SAILING AWAY FROM LONDON

Transcription

1 SAILING AWAY FROM LONDON MARGARET MACKINTOSH... Here, Margaret suggests some ideas for crosscurricular learning to complement her Olympic sailing article. Sand and sculpture: geography, science and A&D Weymouth sand is amongst the best in the world for sand sculpting. It is extremely fine and when compacted becomes very solid, allowing the sculptor to carve in great detail. Sand sculpture technique After mixing it thoroughly with water the sand is either hand packed into the basic shape or, for larger works, compacted in wooden forms. The details are then carved using a small trowel. The completed work is sprayed with a very light, wind-resistant solution to stop erosion, or sometimes painted with a liquid chalk base and a powder colour finish. The sculptures take anything from a couple of hours to a couple of months to complete. They typically last about a year. Did you know? A grain of Weymouth sand is under half the size of an average sand particle and is only just classified as sand. Grains 0.09mm smaller would be classified as silt which is a cohesive material. In a sealed, vibration-proof, glass case, a sculpture made from Weymouth sand and water would last forever. What is sand made of? How is sand made? Is all sand the same? Collect and compare sand from different places and examine it closely Make sandcastles using different wet and dry sands Do all sands make good sandcastles? What are the properties of the sand that makes the best sandcastle? Design and make sand sculptures, perhaps characters from a favourite book. Photo: Margaret Mackintosh. 1

2 Punch and Judy: literacy, drama and D&T Punch & Judy is a traditional seaside puppet show, which will celebrate its 350 th birthday in Activity This provides an opportunity for the pupils to make puppets, write a puppet play and perform a puppet show. With older pupils you might like to discuss some of the PSHE issues associated with the traditional story. tables on him. Punch may next pause to count his victims by laying puppets on the stage only for Joey the Clown to move them about behind his back in order to frustrate him. A ghost might then appear and give Mr Punch a fright before it too is chased off with a slapstick. In less squeamish times a hangman would arrive to punish Mr Punch, only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose. Do you do the hanging? is a question often asked of performers. Some will include it where circumstances warrant (such as for an adult audience) but most do not. Some will choose to include it whatever the circumstances and will face down any critics. Finally the show will often end with the Devil arriving for Mr Punch (and possibly to threaten his audience as well). Punch in his final gleefully triumphant moment will win his fight with the Devil and bring the show to a rousing conclusion and earn a round of applause. As performed currently in the UK a typical show will start with the arrival of Mr Punch followed by the introduction of Judy. They may well kiss and dance before Judy requests Mr Punch to look after the baby. Punch will fail to carry this task out appropriately. It is rare for Punch to hit his baby these days, but he may well sit on it in a failed attempt to babysit, or drop it, or even let it go through a sausage machine. In any event Judy will return, will be outraged, will fetch a stick and the knockabout will commence. A policeman will arrive in response to the mayhem and will himself be felled by Punch's slapstick. All this is carried out at breakneck farcical speed with much involvement from a gleefully shouting audience. From here on anything goes. Joey the Clown might appear and suggest it's dinner time. This will lead to the production of a string of sausages, which Mr Punch must look after, although the audience will know this really signals the arrival of a crocodile whom Mr Punch might not see until the audience shouts out and lets him know. Punch's subsequent comic struggle with the crocodile might then leave him in need of a Doctor who will arrive and attempt to treat Punch by walloping him with a stick until Punch turns the The traditional characters include Punch and the crocodile and, of course, the ubiquitous string of sausages! Photo by Creative Commons licence: HHA123L. 2

3 Rescue helicopter: geography Photos: Margaret Mackintosh. A rescue helicopter is located at the Coastguard station on the Isle of Portland, at the southern end of Portland Marina. The crew get on board and the helicopter takes off. Note that a sea fret (wet mist) covers the top of the Isle of Portland in the background. Examine the location of the Coastguard station on a map. Is this a good location for a rescue helicopter? Encourage pupils to explain why the helicopter is stationed here. What is its role? Where else are emergency helicopters based and what are they used for? Find out about, and perhaps support, a local air ambulance. 3

4 Wider connections: geography and ICT Condor Ferries sail from Weymouth to Jersey, Guernsey and St Malo. Encourage the pupils to find out about Condor Ferries routes, timetables and ferry boats Talk about ferry journeys the pupils have made themselves Find out about other ferries in the UK river and estuary crossings, sailings to continental Europe Is a ferry a sustainable method of travel? Older pupils could investigate the environmental impact/carbon footprint of ferries vs. planes. Photos: Margaret Mackintosh. 4

5 Portland stone: geography Photo by Creative Commons licence: GOC53. Portland stone is a lightcoloured Jurassic limestone that is quarried on the Isle of Portland. St Paul s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, the Cenotaph in London and many other famous buildings are built of Portland Stone. What other types of rock are used as building material in your school area? Where are they quarried from? What other famous buildings or statues made of Portland stone can the pupils research on the internet? Quarrying is called a primary industry it can only take place where the raw material, in this case rock, is found. Coal mines, oil wells, fishing and forestry are other examples. Introduce the idea of primary industries to pupils, and perhaps go on to consider secondary and tertiary industries with older pupils. 5

6 Chesil Beach: geography Chesil Beach, to the west of Weymouth and Portland, is an 18-mile-long pebble bank. The pebbles are graded from small in the west (at West Bay, Bridport) to large in the east (at Chiswell, Portland). The grading can be explained, but geographers still debate exactly how the beach was formed. Pupils might like to suggest, experiment or find out how the pebbles were sorted or graded. The Fleet, a fresh water lagoon behind the beach, is the home of the famous Abbotsbury Swannery. The swans migratory movements are fascinating and could be used to introduce patterns of human migration. Photo by Creative Commons licence: Bonnett. 6

7 The Jurassic Coast: geography, geology and ICT Photo by Creative Commons licence: lamoney. This section of coast displays many important features: sandy, pebble and rocky beaches, cliffs and dunes, spits, river mouths and salt marsh, sea stacks and arches, bays and coves, as well as red sandstones, light and dark grey limestones and white chalk with black flints and fossils. There are towns, villages, harbours, sea walls, artificial rock islands (for coastal protection) and even one of the few expanding kittiwake colonies in the UK! Use the miniguide at /downloads/jurassic_c oast_miniguide.pdf as a starting point for work on coasts, rocks, fossils and dinosaurs. 7