Our core texts this half term are 'What a waste' by Jess French and '10 things I can do to help my world' by Melanie Walsh. 

This half term we will be considering the impact of human actions on the world around us - with a particular focus on litter and how we can help to keep Nelson tidy.

In Design Technology we are learning about the inspirational life and achievements of architect Zaha Hadid in preparation for our project of designing and making a model of a new mosque for Nelson using recycled materials. We explored local buildings and structures around our local area and looked closely at how the bricks are placed. We discussed the key features of a good structure.

Today we worked with our local scientist Steven Lewis Neille. First we looked for signs of Spring and talked about what we will see as the seasons change. We then went minibeast hunting and made habitats for them based on their needs. We found out that lots of minibeasts like to hide in dark, damp places where they can keep safe! We even found two bumblebees hibernating! 

During our recent walk around Nelson, we were shocked at the amount of litter we found around our local area. We decided to take action and worked together to pick up as much litter as we could to make the streets around our school tidier for everyone. Once we returned to school we discussed the different materials of the litter we collected and researched whether they could be recycled as part of our Science learning. 

We also did a fieldwork enquiry to find out which local street has the most litter. Macleod Street had the most litter followed by Victoria Street next to the canal.

In History we have been researching the life and achievements of biologist and author Sir David Attenborough.

To begin this half term's Geography learning we explored an aerial map of the streets around our school and identified a range of local landmarks and human features. We then talked about which environments around our school have the most litter and possible reasons for this. 

In D.T we built and explored a variety of freestanding structures using a range of construction kits. We learnt about how to stop structures falling over and ways we can make them stronger so that they can hold weight. 

We then looked at differently shaped boxes and investigated how to securely attach the boxes together in preparation for making our mosque from recycled materials. 

We then designed and made our mosques. 

Our learning journey for Spring 2.