Posted on: September 23rd 2011
On Thursday 22nd September, the sun was shining, the rain stayed away thankfully, and Forms 5&6 boarded the Beauchamp Lodge Floating Classroom at Little Venice.
Travelling down the canal to Camden Lock, we took part in a range of activities relating to our Science curriculum. In particular, the trip’s activities were engineered to support the children’s learning of the Habitats & Adaptation units of work.
We started off with some bird spotting, which was fascinating; we saw mallards, cormorants, Canada geese, coots and many more.
As we passed London Zoo, Captain Toby and our trip leader Maria told us all about the birds in the aviary and we spotted some sleeping warthogs.
On arriving at Camden Lock, Sophia, Sadie, Archie and Billy helped open and close the lock to enable us to pass through. We all learned first hand exactly how a lock works and how they enable boats to travel up and down through different water levels.
Whilst on our journey, the children were asked to look out for unusual rubbish in the canal. Unfortunately there was plenty; ranging from discarded food containers to tennis balls and clothing. We learned about the dangers such rubbish can pose to canal wildlife and discussed the need for throwing rubbish away carefully and recycling.
Later, to demonstrate what they had learned about adaptation, the children designed their own animals for a chosen habitat, annotating its features to show how it was well adapted.
All the children were a credit to Norfolk House. We received so many positive comments about their behaviour, attitude, conduct and intelligence!
We had a fantastic day. This is a trip we have been on in previous years and hope to continue offering in the future. The children gain so much from the experience of learning on board the canal boat and exploring different environments.
Here are some thoughts from the children about the trip:I really enjoyed having lessons on a boat – Archie, F5I liked doing the bird watching charts – Daisy, F5Interesting, fun and educational – Gemma, F6I thought it was an amazing experience going through the tunnels – Sanjay, F5
