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Key information

Participants: Frazer, Grace, Rachael, Izzy

Year group: Lower Key Stage 2

Overall focus: Rewilding Britain with focus on Sherborne River Valley Project in Coventry through a series of linked lessons: History, Geography, Science and English

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Local project currently underway in Coventry to restore the Sherbourne River, bringing wildlife back to the area, connecting residents to nature, educating local communities and preserving local heritage

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We have received funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for The Sherbourne Valley Project. Made possible by National Lottery players, the scheme aims to reconnect the people of Coventry with the city's river.

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Links importance of local action to global issues, highlights how nature is impacted by human manipulation and the unintended consequences of this for local communities.

Fieldwork for science gives children the opportunity to visit an area and see real world impact of actions taken, see evidence of rewilding urban areas directly, gives children an opportunity to visit an area with high biodiversity and get hands on experience, reaffirming positive relationship with nature.

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The rationale for focusing on the River Sherbourne (and the River Sherbourne Valley Project) is that, first and foremost, it is located in the local community. This was deemed important so that children can visit the river itself in the local area, something that may not be possible if looking at a different issue.

A discussion topic during one of this morning's talks looked at a barrier to understanding and being interested in climate change in young people is that children are often not 'in nature'. This is why having a local project to study will be useful.

In addition, the focus on restoration is linked with the interests of the group, as well as providing an opportunity to not only look at the River Sherbourne, but at other rivers that have been restored, why this has happened and the impact that it has had on those rivers. With regards to the ongoing restorations, it is potentially something that the children in Year 3 could follow throughout their time in primary school, visiting the sites often to keep up to date with progress and how the restoration is having an impact over time.

Importantly, we wanted to focus on awareness and spin the series of learning towards positivity, in this instance through restoration, rather than focusing on the negative impact.

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By the end of the series of lessons, children will:

Be familiar with the River Sherbourne and its historical impact on the City of Coventry

Be aware of the impact we have on rivers and the surrounding environment

Children will be able to show creativity through artwork produced, focusing on restoration

Children begin to recognise the impact of climate change on flooding and can explain the cause and effect of flooding

Be familiar with the Sherbourne Valley Project, increasing their intellectual curiosity

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Lesson plan for a history lesson

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History presentation looking at the River Sherbourne and it's impact in Coventry

The bulk of this lesson will be children conducting their own research

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Possibility for school visit:

Jennifer Tabb - Education and Training Officer for Sherbourne Valley Project

Chance to discuss with an expert what the Sherbourne Valley Project is, what they do and how children/families can get involved. They can provide a better, detailed insight into the current restoration project, how it came about and why it's happening now.

*This acts as an introduction to the RSVP*

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Fact File sheet for History Lesson 1

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Science:

Learn how rivers are impacted by human activity (e.g., culverting, channelisation).

Recognise how rewilding helps wildlife, improves water flow, and mitigates the effects of climate change.

Identify indigenous and native plants and their impact on the environment

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Adaptation sheet for SEND/EAL students

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The River Sherbourne flows through Coventry, playing a significant role in the city's history and development. Over time, human activities have altered its natural course, leading to challenges such as flooding and pollution. Understanding these local issues helps students connect classroom learning to their community.

Learning objectives:

Knowledge:

Understand what flooding is

Understand the basic features of a river (source, course, mouth).

Identify how climate change can increase the risk and impact of flooding.

Skills:

Use geographical vocabulary to describe rivers and floods.

Interpret simple maps and images related to rivers and flooding.

Communicate ideas through discussion and creative expression.

Values:

Appreciate the power of nature and the importance of protecting the environment.

Develop empathy for people and animals affected by floods.

Understand the importance of taking care of the Earth to reduce future problems.

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to correctly name at least three key parts of a river (e.g. source, course, mouth) and explain in one or two sentences how heavy rainfall can lead to flooding.

Pupils will describe how climate change increases the risk of flooding by giving at least one example (e.g. more extreme rainfall or melting ice) during a class activity or discussion.

Pupils will suggest at least two practical ways people can reduce the impact of flooding (e.g. planting trees, building flood defences) and present one idea in a drawing or short explanation.

Resources Needed

Interactive whiteboard or projector

Short animated video on rivers and flooding

Worksheet: River diagram to label

Flooding image cards (before and after photos)

Mini whiteboards or notebooks for reflection

Cause and effect cards

A3 paper and drawing tools for poster activity

Lesson structure:

Starter:

Question- What do you know about rivers? Partner talk, then whole class feedback

Show images of famous rivers - Amazon, Thames, Nile

Questioning- What do you see? Do all rivers look the same? What do rivers do?

Main teach: Rivers and flooding

Watch the video - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z7w8pg8#zrrdqfr

Mindmap on the whiteboard - why are rivers important? Focusing on children's initial ideas

Using a diagram of the River Sherbourne to identify the: source, course and mouth

Introduce flooding- before any information is given to children question - What is a flood and what causes it? Explain these questions

Watch this video on flooding and it’s causes (up to 1minute10seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udRNUBHbE0o

Linking to climate change:

What does climate change do:

because the Earth is getting warmer, we’re getting more rain, stronger storms, and melting ice — all of this makes rivers more likely to flood.

Show pictures of recent floods - being able to compare what it looked like before and after the flood

How do floods affect people, homes and animals?

Introduce what cause and effect mean with examples (for example: heavy rainfall and destroying animals' habitats. Cause- heavy rainfall, effect- destroying habitats)

Activity- children to work in pairs to sort cards into cause and effect. SEN children have an adapted version of these cards (lots of visuals)

Class discussion- how can we help prevent/stop floods?

-plant trees, remove any litter, overgrown plants, blockages etc

Task: Pupils design a simple poster showing one way we can help reduce the effects of flooding

-show an example of a poster before setting the children off

Plenary: Think-Pair-Share

What did you learn about rivers?

How can we help stop flooding from getting worse?

Pupils write one thing they learned and one thing they can do on a mini whiteboard.

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Experiential Learning: Immersive, sensory engagement in authentic environment, observing impact of direct local action.

Group Work: Pupils in small groups with adult support, encouraging teamwork, peer and to peer dialogue and learning and shared observation

Scaffolded Inquiry: Use of guided questions and prompts to spark thinking.

Whole-Class Reflection: Discussion and sharing at beginning and end helps consolidate knowledge

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Hi there, team. I am hoping that there is some collaboration here and that Grace and Izzy have not forgotten to join in!

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Completed worksheets identifying:

river features

areas of manipulation and impact on local area

Native and invasive plants and impact on river quality / health / stability

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Site visit to Charterhouse Fields to see area currently being redeveloped. Representative from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to support with specialist knowledge on the impact of river change in the area over time, both as a result of man made manipulation and direct result of climate change impacting on the plants growing in the area and how native plants contribute to river health, riverbank integrity etc.

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Warwickshire Wildlife Trust representative, clipboards, informative handouts, sheets to complete, pens, pencils etc

Wellington boots (available as loan from WWT as part of the loan kit if needed and pupils unable to supply own).

Transport to and from site.

Adults to monitor children in groups.

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Lesson outcome:

This art lesson would use the imagery in the book, 'A River', as inspiration to create a piece of artwork based on a river that had been restored.

Introduction to the lesson:

Explain to the students we will be creating our own piece of artwork today, using the book 'A River' by Marc Martin as inspiration.

Use I say, you say, to go through the key words of the lesson, checking understanding and defining if necessary.

River

Colour

Texture

Line

Input:

Teacher to read the book to the class, 'A River' by Marc Martin, highlighting again the focus on the visuals and ask students to focus on the different colours, texture and lines they can see along the rivers journey.

Oracy discussion focused on the three key elements of art for today's lesson- what was their favourite part of the river's journey is and why? What images showed interesting texture? Was there areas of the river's journey that showed contrasting colours?

Activity:

Explain to students that they will now be creating their own piece of artwork based off one of three restored rivers: River Thames, River Dee and the Swindale Beck.

Show students the photographs of the three restored rivers, briefly explaining the purpose of the restoration.

Depending on the cohort, offer different types of art materials, for example paint, collage, colouring pencils.

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Source: Corley Moor, outside Coventry city limits.

Course: The river flows south, passing through Coundon Wedge, Allesley, and Lake View Park. In Coventry, it is largely culverted (underground).

Mouth: The River Sherbourne joins the River Sowe.

Length: Approximately 9 miles (14 km).

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This lesson ideally would be sequenced after the trip to the River Sherbourne so students could use the trip, with any photos taken as a visual prompt, to write about.

Lesson outcome:

This English lesson would again use the book 'A River' by Marc Martin as inspiration but instead looking at the text within the book, focusing on the description of the river's journey. Students will be writing their own descriptions of the section of the River Sherbourne, practising writing expanding noun phrases in their writing.

Introduction:

Tell students that today we are using expanding noun phrases in our writing to describe the River Sherbourne from our trip!

Revise expanding noun phrases for the students.

Students to identify the expanding noun phrase in the example sentences on the board.

Re-read pages 14 to 26, the river's journey from the city to the sea, highlighting the imagery used and the expanding noun phrases within the book.

Activity:

Students to write their own descriptive sentences, including expanding noun phrases based on the photographs from the trip of the River Sherbourne on the board.