Senior Upton Pupils Fascinated by Evolution
Deep and far-reaching learning about the Circle of Life is underway for senior pupils at Upton Junior School, Broadstairs, with a range of activities to broaden their understanding of the challenging topic.
The educational adventure for Year 6 children began with a non-uniform ‘wow day’ of structured learning centred on adaptation, evolution and cloning.
A visitor from Wingham Wildlife Park discussed with girls and boys about how animals have adapted to their environment and the children looked at bones, fossils and skulls from different animals to see how they have evolved over time.
They investigated the idea that broad groupings, such as micro-organisms, plants and animals, can be sub-divided. They discussed reasons why species are placed in one group and not another, recognised that living things produce offspring of the same kind, but understood that normally offspring vary and are not identical to their parents.
The children also identified how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution.
Pupils also took part in a drama workshop where they expressed words in different moods, speeds and tones. They listened to listened to and reciprocated rhythms, responded and moved to music, and took part in and led freeze-frame mime techniques.
In a creative art session, girls and boys used a choice of techniques to depict perspective, shadows and reflection. They were taught to develop various skills, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity and experimentation.
Head of Year 6 Athanasia Papa-Adams described it as “a wonderful day of learning as a starting point for this topic.”
She added: “During the course of this topic we will be looking deeply into classification and investigating the different types of fossils, the theory of evolution and Charles Darwin’s discoveries.
“We are also lucky enough to be using the loan boxes from the Powell Cotton natural history museum at Quex in Birchington – this has given us a range of artefacts through which we can discover observational characteristics of things from the past.”
Deputy Head of School Dave Walker said: “This is a challenging multi-faceted topic. It is an important learning journey for our oldest children and will form an important part of their ongoing educational development – and it is fascinating and fun too.”
Upton Junior School is part of the Viking Academy Trust with Chilton Primary School and Ramsgate Arts Primary School.
For more information contact Kate Law at headofschool@uptonjunior.com.
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https://educational-life.org/senior-upton-pupils-fascinated-by-evolution/