Year 1

Central Idea: 'Seasonal Changes and the Weather Influence Features of Our Environment'

Year 1 children have enjoyed another busy term with a wide range of activities and challenges to support them in understanding our central idea.  

Line of Inquiry 1: Seasons and How We Recognise Them

As part of our first line of inquiry, Year 1 children have been closely studying the four seasons and using their senses to explore the different signs which help us to identify them.  We have used some lovely books to inspire our writing, including "Tree" and "Seasons", and created some fantastic spring riddles to be solved.  It has been so nice discussing the plants we have been able to spot during this season and to think about the newborn animals including lambs, chicks and rabbits.  

We discussed the fact that spring is celebrated as a fresh start in many cultures and countries and, on the theme of new growth on plant life, the children wrote some detailed step by step instructions on how to plant a seed and what a seed needs to grow.  As part of our meteorological studies, we used plastic bottles to create rain gauges so that we could measure the amount of rainfall in our school area.  Although we weren't able to collect any rainfall, we were quite happy to observe the lovely warm weather.  

Line of Inquiry 2: What Makes Up Our Environment

As part of our second line of inquiry, the children explored and discussed the natural and man-made objects that combine to form our immediate environment.  We looked at a world atlas showing where the equator is and coloured our own atlases to show that the warmer countries are closer to the equator than the colder countries.  As part of our Rainbow Reading activities we read the story "Lila and the Secret of Rain", which is set in a village in Kenya, and were able to observe the contrasts and similarities between our own environment and that of Kenya. 

Line of Inquiry 3: How Our Environment Changes Depending on the Seasons or the Weather

The children have used their research skills to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of the seasons, linking to our third line of inquiry. In our DT lessons, the children used photographs and paintings of our outside school environment as a background for our moving picture designs.  The children have looked at examples of how moving pictures can be produced, and have used elements such as flaps, sliders and split pins to bring their seasonal paintings to life.

The children have been so enthusiastic in their learning again this term and are ready to continue their learning into Term 6.