought about building walls and using rocks but we soon learnt that this is not a long-term solution. In the end, we were very surprised to learn that tress can be planted to prevent the erosion.

After we discovered all that we could about rivers, we went to meet the creatures that live beneath the water surfaces. We used a classification key to help us identify the creatures. This gave us some interesting pre-learning before we start our ‘Animals’ topic, next half term. Overall, we had an extremely fun day despite the unexpected snowfall!

Year 3 have been studying the geography of their local area as part of their ‘on our doorstep’ topic. To begin with, they looked at Bradford on a map of the UK and identified some cities nearby. They understand that Bradford is a large city and visited parts of the local area. Whilst on the visit, they compared and contrasted how the area has changed over time. The children discussed why they think these changes might have occurred.

Reception have been studying polar bears and their living enviroment as part of their ‘Big Bears Adventures’ topic. The children used maps to look at where Polar bears live and wondered if it would be possible to keep them as pets. After lots of research and discussions, they learnt that Bradford does not have the right climate for them to survive. To help them understand this, they wore gloves with one hand covered in lard and dipped into ice water. They learnt that the lard acts as an insulator and protects our hands from the cold of the icy water just like the fur on a polar bear.

Year 4 have been enjoying their ourdoor learning sessions linked with their current geography topic ‘rivers’. The children worked in groups to make a model of a river. They used key vocabulary from their class learning, talking about the source, meander, gravity and river mouth. They also talked about some of the plants and animals that live on river banks and about the problem of erosion.

Take a look at some of the rivers!