Today, Year 5 were lucky enough to have a Norse visitor who shared his knowledge of the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings who raided, traded and settled in Britain from AD 786.
We thought about the role of archaeology and studied artefacts. We looked at them closely and tried to decide what they were made of and how they would have been used.
We tried on clothes and helmets and held swords.
We looked at runes and used them to make a leather key ring.
For our local history project, Year 2 have been learning about Joe Lister who was a significant person in the local area. First, we linked our history learning with the geography of the local area by comparing a modern day map with a historical map of the local area while considering how Listerdale changed over time. Joe Lister built the Listerdale estate in the 1930’s, building affordable housing for many poorer people at the time. This greatly impacted the local area, as its population increased significantly and Joe Lister created jobs for many people at a time when jobs were scarce. We created a timeline of Joe Lister’s life, sequencing the key events within his lifetime. We used cubes to help us think about this with each cube representing 1 year of Joe Lister’s life.
We then went on a walk around the local area and the Listerdale estate where Joe Lister built 40 detached houses and 650 semi-detached houses. We visited Lister’s castle which is where Joe Lister and his family lived. We were lucky enough to be invited into the grounds by the current groundskeeper and he even gave us a copy of Joe Lister’s biography “Joe Lister Master Builder.” When walking around the Listerdale estate, we noticed the different patterns on the buildings and the letters on the houses that were the initials of Joe Lister’s family members. The children had lots of fun and were excited to find more out about the history of our local area!
If you were an Ancient Egyptian, would you want to be re-joined with your body in the afterlife when you die?
Today, Year 5 found out more about the process of becoming a mummified person.
The first step is to wash the body. This can be done with wine, Nile water, or both.
Next is the removal of your brain. The brain was thought to be useless, as ancient Egyptians believed that we thought with our hearts, not our heads.
Getting the brain out is tricky, and quite disgusting. To do it, a long hook is inserted up the nose and swivelled around to blend the brain, which is then poured into a bowl.
Then a cut is made on the left side of your body, so that the liver, lungs, intestines, stomach can be removed.
Your heart might be removed too, but only to be dried and put back in later. Ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the most important organ in the human body, and that you needed it in order to enter the afterlife.
All of these organs need to be cleaned. The liver, lungs, intestines and stomach get put into special containers called canopic jars, which allow the organs to be rejoined with your body in the afterlife.
Each of the jars have a different Egyptian god’s head on them:
Your body is now filled and covered with special Egyptian salt called natron – which gets rid of moisture and prevents decay – and you’re left for around 40 days, depending on how long it takes to dry you out. The natron will be changed on a daily basis.
Next your body is dressed in linen binds.
Finally, a mask is put over your face, you’re placed into a casket, and lastly put into a sarcophagus ensuring you’re ready for the afterlife.
Today, Year 5 visited Weston Park where we travelled back in time to the Bronze age. We considered what it was like in Sheffield at that time.
We thought about how the people were buried.
Once we had looked at the artefacts in the collection, we travelled in space to think about the Ancient Egyptians. We considered the similarities and differences between England and Egypt. We discussed the location of Egypt in Northern Africa and the River Nile which flows through it.
We found out more about the sarcophagus and how X-Rays and CT Scans were used to find out more about the mummified person inside.
We learned more about the mummification process and how internal organs were removed.
We started an experiment to see how salt preserves organic matter.
We discussed grave goods. (Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a body.)
We looked carefully at the artefacts and created some of our own.
We also discussed whether grave goods should be in museums and had a debate as ethical archaeologists.
Today, Year 5 were lucky enough to have two Norse visitors who shared their knowledge of the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings who raided, traded and settled in Britain from AD 786.
We thought about the role of archeology and studied artefacts. We looked at them closely and tried to decide what they were made of and how they would have been used.
We tried on clothes and helmets and held swords.
Vikings often traded in people. Enslaved humans were very important to the Vikings. They were enslaved for life and were worth about as much as a cow.
We looked at runes and used them to make a leather key ring.
Today, Year 2 visited the cenotaph in Wickersley to pay our respects to the local soldiers who died in WW1. This concludes some work that we have been doing in history lessons over the last few weeks on Remembrance day and WW1.
Each child was given the name of one of the individuals remembered on the cenotaph with some extra information about them. We found it very sad that some of the soldiers who died were only teenagers while many others had their own children waiting for them at home. Children had to find the name of the soldier they were given on the cenotaph.
At 11:00am, we had a two minutes silence as a sign of respect.
Y6 had a fabulous time in London.
We visited many different places.
Our visit supported our curriculum: In the British Museum, children remembered previous history learning about Romans, Greeks and Egyptians.
We visited the Tower of London to support our Crime and Punishment learning in Y6.
We walked around London, thinking and looking at geographical features and completing fieldwork about Where is Buckingham Palace.
The Tate Modern was an interesting visit for the children to recognise different styles of art and artist.
We also watched the West-End show SIX
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