How have rivers changed our lives?

All over the country and the world rivers shape the land and have shaped history. We are going to learn about why rivers are such a powerful force. As a geographer, I will know and be able to describe the features of a river and 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 and 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 also use this knowledge practically help 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. We 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.

Geography

As part of our Geography topic, we collected all the data from our investigations and plotted them on a map of Kearsney Abbey. We used different keys to show the activities.

Maths

In maths we have been investigating angles and using a protractor to draw and measure them, Great fun!

Learning Lift-off

Wow, what a wonderful day we had at Kearsney Abbey and Russell Gardens. We measured the speed and depth of the river at different places, pond dipping and investigating the biodiversity in different places. We even went in the river and found that it was really cold.

‘I loved it when went into the water and paddled, it was so cold. It made my shiver!’

‘I can’t believe we saw the coot’s nest and the mum guarding it.’

‘We measured the depth of the water, the highest was 88cm in Russell Gardens, that is up to my waist!’

‘We found lots and lots of fresh water shrimps. They are tiny and brown.’

‘It was fun playing pooh sticks to work out the speed of the current. It was quickest by the waterfall in Russell Gardens.’

‘I loved everything we did.’

‘In my net I found lots of algae but also a coke bottle. Not very good! I put it in the bin.’

We started the day by looking at the biodiversity. We logged coots, mallard ducks, swans, herring gulls, fresh water shrimps, frog spawn beech, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, oak trees and bluebells, snowflakes and wild garlic.