Year 6 Looking at 'The Importance of Protecting Our Natural World'

At Goat Lees, we understand the importance of constantly teaching and reinforcing to the children how precious our natural environment is and how we must protect it, and all that live on it, at all cost. This term for English, Year 6 have been using 'The Importance of Protecting Our Natural World' as their focus.  They started by reading a book by Helen Ward called 'Varmints'. This book with its striking, surreal illustrations and a haunting, evocative text, tells a mysterious tale of a threatened natural world — and a hopeful new start! The children's first task was to write about the devastation being witnessed from the viewpoint of the varmints. They excelled at this as they understood the desperation this poor creature felt as his world was slowly destroyed. I have added two extracts from the Year 6 writing to show how they understood the desperation and fear of the tiny varmint as he witnessed the devastation unfold before his eyes.

 

' The eyes of happiness turned into rays of darkness as a cloud of grey flew over the petite varmint's head. Buildings crashed with a loud bang to the floor, destroying his ecstasy; destroying his precious nature. His tall ears, that used to point high into the azure blue sky, flopped down over his eyes. He was stunned. The varmint, who was now too distressed to speak, looked over the emerging city with disappointment.'  Poppy Baker, age 11yrs' The hopeful glint in the varmint's deep blue eyes, faded away as he clambered to the top of the ever-growing pile of rubble. The pearl-white moon glared at him (as if disappointed) as he stood silhouetted under the moonlight. Pollution enveloped the last surviving signs of hope as the mist lurked around him. His heart crumbled into a heap of eternal gloom as the deafening sounds of construction ripped through the damp air. Sadness burrowed inside his soul; tearing it apart like paper!'  Aabhash Rautchitrakar, age 11yrsThe children's next lesson was to hold a philosophical discussion in the classroom using the following questions:

1. Should we allow animals to live anywhere on the planet?
2. When should we prevent animals from living near humans?
3. Should we step in if one animal species is destroying another?
4. Are some animals more important than others?
5. Are humans more important than animals?
6. Should animals eat other animals?
7. Should humans eat animals?
8. Does is matter if animals become extinct?

It was very interesting to hear the children's views; they showed such a mature understanding of the impact the human race is having on the world around us, and they spoke passionately about how some people feel they have a superior right over animals, to do as they please, and how wrong this was. They spoke about natural selection, survival of the fitness within the natural world but how maybe we could use our intellect to help animals in a way that offers choices for the animals especially as we so often are the route cause of the destruction to their habitats. For example, when the BBC documentary crew in Antarctica made a rare decision to intervene when several Emperor penguin mothers and their chicks became trapped in a ravine and cut off from the colony. They choose to not physically get them out but gave them a possible escape route, if they could climb, by cutting steps into the face of the ice. The children also discussed keeping wild animals in captivity and although this was not ideal, this could help prevent the species from becoming extinct as humans impacted on their natural habitat. Listening to them, gave us hope that many would grow up to be mindful of how to respect our planet and all living things that share it with us!Another part of the children's topic was to talk to the younger children in the school to teach them about the importance of looking after the diverse habitats that we have created in our school. First, they went around the school looking at our outdoor spaces, taking photos as they went. They then wrote a speech about what they had seen and produced a PowerPoint to support their findings, all in preparation to deliver their message to every child in school; teaching them about the importance of respecting and looking after these precious environments as these spaces are home to so many living things - we are extremely lucky to have so many diverse habitats within the school grounds. They then visited every year group (Reception, Yr 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5) sharing their findings and feelings on this very emotive subject. All children found it very thought-provoking and it started an interesting conversation between the year groups.Here are some of the creatures that we have seen visiting our school's grounds: newts, dragonflies, damselflies, toads, frogs, sparrow hawk, magpies, starlings, collared doves, blue tits, crows, wrens, robins, sparrows, blackbirds, song thrush, foxes, hedgehogs and squirrels, to name but a few. We have also managed to obtain many images on our motion-capture cameras which is extremely exciting; the children love looking at these during whole school assemblies.ToadFrogThe last lesson was to write a biography about a famous conservationist and animal activist; someone who has dedicated their lives to protecting our planet and its nature. The two choices offered were: Sir David Attenborough or Dr Jane Goodall. Once the children had chosen their prefered conservationist, they researched all about their lives and wrote their own biography.Here are some of the summaries to the Dr Jane Goodall biographies:'In summary, Dr Jane Goodall's life is a testament to the power of her passion and dedication to sharing the wonders of the natural world. Her legacy will inspire future generations to protect our Earth for years to come.'   Jayden Leung Ho Shun'Jane Goodall truly is our nature hero!'  Josie Richards'Jane Goodall is a true champion and is inspiring us and our future generations to protect our wildlife.' Lillian Fuller'In conclusion, Dame Jane Goodall has devoted her life and passion to care for chimpanzees and the environment. She is remarkable and selfless woman who is truly an inspiration to all.'  Amelia-Jayne MillerTo finish off our English for this topic, the Year 6 Class went on a litter pick through the school grounds and the surrounding public footpaths and local park. They collected a staggering 4 bin bags of rubbish in one hour! They then sorted the waste into separate materials in order to dispose of it correctly; plastic, paper, card, glass, metals can all be recycled at our local Recycling Depot, and of course, we have our metal recycling partnership with EMR which earns the school money for further environmental projects.  The children decided they wanted to dedicate this litter pick to Dr Jane Goodall for her 90th Birthday as they know how important looking after our planet is to Jane and they feel just as passionate about looking after our world; Jane has taught us, 'Together we Can, Together we Will, Together we Must!'This was an extremely interesting English and the children really enjoyed the various ways in which they were able to cover this topic - well done, Year 6.