Today, in Year 5, we have been learning about Jane Goodall. We learnt that she is a lover of chimpanzees. At a young age, her father gave her a chimpanzee toy. She travelled to Africa to learn more about these marvellous animals. After a while, Goodall gained the chimpanzee's trust. Jane created an institute to help the locals so that they did not have to cut down so many of the chimpanzee's precious trees. During her visit, she created a company called Roots and Shoots. She discovered that chimpanzees are similar to humans as they care for each other and even wage wars. Unlike other scientists, Goodall even named her chimpanzees!
Mallory Class have had a great discussion this afternoon about Jane Goodall and her chimpanzees, discussing why they are endangered and how the institute is trying to improve their wellbeing.
In Hargreaves class, we have created posters to advertise Jane Goodall's amazing conservation work.
Today, we learnt about mummification in Ancient Egypt. We discussed the process and many of us felt slightly sick when we heard that a hook was used to pull the brain of the deceased out through the nostrils.
We discussed the way the dead were treated in Ancient Egyptian times compared to how the dead are treated in modern day Britain. When someone suggested that the Egyptians sounded insane for placing organs in canopic jars; wrapping them in linens and putting resin on them, we considered that the Egyptians might find our customs equally strange. We considered what happens to a body when it is buried and thought about why the Egyptians put so much effort into preserving their dead.
What a fascinating lesson!
In Year 5 we have been learning about our solar system. We learnt the names of the planets and that all the planets orbit the sun. Venus is the hottest! Mercury is the smallest! We discussed the way Uranus spins on its side and that the planets closer to the sun have a shorter orbit. We discussed why the planets closer to the sun don't block all the sunlight from the other planets further away.
We also focussed on the movement of the moon around the Earth. It was interesting to discuss the lunar cycle and the different shapes of the moon. After our discussion, we made our own model of the sun, the Earth and the moon, using split pins so that the Earth orbited the sun and the moon orbited the Earth.
