Author: fsellar

Wolf Brother Week

This week we immersed ourselves in the world or Torak and Renn with some creative activities linked to our class novel study of ‘Wolf Brother’ by Michelle Paver.

Creating clan camps using natural materials we gathered

After doing the ‘What is your Wolf Brother clan?’ questionnaire on wolfbrother.com we found that most of us were Raven Clan but we did have Seal Clan, Otter Clan, White Fox Clan and Red Deer Clan too.

The clans worked together to gather, select, fix, strengthen and arrange materials to create a successful settlement with key elements of fresh water, flat land on which to build, sources of food, sources of fuel and shelter.

Edinburgh’s Crag and Tail

After looking at early settlements and what made humans choose to live in a particular place, P5 looked at the shape of the landscape and how important this may have been for a settlement.

Edinburgh Castle and The Royal Mile was built on a land formation called a crag and tail. Primary investigated how the land was formed in a wee outdoor investigation…

Armed with a whiteboard posing as a glacier, we investigated how the ice that covered the area of Edinburgh long ago shaped the land by bulldozing its way over the rocks and earth.

As the ice (whiteboard) moved across the land (sand) it wore the land away.

Can you see the hard rocks buried in the soft sand?

We hid rocks deep in the sand. These were the hard volcanic rock that is a key feature of much of Edinburgh’s landscape. When our glaciers (whiteboards) dragged across the sand we could carve out a lovely path in the sand. But when we hit the hard rocks the ‘glacier’ could only go up and over or around the volcanic rock. This meant a steep crag was formed. Once the ice had gone up and over the hard rock it could once again slide over the softer rock, wearing it away to a gentle slope known as the tail.

The ice shaped the land to make a perfect fortress. The crags made it difficult to get to and the one side that was accessible, the gentle slope of the tail, could easily be guarded and intruders stopped.

The landform investigation teams!

Designing Green Cities for the Future

Primary 5’s learning about sustainability culminated in them planning their own future cities. Showcasing their knowledge and understanding about waste, food, nature, energy and transport they created and presented their vision for sustainable living.

Minecraft Education was one option for sharing learning. And a very popular one at that.
All of the materials used to create the models were recycled!

Shopping at the P7 market!

Festive fun was had at the Primary 7s enterprise market. Tree-mendous creativity all round with making, mini-xmas trees, baking, and games. We all spent a lot of money on some fabulous merch. Thanks P7s! And you raised over £1000 for the school 😮👏👏👏👏👏

Leading the Learning!

P5c had a new teacher on Tuesday! Ms Ascroft led a lesson on knot tying.

She began by teaching us an overhand knot. And then we progressed to a reef knot. However some of us tied granny knots instead!

The master plan to teach the class knot tying and then take over the world begins!

Things then became quite complicated and the final challenge was a figure of 8 knot.

Or so we thought… Ms Ascroft then proceeded to do a double and then the ultimate challenge – knot tying with 5 ropes!

Some helpful instructions of Ms Ascroft’s PowerPoint

Leadership skills were not only seen in young Ms Ascroft but also throughout the lesson from the eager students who passed on skills to others as they problem solved knot tying with the different ropes and strings.

A very well resourced, engaging and useful learning experience! Thanks Ms Ascroft!

Outdoor Classroom Day

Kindness and Connectivity during Covid times is the theme of this year’s Winter Windows project. P5c combined the uplifting experience of learning outside with creating some magical environmental art with the colours of Autumn.

Dear World Leaders at COP26

This is our message to you all. Included in our artwork are just a few of the species endangered by climate change. Our artwork is called ‘All at Sea’ because that is how we feel things are now. Things don’t feel right.

The message in the melting iceberg reads…

Dear world leaders,
26 meetings and the crisis is worse than ever. Do something now.
The world is burning. The ice is melting. Animals are dying. Sea levels are rising.
Adults should be our role models, not the other way round.
Stop the blah blah blah.
Please. 

From
P5c