UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD

Understanding the world is made up of 3 key areas: past and present; people, culture and communities; and the natural world.

EYFS: The Natural World 

Lost and Found: How can we get a penguin to the South Pole?

In Reception, we have been using the story Lost and Found as a basis for our learning. One of the learning activities was to build our own boats to take our penguins (made in the creative area the previous week) to the South Pole.

To do this, we had to firstly understand what was meant by the terms ‘floating’ and ‘sinking' as we wanted to make a boat that floated. Once we understood what floating and sinking were, we then tested materials from our ‘Marvellous Creations’ area to find out what materials would float and which would sink. We found that cardboard sank and that plastic, wood and elastic bands float. Using this knowledge, we designed and made boats for our penguins. We then tested them to ensure they would keep our penguins safe.

“We need to use plastic in our boat as it floats,” Mary aged 4.

Gardening

We have our own vegetable and fruit garden, where we grow a variety of fruits and vegetables from raspberries and strawberries, to potatoes and onions. We tend to the garden ourselves, clearing it out, planting it up and then harvesting every year.

We also have a wild seed garden. We love learning about how plants grow and how to look after them.

EYFS: People, Culture and Communities

Exploring Maps

We have been learning about maps, and what the detail on the maps represent. We used this to create our own maps on paper. We also created our own maps for our car area; we made these as 3d maps.

EYFS: Past and Present

FINDING OUT ABOUT OBJECTS FROM THE PAST

We have been exploring varying objects from the past and using them to create timelines and to introduce the concept of chronology.

"Mrs Metcalfe had to dial her number when she was a girl," Jessica aged 4.