Beck, Bows and Brambles

 
In their last session, the Year 4 group had been using fixed blade knives to shape pieces of wood for their stick people. Some of the children said that they would like to have a go at making bow and arrows. We discussed what resources we would need to make them. The children tried attaching string to some of the sticks they found lying on the woodland floor. As the wood was quite old and rotten when they tried to bend it, the branches just snapped. Most of the trees in the area of the woodland we were working were oaks.
We chatted about parts of the woodland where other types of trees may grow. Alex was keen to explore the area near the beck where he had visited previously with his family as had remembered seeing different species of trees. We thought about how growing near water may affect the properties of the plants growing there.

This week we headed to the bottom of the woodland to an area near Fagley Beck. We began looking at the different hazards that working near the water may present. Bailey noticed that there were large patches of bramble and nettles growing in the rich soil on the river bank. He said that we should avoid the areas where these were growing. Dylan said that there could be hazards in the mud on the river bed or that the mud could be deeper than it looked. He suggested we use a stick to test the depth of the water. Alex said there could be germs in the water so we should wash our hands when we finish and make sure we don't get the water in our mouths or eyes.

As well as the nettles and brambles we noticed that some of the trees looked different to the ones in the rest of the woodland. Zara and Amna used a leaf identification sheet to identify some of the the trees. They identified one of the trees as hazel. They noticed that the trees had lots of trunks. I explained that hazel was traditionally coppiced http://www.coppiceapprentice.org.uk/coppice.php (cut own to the base causing multiple new trunks to grow) and the wood used to make a whole range of things from walking sticks to fencing.

We tested one of the branches for flexibility by making a mini bow and found that it worked really well.

We carried on exploring the beck and the plants growing near it. Alex, Bailey and Dylan used sticks to move the mud and re-direct the stream. They used sticks leaves and string to make rafts to sail down the water. Zara was a little nervous about standing in the stream but after some encouragement from Amna she ventured in. On the walk back to school she told me she was anxious about stepping in the water and mud but had really enjoyed it and wanted to go back next week.