Year Six River Walk Along The River Elai

This afternoon we took advantage of the weather and decided to go on our much postponed 'River Walk'.

We walked down to the River Elai and sketched some wildlife. We saw plenty of frogs, birds and various plant life.

The course of the MEANDER was easy to spot. We talked about DEPOSITION inside the MEANDER. We also discussed why the Local Authority has put boulders in the river to stop it from ERODING too much.

Here we looked at an ISLAND in the MEANDER. This has built up where the river's load has been DEPOSITED by the MEANDER, because it flows quickly on the outside and slowly on the inside.

Next we decided to measure the FLOW of the river. First we marked out 5m. One of us stood upstream at the starting point while another stood at the 5m point downstream. The third person in our group then dropped a twig in the river and, using stopwatches we measured the time it took to travel the 5m. We then divided the distance by the time and this gave us the speed in metres per second. We found out the speed near the bank and in the middle of the river. It was faster towards the middle because the middle was deeper, carrying more water (TRANSPORTATION), and so increasing the speed (VELOCITY).

Here we are walking on a RIVER BEACH.

We found a CONFLUENCE where a TRIBUTARY called Otters Brook joined the River Elai.

During our River Walk we experienced lots of the features we have been learning about this half term. It was an enjoyable and informative learning experience. Then it rained!!!!!!!!

Today we finished our maps. They show the course and features of the rivers Clun and Elai.

Then we went to the hall and were set the challenge of portraying our maps using skipping ropes (once we had found them!), cones and other equipment.

It took a lot of thought and discussion within each group.

Once we had finished, Mrs Roberts came to judge us. She decided that all the groups were so good, there could be no overall winner. Mrs Davies agreed. 31 housepoints to give out now!!

We agreed that this was a good way of learning about the course and features of our local rivers.

We have had a hard few days in Year Six!!! N.F.E.R. tests and science revision have left us all exhausted. Today, however, we had an experience that was more fun, but still taught us a lot.

We were given the task to plot the courses of the River Elai and the River Clun.

We used the internet, written information and maps to find out the course of each river and plot any interesting features.

Back in class we were put in an 'Apprentice' style situation. Our brief was to present our findings about one of the rivers using huge sheets of paper for the course of the river, and post-it notes to show interesting features. Later each group will have to represent the course of the river using 'found' materials from around the school. The map of the river had to locate places accurately and show understanding of distance and direction, and show a sense of scale. This challenged some of our mathematical skills!!! We also had to show our understanding by using correct geographical vocabulary.




Each group chose a project leader to oversee operations and hand out jobs.

Every group had to produce a map using the given criteria, and prepare for their physical representation which will take place later in the week.

Year Six trip to Cilfynydd Environmental Center

Year Six had a fantastic day today in Cilfynydd.

We began by looking at the course of the River Taff.

We discussed river features we might see, such as meanders and river beaches.




Some of us began the day in a classroom where we found out about trees and their part in the water cycle.

Later we had to decide how far the roots of this tree spread out under the ground. Some of us thought that the height of the tree influenced the size of the roots. Some of us based our decisions on the breadth of its canopy. How would you decide?

If you want to find out the size of the roots of a tree in your garden, then you must adopt this fetching pose!!! Bend over with your head between your legs and move away from tree until you can see its whole length. The place at which you stop will be roughly where its roots stop too. We were surprised at the length of the roots of this relatively small tree.

Next we were set a challenge to identify the leaves on seven different species of tree.

We also went down to the river to find out what sort of creatures make it their habitat. Here we are stirring up the water to dislodge sediment from the bottom.

We were given nets, bowls and identification charts to see what we could find.

It was a very enjoyable day and we found out lots about rivers, their features and the creatures that make them their habitats. Thank you to everyone at Cilfynydd Educational Center for giving us a fantastic learning experience.