This half-term in Geography, Year 3 have started their unit on Volcanoes. We have learned about the many different types of volcanoes (including composite, shield and dome volcanoes) and how they can be active, dormant or extinct depending on their likelihood and recency of eruption. The children have been applying their knowledge by completing tasks such as identifying the parts of a volcano and even locating where famous volcanoes in the world are. It has certainly been a unit where the children have been very enthusiastic! The children have also enjoyed linking our Geography work with our Summer unit Guided Reading text, ‘When Disaster Strikes: Extreme Volcanoes’, and look forward to continuing to learn about volcanoes next half-term.
In Year 4, we have been focusing on map-work skills. We have learned about the equator, lines of latitude, longitude and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. We have also looked at how the climate varies when you live within the tropics and the children even produced a weather report for a location in the tropics! We have also been learning to read four- and six-figure grid references and also to label the same features on an aerial photograph as on a map.
Year 5 started out by studying the history of the Norfolk Broads and we were interested and surprised to find out that they were actually man–made in the Medieval times by people cutting out peat for fuel. They then filled with water when sea levels rose and became navigable waterways where wherries would transport goods. The children also learnt about eutrophication and the positive and negative impacts of tourism and ways to resolve problems. They understand how man contributed to the making of the Broads and how man was now adding to its destruction. The children were keen to learn rich vocabulary associated with this topic.