Spring Curriculum: Hola Mexico

Our Spring curriculum topic began with a walk up to Barr Beacon to locate as many human and physical features as possible.  We were fortunate to have a lovely sunny day and Mr Milne, who used be be our site manager, accompanied us too!                                                                                        

During our fieldtrip, we found many different human and physical features such as hills, woodlands, pylons and a memorial bandstand.  The picture below captures our definition of what we think human and physical features are: 

We have studied geographical terms to broaden our understanding of our topic.  Can you remember what each of these terms mean? 

Next we researched several deserts around the world.  Did you know that in order for an area to be classified as a desert, it has to receive less than 25cm of rainfall per year?  We worked in small groups to research a chosen desert. Across the year group, we studied the following deserts: The Gobi, The Great Victoria, The Namib, The Arctic Polar, The Sahara and two deserts located in Mexico - The Chuhuahuan and The Sonoron Desert. We had great fun learning about them and presenting our research. 

Finally, we learned about an ancient civilisation called The Maya and how they came to settle in Mesoamerica (Central America and Mexico). They were a fascinating group of people who lived in city states - each governed by their own ruling family.  The Maya created their own number and alphabet system, built many temples, buildings and step pyramids and were successful farmers.  

                                                 Timeline of The Maya Civilisation