AoLE - Humanities

Same or Different?

Getting ready for the new term Mrs Scobie and Miss Horrigan found some old photographs of Cwmlai Primary School. One in particular fascinated us - there used to be a train station outside the school! The children had a challenge - could they identify what was in the photograph? After lots of observation and discussion they spotted the school - but they were most interested in the railway line.

We then posed the questions- so is our school the same or different? How has it changed over time? Mrs Jones in the office gave us photographs of Cwmlai through the ages. She asked us to order the photographs. We ordered the photographs and compared the similarities and differences.

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We completed an observational drawing based on a photograph of our school from 1948. We then completed a drawing based on what our school looks like today. Can you see the differences?

Our Locality

After looking at how Cwmlai School had changed over time we went for a walk around the area surrounding our school. We talked about how it had changed over the last 50 years, comparing old photographs to the places we had seen.

Tonrefail Now and Then

7 Wonders of the Modern World

After exploring our local area we threw the net wide and discovered the 7 Wonders of the Modern World. We identified each one and found them on a map:

Machu Piccu, Peru
Chitchen Itza, Mexico
Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
Colosseum, Italy
The Great Wall of China, China
Petra, Jordan
Taj Mahal, India

In groups we constructed a model of one of the Wonders of the World. Can you identify them?

Each group was given a country that contained one of the wonders of the world, and task of researching that country to compare it to Wales. Using our research we created a poster about our country.

Presenting our research

We presented our research posters to the class. We needed to speak clearly and ensure that we only informed our peers of facts that we knew were true, reliable and accurate.

Comparing and Contrasting

After researching different countries we worked in partners to compare and contrast the country to Wales. We found many similarities and differences and loved finding out how Wales was different to other countries. We presented our findings using slides, which we later presented to the Year 1 children.

Mankeerat Sidhu - Comparing Wales 11.2.25

The 7 Wonders of Wales.

Did you know there are 7 Wonders of Wales? An English tourist visited Wales in the 18th Century and wrote a poem about what he considered the wonders of Wales. We read the poem and found the places on Google Earth. When we looked at them on a map we realised they were all in North Wales. We came up with a list of places that we thought could be the 7 Wonders of South Wales.

"Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,

Snowdon's mountain without its people,

Overton yew trees, St Winifred's Well,

Llangollen's Bridge and Gresford's bells."

Kyffin Williams

After reading the poem '7 Wonders of Wales', we researched the attractions and located them on a map. We realised that they were all in North Wales so we decided to find out what North Wales looked like. We studied the artwork of Kyffin Williams and discussed what North Wales looked like. We recreated his artwork, using paints.

Jenny Lambert

After finding out what North Wales looked like, we compared it to South Wales. We studied the artwork of Jenny Lambert and discussed the similarities and differences between South and North Wales. We recreated the artwork using oil pastels.

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Wonders of South Wales

To conclude our research on what tourist attractions were in South Wales, we decided to make a short video to try and attract visitors to South Wales by providing them with information and what attractions were available. We used Adobe Express to create our video.

Trip to St Fagans

We were very interested in how things have changed over time. We went on a trip to St Fagans to further our knowledge. We looked at the 'Rhyd y Car' cottages and discussed how houses have changed over time. The children were amazed that toilets were outdoors and people bathed in a tin bath in front of the fire!

Toy Workshop

During our visit to St Fagans we were fortunate to participate in a Toy workshop. The children explored traditional toys from Wales and had the opportunity to play with the toys. Some of the traditional toys we explored were the cup and ball, marbles, peg dolls, whip and top and dolls. We found out how toys had changed over time as well as how the materials they were made from had changed.

Peg Dolls

During our workshop in St Fagans we were set a challenge 'To design and create a peg doll'. We were so excited to get started on this challenge. We discussed what materials we could use and got started on designing and creating. We were so pleased with our finished products!

Cup & Ball

We also made our own cup and ball games out of recyclable materials. We used plastic bottles for the cup, and string and kitchen foil to make the ball. We had great fun trying to catch the ball in our cups!

Playground Games

As part of a home challenge we created a playground game. We had to make the resources and create an instruction sheet. We then brought them in to school and had to teach our friends how to play. It was great fun!

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