Remembrance Sunday

I’m re-blogging this post from last year, as it is proving one of our most popular this month.

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/saital/

Britain and its Empire suffered 3,049,972 casualties, including 658,705 dead, during the First World War. Since then, and the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives during World War Two, hundreds of Britain’s armed forces have fallen in conflicts around the world and continue to do so up to the present day in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tomorrow is the 90^th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the First World War. Here are two example videos from Primary History Unit 17: What are we remembering on Remembrance Day? The first provides a summary of what happens around the country on Remembrance Day, and the second reminds us why it is so important that we never forget.

Title of clip	National Commemoration of the Victims of World War One
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 1  >  Unit 17: What are we remembering on Remembrance Day?  >  Section 5: Why is it important to remember?
Description	Commemoration of victims of war through silence and commemoration ceremonies; Big Ben’s bell tolls, adults and children alike stand still and pay respect, an airport concourse is quiet with travellers remaining still, a ferry slows, interview with a child whose ancestor died in the war, another child pays respect for the dead, British Legion, four veterans were able to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day, lone trumpet plays, inscriptions on wreaths remember the dead.
Duration	2 minutes 16 seconds

 

Please note that this is an example clip provided through our YouTube channel and does not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

You might also find this video, entitled ‘The Last Veteran’ and one of the first that we posted on this blog, useful, and you can make a donation to this year’s Poppy Appeal here.

Title of clip	The Reality of World War One
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 1  >  Unit 17: What are we remembering on Remembrance Day?  >  Section 3: Why do we have Remembrance Day?
Description	Scenes of fighting in World War I and commentary from a war veteran; troops march over the crest of a hill, machine gun fires from a fortified bunker, soldiers struggle across ‘no man’s land’, soldiers fall to the ground as others advance, shells explode around soldiers throwing them to the ground, soldiers fire rifles over the edge of a trench, soldiers jump down into the safety of the trenches, wrapped corpses are carried off the battlefield, a veteran remembers the experience of being dug out of the mud after being shelled, soldiers running along trenches, across open fields with mortar fire exploding around them, using damaged buildings as cover, loading and firing large artillery guns, horses and cavalry used to move the large artillery, troops going over the top into battle, a body left dead on the ground.
Duration	2 minutes 46 seconds

 

Please note that this is an example clip provided through our YouTube channel and does not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

Jewish New Year

The Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah (“head of the year”), begins tomorrow. The celebrations to mark the start of Jewish Year 5770 will begin at sunset on September 18 and continue until nightfall on September 20. 

During the two day festival, no work is permitted and much of the time is spent in the synagogue. It is a time for judgement, when Jews believe that God reflects on a person’s behaviour over the past year, and decides what the next year will be like for them. 

One of the customs is the blowing of a shofar made from a ram’s horn. A hundred notes are sounded in a special rhythm – you can hear a demonstration here. 

Special food is also eaten, with an emphasis on sweetness, which Jews hope will characterise the year that lies ahead. Meals often include apples, honey and carrots. You can find all kinds of recipes here if you would like try to make something yourself!

I am hopeless at cooking so will be playing safe and sending e-cards  You can find a wide selection here.

When looking at Judaism in the classroom, you might also find the sample video below useful, from the Key Stage 1 Religious Education  module of the gallery.

L’shanah tovah (“for a good year”) everyone!

Title of clip	Learning Hebrew
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  > Religious Education  >  Key stage 1  >  Unit 2A: What is the Torah and why is it important to Jewish people?  >  Section 1: What is the Torah?  >  Learning Objective: to learn about the way the Torah is treated and what this shows about Jewish beliefs
Description	Report on a Jewish boy preparing for his Bar Mitzvah: he is being tutored by a Rabbi to read in Hebrew correctly from the Torah; he tells of the stories in the Torah and the difficulty of writing Hebrew; he uses a yad to mark the place whilst reading from the scroll; a passage is recited about the use of a Tzittzit and how it helps to remind Jews to follow God’s commandments.
Duration	1 minute 44 seconds

 

Welcome back – 999!

Welcome back to the new term everybody! Hope you enjoyed the summer break and feel refreshed, ready to start a new year.

In case you haven’t noticed already, today’s date is 09/09/09! If you are reading this before your first class of the day, you might even be able to look out for 09:09:09 on the clock as well.

The date could be used as an opportunity to ask the children what the number nine means to them. It is lucky in Chinese as it is a homophone of the word for longevity: jiu. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and nine is revered in Hinduism as it is thought to be a complete and perfected number because it represents the end of a cycle in the decimal system. A human pregnancy usually lasts nine months, and before 2006 (when Pluto was designated as a non-planet) there were nine planets in the solar system. Cats, of course, are also said to have nine lives!

This clip from the Key Stage 1 Citizenship module of the gallery explains how to make a 999 call. The children could make a small postcard to remind themselves how to contact the emergency services. Discuss with them which service to ask for in different situations, and the various stages to go through when confronted with an emergency and placing a call (stay calm, phone 999, explain details, give name and address).

Hopefully it won’t be necessary to use this, however, and you will all have a lucky and happy 09/09/09!

Title of clip	Contacting Emergency Services
Curriculum location	Primary Module A > Citizenship > Key stage 1 & 2 > Unit 4: People who help us – the local police > Section 2: Key stage 1 – How can we help to keep our locality and ourselves safe?
Description	Child phoning emergency services, and the fire brigade being called out.
Duration	34 seconds

 

40th anniversary of the first Moon landing

by James

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Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/

This month sees the 40th anniversary of the first manned mission to land on the Moon. On July 20 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon, as Michael Collins orbited above in the Apollo 11 Command Module.

It also seems as if one of the long-standing issues concerning the first landing might have been resolved. There has always been debate over whether Armstrong omitted an ‘a’ from his famous first words as he stepped onto the Moon’s surface. Without saying ‘a man’, man and mankind have much the same meaning in the words: “One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind”.

It had been argued that Armstrong failed to say what was intended, or that the ‘a’ was perhaps lost in the static of the radio transmission. The latter seemed to be confirmed in 2006 when analysis showed that there was time in Armstrong’s speech for an ‘a’, but the most recent evidence claims that the ‘a’ was definitely never spoken.

Although incorrect grammatically, it is suggested that the omission was intentional by Armstrong to make the phrase more poetic, and that he draws a distinction between ‘man’ and ‘mankind’ by using rising and falling pitch for each word respectively. Guess it comes back to the old adage that it’s not what you say, but how you say it….

Aside from the linguistic debate, I’ve always found the Moon landings fascinating. What must it feel like to look back at Earth from the surface of the Moon, or similarly after the mission, to stare up at the Moon in the night sky and think that you have been there? It’s not really surprising that many of the Apollo astronauts had difficulties adjusting to life back on Earth when they returned.

To mark the special occasion (and also probably the last post of the year before you all break up for the summer!), here are some fantastic Moon-related clips from HVG. It was very difficult to decide which clips to post due to the number of Moon/Space-related clips that can be found in the gallery. Have a look for yourself by taking out a free 30-day trial and using the search function at the top of the page. Most of them can be found in the KS3 Science (‘Earth, Space and beyond’ substrand) and Key Stage 1&2 Science (QCA Unit 5E: Earth, Sun and Moon) modules.

The two sample clips I have chosen are from KS3 Science. The first (actually located within the ‘Reflection’ theme of the ‘Energy, electricity and forces’ substrand) shows how a mirror left on the Moon by one of the Apollo missions is still used today to measure the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Title of clip	Mirror on the Moon
Curriculum location	KS3 Science  >  Energy, electricity and forces  >  Energy transfer and electricity  >  Section: Reflection  >  3.1a energy can be transferred usefully, stored, or dissipated, but cannot be created or destroyed
Description	A report looks at how the distance between the Earth and the Moon is measured accurately using a laser and a mirror that was placed on the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. The report includes original images and photographs taken on the Moon’s surface and an interview with a scientist who describes and explains how the mirror on the Moon and the laser telescope are both used to calculate the distance between the Earth and the Moon accurately.
Duration	2 minutes 18 seconds

 

With it being the 40^th anniversary, the second sample clip had to be one that included some of the original footage from the Apollo missions. This video of an astronaut experimenting on the Moon demonstrates that Galileo’s prediction that in a vacuum, a hammer and feather would fall to the ground at the same rate, was correct…

Have a great summer break !

Title of clip	The hammer-feather drop
Curriculum location	KS3 Science  >  Energy, electricity and forces  >  Forces  >  Gravity and resistance  >  3.1b forces are interactions between objects and can affect their shape and motion
Description	NASA astronauts, on the moon, perform a demonstration to prove Galileo’s thought experiment that a feather and a hammer will fall with the same acceleration, in a vacuum, regardless of their mass. On Earth, air resistance will effect the fall of the feather.
Duration	35 seconds

 

Independence Day – the Fourth of July

by James

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Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23323418@N03/

To celebrate American Independence Day tomorrow, here are a couple of sample clips from the Key Stage 2 History module of HVG. Both would be useful for work on QCA Unit 19: ‘What were the effects of Tudor exploration?’

The first clip shows the earliest map to include the continent of America. Drawn in 1507 by the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, this map named the new continent in honour of the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

Title of clip	The Naming of America
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 2  >  Unit 19: What were the effects of Tudor exploration?  >  Section 1: How did knowledge of the world change during the Tudor period?  >  Learning Objective: to compare the knowledge of the world that people had in Tudor times with what is known today
Description	The first representation of America on a map is examined.
Duration	36 seconds

 

The second clip tells the story of the English settlers on Roanoke Island a few decades later. It includes readings from the diary of Thomas Harris and images from sketches made by John White. White went back to England for supplies and when he eventually returned to Roanoke he found the settlement deserted. To this day the fate of the colonists has never been ascertained…

Title of clip	Roanoke Island Mystery
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 2  >  Unit 19: What were the effects of Tudor exploration?  >  Section 5: Why did the Roanoke settlement fail?
Description	Documentary detailing the experiences of English settlers on Roanoke Island, USA: the expedition was documented by Thomas Harris and sketched by John White; a reading on the difficulties of finding the mainland coast due to the treacherous shallows and numerous small islands; initially the settlers were enthusiastic once landed, the Indians were friendly and the weather fair, the settlers depended on the Indians for food as their own seeds had been lost or had rotted; the Indians began to resent this persistent demand from the settlers and tensions rose between them, leading to violence; Drake took this group of failed settlers off Roanoke and brought them back home to England; in July 1587, 157 people returned to Roanoke and set up in the original settlement, they made contact again with the Indian tribes, the relationship was friendly but unpredictable; after a while the settlers began to run out of stores, John White was persuaded to return to England for further supplies; after he left Roanoke the settlers were never seen again; White returned to find the settlement deserted, he wanted to continue the search as his daughter was with the settlers but the weather was bad and the ship’s crew wanted to get to the Caribbean, so he turned back.
Duration	2 minutes 34 seconds

 

Tennis and KS3 Science

by James

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Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgio/

With Wimbledon in full swing (excuse the pun), I thought I’d post a KS3 Science sample clip with a tennis-related theme. The clip would serve (sorry, really not trying!) as a useful introduction to the respiratory system topic and begins by showing an examination of the trachea and bronchi using an endoscope.

Before showing the video, you could ask the pupils to discuss the functions of the lungs and what the inside of a windpipe or trachea might be like, and to feed their ideas back to the class. After the video, you may wish to discuss any differences between their ideas and the accepted ideas about the lungs.

The clip goes on to show a game of tennis in order to illustrate that the size of a tennis court is approximately equivalent to the surface area of a human’s lungs! You could discuss this with the class, asking how such a large surface area is achieved and why it is important for gaseous exchange.

Good luck Mr Murray!

Title of clip	The respiratory system
Curriculum location	KS3 Science  >  Organisms, behaviour and health  >  Life processes  >  Section: Circulatory system  >  3.3a life processes are supported by the organisation of cells into tissues, organs and body systems
Description	An examination of the structure of the human lung. A doctor uses an endoscope to explore a person’s lung, he describes how the air passages continue to bifurcate the deeper he journeys. Two people play tennis on a clay court; the size of the court is approximately equivalent to the surface area of a human’s lungs.
Duration	33 seconds

 

65th anniversary of D-Day

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ - the view from inside a landing craft approaching Normandy on 6 June, 1944

Tomorrow is the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Operation Overlord saw 160,000 Allied troops landing on the beaches of France during June 6, 1944. With the youngest veterans of the operation now being in their early eighties, this weekend’s events are an important opportunity to hear their stories, and to mark the day and remember those who gave so much.

I was in Berlin a few weeks ago and seeing the bullet ridden masonry that still lines the banks of the Rhine as I took a river cruise with my friends, and sipped beer on a sunny day, made me think about how lucky I am to live at this time, and how much we owe the brave people who fought for our freedom sixty-five years ago.

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ - soldiers and vehicles move ashore during D-Day

D-Day was a major turning point in the war, and although there was still much fighting to be done, many historians see the invasion as marking the beginning of the end for Hitler and Nazi Germany. Things couldn’t have been more different just a few years before, when Germany had a firm grasp on much of Europe, and stood on the brink of launching an invasion of Britain. This sample video from Key Stage 2 History QCA Unit 9 (‘What was it like for children in the Second World War?’) explains the German plan for conquering Britain.

Fortunately failure in the Battle of Britain meant that the Germans never got past the first phase, and the largest single-day amphibious invasion of the war (and indeed, of all time) was in the other direction across the Channel a few years later. Nevertheless, this video is a stark reminder of how it all could have been so different…

Title of clip	Conquest Britain
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 2  >  Unit 9: What was it like for children in the Second World War?  >  Section 1: What was the Second World War? When and where did it take place?
Description	World War II: Adolf Hitler backdropped against the Eiffel Tower, German troops march through Paris’ streets, declaration of successful invasion of Britain, six weeks to create a three phase invasion plan, phase one, aircraft to bomb military sites, blitz communication and transport lines, take command of the air, phase two, dive-bomb the English coastline, parachute troops to take over airfields, phase three, Panzer divisions cross channel to invade, divide and destroy armed opposition.
Duration	2 minutes 4 seconds

 

Incorporating HVG clips into your presentations, and drinking cockroaches!

We’ve had a query about linking to HVG clips so that they can be displayed within PowerPoint presentations. The best way to do this is to copy and paste the hyperlink to the relevant clip into your slide, and then click on it once you get to the right point in the presentation. You just need to make sure that you are logged-in to HVG in the background. If you aren’t logged-in already you will be taken to the HVG login page and then go through directly to the clip once you have entered your login details.

As promised previously, here is a sample clip from the new KS3/Go Science! module. Despite the considerable ‘yuck factor’, this has to be one of my favourite clips from the module.

The clip shows part of a simple investigation into human behaviour. Children of differing ages are offered a drink of juice containing a dead cockroach. Young children will drink the juice if the cockroach is removed, but adults will not. The video would make an interesting introduction to the topic of investigating behaviour as it shows a psychologist and one of his experiments.

If you do use this clip in the classroom, you might want to warn your pupils that it is quite shocking, and that they may wish to look away at times while it is showing. To link back to the ‘Investigating human behaviour’ theme, it would then be interesting to find out if any of them were motivated to watch the clip more closely as a result of the warning?

The part of the clip that I find most disturbing is that the psychologist lets the children continue to drink the juice after they have clearly demonstrated their willingness to do so. Surely he could have stopped them – the youngest child nearly finishes the whole cup! Or perhaps that is just my particular cognitive level of perceiving the situation manifesting itself…

Title of clip	That’s disgusting – or is it?
Curriculum location	KS3 Science  >  Organisms, behaviour and health  >  Behaviour  >  Section: Investigating human behaviour  >  3.3e behaviour is influenced by internal and external factors and can be investigated and measured
Description	A series of clips show people of different ages being asked to drink a glass of apple juice with a cockroach in it. The experiment demonstrates how learnt behaviour and emotional response changes as we grow older. An expert in the field explains how a person’s cognitive level of perceiving a given situation improves with age until a threshold is past – in this example around the age of seven.
Duration	1 minute 45 seconds

 

Television that inspires learning

Carl Sagan

I was recently lucky enough to get hold of a copy of the Cosmos television series on DVD. This is a 13-part ‘personal journey through space and time’, written and hosted by Carl Sagan. The TV series ran in the early 1980s and was an inspiration to many people, in no small part thanks to Sagan’s enthusiasm and powers of communication. It’s fair to say that this series had a profound impact on my own interest in science, the universe (and everything), and to an extent helped influence some of the choices I later made about my educational pathways.

Readers in the United States can access the entire series through Hulu, but unfortunately this service is not available in the UK. There are some clips available on YouTube, and I’ve posted one of my favourites below.

I’ve just started re-watching the entire series with my 10 year old son, and although TV special effects (not to mention some of the science) has moved on, the series still stands scrutiny as an insightful and moving programme.

This has got me thinking about what a powerful influence well-crafted television can have as an inspiring learning experience. One other that I would pick out as an influence on me (earlier in life!) is Sesame Street. I can’t think of any other programme from my early childhood that so effectively blended great characters, humour, variety and learning. Apparently it is still running in the US, and here is an amazing statistic:

A 1996 survey found that 95% of American preschoolers have watched the show by the time they are three years old

If you were going to devise a programme that would touch 95% of a country’s populace before they were four years old, could you come up with anything better than Sesame Street?

If you have any of your own favourite television progamming that has inspired learning then please feel free to comment. I may even compile a top ten…

New KS3 Science module launched

We’re pleased to announce the launch of a new KS3 Science module, with over 350 video clips, each with its own set of teacher notes (in the process of being uploaded to the site). Spread across four topics (‘Energy, electricity and forces’, ‘Chemical and material behaviour’, ‘Organisms, behaviour and health’, and ‘The environment, Earth and universe’), and then organised into substrands and themes, the new module is structured in line with the new KS3 Science Programme of Study.

The clips have been sourced to accompany Heinemann’s popular ‘Go Science!’ series, though they can be used in conjunction with any KS3 science scheme of work. Each set of teacher notes contains a link to the Go Science! books, along with detailed learning objectives, notes on the video clip, and suggestions for how it can be used in the classroom.

You can view the new module by taking out a free trial here, or look out for the sample clips that we’ll be posting in the coming weeks.