In the Spring of 2022, year 3 and 4 pupils from Primary Schools across XP Trust studied a cross-curricular expedition looking to answer the guiding question, ‘Why should we protect our beautiful planet?’
The Learning Targets were:
Case Study 1 - Geography
I can use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features.
I can name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, including hills, mountains, cities, rivers, key topographical features and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
I can name and locate the countries of Europe and identify their main physical and human characteristics.
I can name and locate the Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle and date time zones. Describe some of the characteristics of these geographical areas.
I can describe geographical similarities and differences between countries.
I can use the eight points of a compass, four-figure grid references, symbols and key to communicate knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world.
Case Study 2 - Science
Biology
I can recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to specific habitats.
Physics
I can compare how things move on different surfaces.
I can notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance.
I can observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others.
I can describe magnets as having two poles.
I can predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing.
Children also developed their knowledge and skills of ‘Working Scientifically’ throughout the Case Study.
Case Study 3 - Music
I can evaluate music using musical vocabulary to identify areas of likes and dislikes.
I can understand layers of sounds and discuss their effect on mood and feelings.
I can sing from memory with accurate pitch.
I can sing in tune.
I can maintain a simple part within a group.
I can perform with control and awareness of others.
I can compose and perform melodic songs.
I can maintain a simple part within a group.
I can pronounce words within a song clearly.
I can show control of voice.
I can compose and perform melodic songs.
Immersion
Our immersion experience was exciting, varied, and active, piquing children’s interest in the expedition from the start. One of our first activities during Hook Week involved pupils reading intercardinal points on a compass to find different letters of the guiding question. The letters then made up an anagram that the children had to unscramble to reveal the GQ. Additionally, as descriptive writing was a key feature of the first literacy cycle, children undertook a walk around the local area spotting environmental features and the beauty of nature. Conversely, there was a caveat to this and our children were entrusted to spot anything that was spoiling the local environment: pictures were also taken as evidence to the impact of littering etc... Whilst on the walk, items were collected such as falling leaves and twigs to produce some ‘nature art’ on return to school.
As an introduction to our core text (The Last Bear by Hannah Gold), children were read the first chapter in their classrooms which had lights dimmed and the TV screens adapted to give the glow of the northern lights.
With regard to artwork, children imitated the front cover of the core text, using water colours and black paper to create a piece that was printed out on transfer paper to be placed on their t-shirts for the Expedition’s celebration of learning.
The culmination of the week was a trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park that involved seeing real life Polar bears as well as taking part in a workshop that centred around the preservation of planet Earth. At the end of the week, to frame the rest of the expedition, the children watched David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet Episode 7 - On Thin Ice - where he eloquently explained the dangers facing our world. The children reflected on this documentary by writing their own notices and wonders.
Our Learning
We undertook our expedition with the underlying purpose of highlighting, at first to our children, and then the wider community the environmental problems that we are faced with, specifically the impact of greenhouse gases on the melting of polar ice caps and rising sea levels. We did this through focusing on an area of the world known as Svalboard which is also the town where the core text is set. This part of the world has suffered the greatest temperature rise of anywhere else on the planet: a 6 degree rise in the last 100 years and 4 degree rise in the last 30 years.
To provide context and develop background knowledge, the first case studied centred around geography, locating Svalbard and comparing the two different localities focusing on geographical and meteorological differences, specifically topographical features as well as comparing the climate of both areas.
The second case study focused on the dramatic effect that greenhouse gases has on global warming and the impact it has had throughout the world but specifically focusing on the polar regions. Here, children examined many sources of data from scientific reports on air pollution to graphs and tables monitoring arctic ocean sea levels. From this, children then developed their understanding of climate change and the negative impact of humankind on it. To provide context of abstract ideas such as global warming, children undertook scientific experiments such as observing and recording ice under different temperatures as well as examining the different effects of having a thermometer in a closed container opposed to an exposed one. The second case study culminated in the children exploring magnetism and how that can help with recycling. A trip to a recycling centre brought this understanding to life for our children.
The final case study tied together all the children’s learning from the previous case studies and provided a platform to write their own lyrics to a Trust XP charity single. Here, they worked with experts on songwriting and drew on their learning from the literacy cycle that had a 3 week focus on poetry - using rhymes to construct rhythmic and melodic compositions. . During this time, the children evaluated and appreciated music throughout the decades to develop their understanding of melodies, lyrics and composition. Furthermore, they had the opportunity to create music in a class composition- using body percussion to represent a rainstorm and drawing on reused plastic materials to create the sounds. Finally, the children wrote their own verses to the chosen melody which resulted in them singing from memory with accurate pitch, singing in tune and performing with control and an awareness of others.
Final Product and Celebration of Learning
Prior to the celebration of learning, XP East hosted all 4 primary schools who were bedecked in their custom made t-shirts to perform the single in unison. The children stood on the steps of the school’s auditorium and sang both together and as individual schools, in order to capture footage for the music video that was produced alongside the product by the comms team.
The school’s then hosted their own celebration of learning by inviting families to come together and listen to the children performing the single. Children articulated the journey of the expedition and presented key learning outcomes as well. Families were then given the opportunity to purchase or download the single and all proceeds were donated to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park foundation. A charity selected by the children and with whom we collaborated throughout the expedition.