Setting the scene.

Behind the door there is a team who are busy sorting, categorising, grouping, labelling, organising, filing, storing. 

There are seeds, bulbs, leaves, twigs, pots of plants. 

What would you be doing? 

The team chose a job to do and went into role.  

We decided to set up a germination investigation to see how long it took different seeds to germinate.

We tested a runner bean, cress, mung beans and cress. 

We made sure that the seeds had everything they needed to grow.

• soil or cotton wool
• light
• water

After a week we saw that the cress and mung beans grew the quickest, with the runner bean following behind.  We continued to look after the seeds and...

After another week we saw that all the seeds had started to grow!

The classroom then became a germinating station!

We tested different ways to germinate seeds and bulbs:

• We each had a broad bean growing in a plastic bag on the window.

• We each had a bulb germinating on top of water beads.

• We set up an experiment to see how a plant would grow without soil, water or light.

Now we have a collection of plants and seeds we discussed the term horticulturalists.

A horticulturist is a person who is skilled at growing flowers, fruits, vegetables and plants.  As we have so many plants, seeds and bulbs we needed some tools and equipment. 

We looked at a variety of gardening tools and found out what they are used for.  We looked at:  

Trowel                     Watering can              Fork                        Shears                    

Pruners                   Edging tools             Dibber                     Gloves                    

Hose                 Rake                       Shovel                        Wheelbarrow 

We noticed that some of the tools have moving parts and some do not. 

We sorted them into moving parts and not. 

The moving part on some of the tools e.g. shears have leavers and a pivot. 

A leaver is something that turns on a pivot.

We then made some gardening scissors to explore leavers and pivot, and to put in our gardening tool box.

Making Linkages: understanding how objects can move. 

As we had already explored leavers and pivots, it was time to make some linkages.  

• Each strip of card had to be the same size.
• We had to find the middle of the strip using a ruler to make sure the holes lined up.
• We made the holes safely using plasticine and a blunt pencil. 
• We used a split pin to create the pivots, attaching the strips together and secured the split pins so they didn't restrict the movement.  

These linkages are mini trellis.  They will support our plants as they grow!

Titanic

Everyone knows the Titanic sank!

But do you know what it looks like now?

The team started with a cut up picture of the sunken Bow of the Titanic to put together.  They looked closely at the image and thought about what ship wreck it could be.

'We’ve been sent some more pictures. Can we use our observation and deduction skills to work out what we can see from the images?  

Look closely at the different images of Titanic over the years. What can you see in both the images?  What has changed? 

We then looked at some posters advertising the journey of the Titanic.

We added noted for key words and found lots of information.

Look at our 'Five Finger Facts!'

Captain Smith 

We receive a box of useful items from someone who heard we were collecting items from the Titanic.  

I wonder what could be inside?  We passed the box around and shook it so we could make predictions of what we thought was inside.  

We then drew what we thought was inside the box, 

Opening the box.

Inside the box were some buttons and beading.  We discussed what we thought they were for  alnd all came to the conclusion  that it was for the captains jacket.

Onboard the Titanic there were 3 classes of tickets.

• First class - was for the wealthy; often business men
• Second class -  was often for families on vacation
• Third class - tended to be for people emigrating.   

We looked at some photos of passengers and ordered them by their class.

Then we created the dining rooms for each of the classes

Becoming a passenger onboard the Titanic.

We each chose a name of a real passenger onboard the Titanic.  We added their details onto a ticket:

• Title
• Age
• First names
• Family name
• Boarded at

We were then told what class we were.

We all dressed up as our passenger and chose clothing appropriate for our class.

This half term, Miss Capron-Tee was teaching us to play the ocarina! We learned how to hold, blow and cover the holes. We learned how to play D, B and A, and had a lot of fun beginning to read music and playing together.

Setting up the team.

The teams first job.

The team noticed a poster on the metal fence: It showed safety equipment and clothing required for a job.

There was a man on the other side of the fence waiting for us.  

Around the man are various tools and materials used by builders. He tells the team to be careful of the tools and materials.               

He had a roll of paper in his hands.

It was a house floor plan.

The team found out that the house belonging to a gentleman called Bob Green, but there is a problem with Bob's house!

His home, the place where he grew up and his children grew up, is dangerously close to the cliff edge. But he can’t bear the thought of leaving it and his memories. His family have always farmed the land here. His cows and sheep graze in the fields, they have all the grass they need. 

The Habitat Helpers needed to speak to Bob urgently and try to get him to change his mind.  They did have a plan!

The team had the idea that Bob's house could be taken down brick-by-brick and then rebuilt in a safe location.  They found a company who had experience replicating homes and moving them brick-by-brick.   

Nickson builders successfully moved Bob’s house brick-by-brick to a safe location.

Bob was extremely great full and very happy with the move.

The teams second job.

The team receives an envelope. Inside there is a block graph showing the number of nesting bats in part of Redditch. The numbers have decreased. It seems to have decreased since the lighting was changed on the Warwick Highway. The bats are disorientated by the bright streetlamps. There is evidence that red light is better for bats, but the local council won’t listen. They need our help. 

Warwick highway is a busy road situated in Redditch.  Many cars use the highway and at night it can be very dangerous.  That is why the lamp posts have bright white lights. 

The council said, "Bright white lights are needed at night to make sure the roads are well lit and that all drivers have a clear and safe route."  

The team contacted a Bat Expert to find out how they could help.  They told us that there is evidence that red light is better for bats. They asked us if we could help speak to the council on their behalf.  

First the team needed to build a prototype of the highway to show the council what are plans were to protect travelers and the bats.

In Design Technology, we explored different 3D structures and tested its strength.  We made cuboids, triangular prisms and cylinders.  The team found out that the cylinder was the strongest as it did not have any corners.  This was the structure that we would use to make our lamp posts.

To complete our lamp posts we added a lightbulb to the top, but they were still bright white.  We had to think of something that we could use to change the light from white to red.

We tested different materials to see which one was the best for letting light through and also changing the light red.  The team decided that the red cellophane worked the best. 

The team third job

The team observed a Worcestershire Wildlife Trust employee sitting at a laptop. They were looking at a photo. 

it was an image of a wide road Either side is countryside.  

The team zoomed in to get a better view of the image.   They could see the road more clearly.  It had 3 lanes on each carriageway and they could see the road markings. it was a very busy road with cars, vans and lorries. Either side of the road they could see trees, hedges and flowers. 

We zoomed in again. This time the team could only see part of the road. There is a lorry driving fast and here seemd to be something at the edge of the road. It is an injured rabbit.   

We then read a newspaper headline which was near the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust employee.

NEW ROAD OPENS CUTTING JOURNEY TIMES FOR TREAVELLORS AND REDUCING THE TRAFFIC IN THE VILLAGES. It seems the road is good for the people. But no one considered the wildlife. 

We are a team that track explorers, who venture to extreme places and experience intense weather conditions.  We have a variety of equipment and clothing stored safely in our office, in preparation for different events. 

The team have also been building shelters, as our explorers would have to have a place to sleep or rest when they are on long journeys.  We used different materials and explored different ways of creating a shelter. 

To keep warm the explorers would need to build a fire.  So we searched the wooded area and collected sticks to make a fire outside our shelters.

We had so much fun!  

We not only track extreme journeys, we also track the weather. 

We keep an eye on the ever changing weather conditions, check the wind

direction, amount of rain fall and cloud cover. 

This enables us to warn the explorers about a change in weather conditions so that they are prepared for the worst.

Most of the journeys that we track are extremely dangerous, that is why they are 

TOP SECRET!

The team needed to be First Aid trained so that they can provide advice and support to any of our explorers if they became injured.  We tested materials to see which one would be the best to support a broken limb.  The material needed to be rigid as this would hold the broken bone in place.  We tested: 

• foil
• fabric
• wood (ruler)
• plastic (tube)

We realised very quickly that the wooden ruler would make the best splint as it was rigid and long enough to keep arms and legs straight.  We trained on each other, positioning the splint and used a bandage to hold it in position.

  We took it very seriously and followed all the rules of First Aid:

• check area is safe
• assess the casualty, speak to them and let them know you are there to help.
• call for help
• deal with the injury

At the end of our training we were pleased to hear that we all passed!

To find out who the next explorer was that we would be tracking, we did some orienteering.

Who is Ranulph Fiennes and why is Ranulph Fiennes in the Guinness World Records? 

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is a British explorer and writer. He has had many exciting adventures as an expedition leader. In 1984, a records book said that Ranulph is the 'world's greatest living explorer'. Since then, he has gone on to complete many more  amazing challenges!

What is an explorer?

Someone who travels to places that no one has ever been or attempts to achieve something that no one has ever completed. 

Explorers are courageous, brave, persistent, resilient, patient, determined, they have a sense of purpose and lots of energy. 

Facts about Sir Ranulph Fiennes;

• He is the only man alive ever to have travelled around the Earth's circumpolar.  
• He has written 19 books.
• He has led over 30 expeditions.

• He did the first unsupported walk across Antarctica.

• He has crossed the Arctic Ocean and Antarctic continent.

• He has climbed the highest mountain on three of the world's continents.

• He has also endured temperatures of -30°C.

• He was named as top celebrity fundraiser having raised millions for the Marie Curie charity.

   

Some of Sir Ranulph’s greatest achievements are:

· discovering the lost city of Ubar on the Yemeni border;

· being made an honorary doctor of Birmingham City University;

· receiving the Sultan’s Bravery Medal and the Polar Medal from the Queen;

· wining the Man of the Year Award;

· being presented with the Millenium Award for Navigation.

His next challenge, that we are going to support and track, is to climb the tallest mountains on the four remaining continents to complete his Global Reach Challenge.

How many continents and oceans are there and can you name them?

As the team are tracking Sir Ranulph Fieennes' journey, climbing different mountains on different continents, they needed to become experts in the worlds continents and oceans.

There are seven continents:                                                     

• North America                                                          
• South America
• Africa
• Europe
• Asia
• Australia 
• Antarctica

There are five oceans:

• The Pacific Ocean
• The Atlantic Ocean
• The Indian Ocean
• The Arctic Ocean
• The Southern Ocean

The team received a message from Sir Ranulph Fiennes' team explaining that he is injured and can’t get down from the mountain.  How can we help?

We are trained firsts aiders so we can give the team some ideas of how to make Sir Ranulph Fiennes  comfortable. 

We swiftly made stretchers  and sent a text message to the team so that they know what equipment to use. 

Once Sir Ranulph Fiennes was well enough he began his epic challenge again. 

As the team now know what the 5 oceans and seven continents are, they needed to plot the journey of Sir Ranulph Fiennes.  As he has been injured before, it is vital that the team know where he is on this challenge.

When Sir Ranulph Fiennes is on the mountain, he needs to make sure he has plenty of water to drink.  How does he get fresh water on the mountain? 

How can he turn ice into drinking water without using up lots of energy? 

Which material would melt ice so that the explorers can have some water to drink? 

The team tested different materials to see which one would be suitable to melt ice for drinking water.

We tested: 

• paper towel
• cloth
• plastic sandwich bag
• foil

The plastic bag turned out to be the best.

"The water has stayed in the bag because it is water proof and can be closed", Harry.

"The sun can warm the ice up as the plastic bag is transparent", Katia.

Other explorers

The team have noticed other explorers attempting these journeys, but they are underprepared!   

They don’t have the correct clothing, equipment, not enough water.  We need to help them asap as they will come into danger on their journey.   

We are experts in the correct clothing, equipment and now how to get water and how to store it.  We need to make sure this knowledge gets to the explorers before they start their journey.  

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has received many awards as an explorer. He has also appeared in the GUiness Book of Records.

If he completes the Global Reach Challenge, he might be awarded a new medal. What might it look like?  

The team received some advertising from a company who arrange explorations. It is an advert for desert explorations. The pictures are all about sandy deserts and show the clothing and equipment. Look at the desert names. Antarctica is included. Is that right? 

We checked where the deserts are on an atlas and we noticed that they were all near the equator.

• The Sahara
• The Kalahari
• The Arabian
• The Sonoran 

So why was Antarctic on the poster?