Teaching Up On The Downs
Be a Time Detective for the Day
Activities:
Pre-Visit Work
Consider what skills a detective uses to solve a puzzle. Gather together a useful toolkit of equipment to explore and investigate the visit site.
VISIT ACTIVITIES
Geography
Visit the site of the buried Roman Villa near the main road.
Discussional Fact – coastal erosion means that the cliff line is slowly moving inland, destroying any buried remains of the villa.
Using Ordnance Survey maps orienteer a route down to the beach, looking for clues of the moving landscape and also any evidenceof remains of the Villa down on the beach.
Literacy
Scenario – local people tell tales of strange things being found on the beach, some say they’ve found dinosaur remains, others talk of Roman treasure, and some have even found bullet casings! Explore the landscape looking for clues of proof.
Examining any found objects from the land sweep, use as much imagination as possible to create stories based on the possibilities of a single or combination of objects. What stories lay yet undiscovered on this beach?
History (1)
Piece together as many actual facts / shared knowledge discovered during the day to make a timeline of the different eras present. This could be done by drawing a long line on the beach and placing any found objects on it, guessing their chronological order.
History (2)
Collect five objects and put them into chronological order. What do you think they are? Why and how did you make your decisions?
Science (1)
Make an inventory of the range of interesting objects found, and also the range of materials that makeup the landscape itself e.g clay, flint, ceramic, bullet casing, etc. Record each object’s material properties e.g. dull/shiny, rough/smooth, metallic/non-metallic, soft/hard.
Science (2)
If it is safe enough explore the rock pools for signs of life and eco-systems present. Is there anything present that relates back to simpler or pre-historic life forms?
Maths
Compare pupils’ own footprints made in the sand. Record them in size order and increasing stride length. How many times bigger is a dinosaur footprint compared to a pupil’s one?
Art (1)
Make life-size dinosaur footprint outlines across the landscape using beach materials. Where might they come from or lead to?
Art (2)
Make landscape paintings/drawings on postcards and post them back to school with a message.
Art (3)
Collect five objects and arrange them to make a sculpture. Photograph your work.
Art (4)
Use the clay to make model figures and/or make an Andy Goldsworthy-style sculpture that will last only until the next tide or rainstorm. Photograph your work.
Post-Visit Work
Record the day’s findings by recreating the time line in some way. Include photos or actual findings, interspersed with found facts and dates. Research the findings further to ensure chronological validity, adding new factual detail to the line.
Re-visit the stories developed in relation to particular objects making sure they are recorded for posterity.
Roman Themed Extension
The class creates a Roman market, with pupils taking part in costume, and setting up stalls. Everyone earns ‘money’ by working on the market, using roman numerals in any money exchanges. Earnings can be spent on food, and buying materials to make Roman items e.g. clay pots, mosaic pictures.