“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide

The Year 5 team are very excited to launch a topic on exploration with the essential question of ‘What does exploration lead to?’

This topic will be looking at the history of exploration, the significant individuals who pioneered global exploration and how their discoveries changed the world. The children will learn about the map skills needed by an explorer and the trade routes developed which saw different goods and customs passed from country to country. They will learn about the ‘Age of Exploration’ and develop an understanding for why people so eagerly wanted to explore the globe and the implications this had for human life.

Some highlights will include:

• Plotting their own Silk Trade Route
• Creating curries to show the influence of other cultures on our food
• Developing painting skills of people to depict mood and emotions
• Performing pieces of music from around the globe using tuned and untuned percussion

Our final outcome will be the creation of a fictional, exploration story, which will be sold by the children to the public in Waterstones to raise money for [charity]. The children will not only write the story, but create the illustrations that go with it too. This will have a lasting impact on the wider community as not only will [charity] benefit but the children will be responsible for making positive contribution to the wider community.

This will be an exciting topic that will give each child an eye-opening experience into the world of exploration, how it shaped the world we live in now and how it affected the world historically. If you have any resources, artefacts or expertise you wish to share, please feel free to contact a member of the team. For more information please click here.