500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne

by James

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Tomorrow is the 500th anniversary of the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of England. He was later crowned King on June 24th 1509 and turned 18 just a few days afterwards. Although famed for his six wives, the Reformation and end of Roman Catholicism in England, war-mongering, and huge appetite and obesity in later life, it seems as if there are many aspects to Henry’s life and personality that go far beyond the things that usually spring to mind when we hear his name.Here are a few suggestions for web resources that you might find useful when looking at the famous king in the classroom. As you might expect of such a well-known historical figure, there are many different accounts and resources of Henry available:

• The BBC is always a good place to start and this slideshow provides a great introduction for students to view themselves. There is also an interactive activity where the children are asked to help put Henry’s armour on, but should be careful not to make him angry! For a more detailed biography from the BBC see here.
• This is perhaps the most detailed biography that I came across. Alternatively, the Woodlands Junior School homework help page is another that students could use themselves.
• This Brims page is a great website for KS2 students, and has a range of resources and information on Henry and all of the Tudors. Some interesting facts from the page:  Henry VIII had over 78,000 people executed while he was King (that equals about 5 people every day for 38 years!), and at one time had a gambling bill for £3242, when the average weekly wage was about 5p!
• By the end of his reign, Henry had accumulated 55 palaces – you can see images of them, and the things that Henry liked to fill them with, here.
• According to many accounts, Henry was intelligent and extremely well-read. You can read some of his works here, and also listen to poems and songs that he composed.
• The National Archives website has a range of original documents from Henry’s reign, and a special tool that can be used to hover over and magnify them.
• Henry’s favourite warship was the Mary Rose. The website of the ship’s museum has several interactive resources and a movie for KS2 students to explore the warship and what life on board was like.
• This article gives an insight into Henry’s diet (‘he may have eaten up to 13 dishes a day … and he may have drunk 10 pints of ale a day as well as wine … a 28 stone man-mountain’), and suggests that it was possibly a jousting accident that turned the king into the tyrant often portrayed in historical accounts.

There are several whole units (QCA History Units 7, 8 and 19) of Henry VIII and Tudor-related clips in the gallery, which you can see for free by taking out a 30-day trial. They cover the great Tudor explorers and their discoveries, Tudor kings and queens, and Tudor houses, clothes, and leisure activities. Here are two examples:

Title of clip	The Tudor Kings and Queens
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 2  >  Unit 7: Why did Henry VIII marry six times?  >  Section 1: How many times did Henry VIII marry?  >  Learning Objective: to locate the Tudors within the context of the history of Britain
Description	An animated timeline showing the Tudor Kings and Queens: King Henry VII 1485-1509, King Henry VIII 1509-1547, King Edward VI 1547-1553, Queen Mary I 1553-1558, Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603.
Duration	40 seconds

 

Title of clip	Life on board the Mary Rose
Curriculum location	Primary Module A  >  History  >  Key stage 2  >  Unit 19: What were the effects of Tudor exploration?  >  Section 3: How did people explore the world in Tudor times?  >  Learning Objective: to collect information from a range of sources and draw conclusions about life at sea
Description	The story of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, complete with re-enactments of what conditions were like on board, plus information about the historical finds yielded after its sunken remains were excavated and raised: almost half of the many finds excavated have now been either restored or conserved; it is a true example of a time capsule as many of the artefacts would not have survived anywhere else; a number of dice and coins were found indicating that gambling was a popular pastime for the crew; the longbows recovered are probably the only surviving examples of the weaponry used to such devastating effect against the French in many of the battles of the time; animal bones excavated from the wreck suggest the food consumed by the crew – beef, pork, fish and venison were all eaten; a gallon of watered-down beer per day was given to each crew member; the officers had music as an extra with their meals.
Duration	4 minutes 38 seconds

 

Please note that these are example clips provided through our YouTube channel and do not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

Happy Easter

by James

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Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22863752@N06/

Hopefully you’ve all had a great term and are now making the most of the holiday and warmer weather – it’s bright sunshine here in Oxford!

We’ve had a busy term again on the HVG blog and so I thought that I would summarise what we have covered, and highlight once more some of the great example clips that we have posted over the last few months. You can also see them all together on our YouTube channel.

The good weather this morning is quite a contrast to the cold and snow that we were experiencing at the beginning of January when we made our first post of the New Year. It included a clip from the primary literacy section of the gallery about how cold weather affects people, wildlife and landscapes around the world.

The first KS3 Geography clip that we posted looked at how volcanoes form, and has been our most popular example video of the year so far.

We celebrated Chinese New Year at the end of January, looking at the superstitions and traditions behind the festival. Hopefully the Year of the Ox is proving to be fruitful and prosperous for everyone, although I’m not sure if Chinese astrology takes credit crunches into account

It was the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns next. We posted another literacy example clip telling the story of Tam O’Shanter, one of Burns’ most popular poems, and which also explains how the Cutty Sark got its name from a petticoat!

In February, one of my favourite clips from the gallery (‘The Mystery of Little Red Riding Hood’s Ice-cream‘!) featured in a post about insulators and keeping things cool. We also posted a KS3 Geography clip about the effects of oil spills as a huge slick off the Irish coast made the headlines, thought to be from a Russian aircraft carrier.

March 1st was St David’s Day. Our post featured an example clip showing the natural beauty of Wales, and suggested plenty of resources to mark the day in the classroom. We included two primary science example clips in the next post about the Earth, Sun and Moon – very useful if you are trying to explain how the planetary bodies interact with one another as part of Unit 5E of the QCA Science Scheme of Work.

We marked St Patrick’s Day on March 17th by exploring who St Patrick was and the legends that exist around him, along with resource ideas and another KS3 Geography clip showing the fantastic landscape and scenery of Ireland. This was followed by an artistic example clip about the four seasons and discussion of when Spring starts, and we wrapped the term up last week with a post to mark April Fools’ Day – did we manage to catch any of you out?!

Have a good break and see you again in the new term, when we’ll have news of new primary and secondary modules. In the meantime, here is a taster (excuse the pun!) of one of our new primary maths problem solving clips. Try to concentrate on the questions!

Title of clip	Question of chocolate
Curriculum location	Primary Module C  >  Maths problem solving  >  Block E  >  Year 4  >  Section: Tables practice  >  Derive and recall multiplication facts up to 10 × 10, the corresponding division facts and multiples of numbers to 10 up to the tenth multiple
Description	A series of five chocolate based arithmetic problems that require either multiplication and division operations to answer: chocolate eggs travel along conveyer belt in factory; chocolate eggs halves in row upon row of moulds; green sweets covered by liquid chocolate on wire rack and then decorated with pistachio nuts when solid; chocolate blocks travel along factory conveyer belt; foil-wrapped chocolates coins dropping off conveyor belt.
Duration	1 minute 57 seconds

 

Please note that these are example clips provided through our YouTube channel and do not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

Who’s the more foolish – the fool, or the fool who follows him?

by James

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I’ve never been able to decide on an answer to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s question, but I do enjoy playing the odd practical joke on friends and family. Tomorrow (before midday at least!) is therefore one of my favourite days of the year: April Fools’ Day!

April Fools’ Day can be dated back to the reign of Henry VIII. Although well-known for the dissolution of the monasteries and his six wives, less people are aware of the way in which Henry used to enjoy playing practical jokes on his servants and advisors. During a banquet with the French King in 1532 he feigned choking on a chicken bone, and he often enjoyed pulling on the skins of wild animals and jumping out on people travelling through the grounds of Windsor Castle. When Henry died on April 1 1547, it was decided that the day would be kept as a reminder of the late King’s fun-loving side.

Unfortunately ‘you can’t kid a kidder’ hasn’t always been true in my case and I’ve been on the receiving end of a few pranks myself. I remember being sent for sky hooks, tartan paint and a glass hammer in an early part-time job, and must confess to being caught out for a few seconds last year by this great effort from the BBC:

Some of my other favourites over the years include when Channel 4’s Big Breakfast made it look as if the Millennium Dome was on fire during a live broadcast in 1998, and when Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show reported in 2004 that Germany had dropped the Euro and were in negotiations to adopt the British pound! Of course, one of the classic hoaxes of all time has to be the ‘Spaghetti trees harvest’ clip from Panorama in 1957:

Have a fun morning, and keep your eyes peeled for anything which might seem out of the ordinary. The second paragraph of this post could be a good place to start – sorry couldn’t resist it

When does spring start?

by James

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

Tomorrow is traditionally seen as the first day of spring. Tonight is the vernal equinox which means that night time is the same length as day time. From tomorrow, the days will become longer and the nights will get shorter, leading up to the longest day on June 21, the Summer Solstice.

In 2006 MPs questioned the Government why the Met Office had unilaterally declared that spring starts on March 1, seemingly going against tradition and the astrological cycles. The answer was probably to do with keeping things simple and having the four seasons divided up neatly across the twelve months. I must admit that this is always how I have thought of them being roughly organised.

Other events that might be considered as heralding the start of spring confuse the question even further. A BBC Springwatch (or here for the CBeebies version) and Woodland Trust survey found that possible indicators in nature are occurring increasingly early, including frog spawn being spotted in October! The weather is currently mild and very spring-like, but that can’t be relied on either, with parts of the UK experiencing snowfall in March during recent years.

It is next weekend that the clocks ’spring’ forward one hour, but then again that is the start of British Summer Time! Perhaps we should forget about trying to define when spring actually starts and just make the most of the good weather whilst it continues…

Typing ’spring’ into the HVG search engine brings up a range of clips. There are videos in the Primary Science module as part of QCA Unit 6E: Forces in action, that look at the different ways that we use springs and the forces that are involved in them. The KS3 Geography module also has a number of clips examining thermal springs, but it is the type of spring mentioned at the start of this post that this week’s example clip includes: 

Title of clip	A tree through the seasons
Curriculum location	Primary Module B  >  Literacy  >  Year 1  >  Non-fiction  >  Unit 1: Labels, lists and captions  >  Section 1: Speaking  >  Experiment with and build new stores of words to communicate in different contexts
Description	An animation of a tree through winter, spring, summer and autumn: from bare branches to green leaves, daffodils and spring rain, then summer sun and birds flying. The leaves start to go red, then orange, then yellow and then brown and fall from the tree. Winter comes and the tree is bare again, it gets darker and snow falls.
Duration	1 minute 54 seconds

 

Please note that these are example clips provided through our YouTube channel and do not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

St Patrick’s Day

by Stephen

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‘Beannachtaí na féile Páraic’ or ‘Happy St Patrick’s Day’!

This Tuesday, 17th March, is St Patrick’s Day, the annual feast day that celebrates the patron saint of Ireland. The festival is a national holiday in Ireland, but is also widely celebrated (if not officially) in many parts of the world, particularly the USA.

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain (Wales), and was captured by Irish raiders at the age of about sixteen. He was taken as a slave to Ireland where he lived for six years, before escaping and returning to Britain. After his ordination he returned to Ireland as a missionary. Key dates in Saint Patrick’s life can’t be fixed with certainty but it is likely that he lived from approximately the end of the fourth century (c. 385AD) to the middle of the fifth century (c. 460AD). The day we now celebrate as his feast day is believed to be the date of his death.

Saint Patrick was one of the earliest Christian missionaries in the British Isles, and although his work is not recorded in detail, his legacy is important for the example it set for others to follow.

There are many legends surrounding Saint Patrick. One of the best known is that he supposedly banished snakes from Ireland. One interpretation of this legend is that ’snakes’ were symbolic of the Druids at the time. Personally, I like to think that Saint Patrick simply asked all the snakes who wanted to stay to raise their right hands…

The Scoilnet Irish education portal has lots of resources relating to ancient Ireland. The BBC Religion site has more information on Saint Patrick, including a Radio 4 programme by Ian Hislop. The History.com website also has a wealth of relevant resources including a history of the feast day, video resources, and an ‘All Things Irish’ quiz. I’m sure a Google search will also reveal plenty of leprechauns, shamrocks and blessings.

If you’d like to practice your Irish, below is a video explaining how to say ‘Happy Saiint Patrick’s Day’ in Irish.

And below is a video clip from Heinemann Video Gallery illustrating the beauty of the Irish landscape. This clip is from the Secondary Geography section of the service:  Key stage 3 > Unit 20: Comparing countries > Section 7: Are there differences within each country? > Learning Objective: to identify regional differences that exist within a country.

Red Nose Day 2009

Please note, this offer has now closed. Thank you.

To do our bit for Red Nose Day 2009, here’s a special (time-limited offer).

Until midnight GMT on Monday March 16th, a one year subscription to a module of Heinemann video Gallery will be £50, rather than £150. Each module gives access to hundreds of BBC-quality curriculum matched video clips.

In addition, for every one of those subscriptions, we’ll donate £10 to Comic Relief.

To have a look at the service, you can sign-up for a free trial.

To benefit from the special offer, please email us directly: stephen.fahey@pearson.com, with the email subject: ‘Red Nose Day Offer’.

Please note, this offer is only open to UK schools. Thank you!

In the recording studio

by James

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

The wood of my desk here at HVG HQ is barely visible at the moment, covered as it is with piles of scripts. A major part of the production process for the clips that you see in HVG is the recording of voiceovers to go with the high-quality BBC Motion Gallery footage. If you have a look through the gallery you will see that we have used a mixture of clips. Sometimes it is possible to find news reports or parts of programmes that have already been produced and aired by the BBC to meet a certain learning objective. You can find clips on the site from shows such as Blue Peter, Countryfile, Newsround, and Jackanory, to name but a few.

If it isn’t possible to find a suitable segment from a pre-existing programme we tailor make our own clips to match the learning objective in question. Our team of teachers and educational specialists work together with the researchers at BBC Motion Gallery to select specific shots that can be edited together into a useful sequence. Depending on how the clip is intended to be used, we then have to decide what kind of audio it should have. Sometimes a particular type of music or sound effect might be suitable, but quite often we choose to add commentary to the footage, to explain what is being shown, or perhaps ask questions or raise points to prompt discussion.

Once the scripts are written, it is my job to keep track of them through the recording process. We have recording sessions at a variety of studios in London and the Oxford area. One of my favourites is Hats Off Studios in Stonesfield, a small village about ten miles north-west of Oxford. It’s great to get out into the countryside of the Cotswolds, and I’m sure the peace and tranquillity of the studio’s secluded location is one of the reasons why it is so popular with recording artists. In a similar vein, the isolated and atmospheric position of the Sawmills on the banks of the River Fowey in Cornwall, accessible only by boat, helped bands such as Oasis and The Stone Roses to record their albums there.

Mixing it up: Mickie, the sound technician at Hats Off Studios

We also use a number of different voiceover artists, so you will be able to hear a range of voices throughout the gallery. Artists are chosen based on the suitability of their voice for a younger audience, and all have experience in educational programming and children’s television. Tamsin Heatley, for example, was one of the Tweenies, plays Horrid Henry’s mother, and has been in other BBC programmes such as the Fimbles and Roly Mo. Our talented voiceover artists ensure that the scripts are pitched at the right level for their intended audience and really bring the footage to life with the energy and enthusiasm that they convey.

Recording a script: Tamsin, one of our voiceover artists

With the recording studio booked, script written, and sound technician and voiceover artist in place, its time to get down to recording. We record each script against the edited sequence, making sure that the shots and commentary match up. Sometimes there is slightly too much script to squeeze in over a particular shot, so we might have to extend the footage or edit the script accordingly, but most of the time everything works out well. The team in the edit suite add the audio to the clip, and then it is ready to be published to the live site for everyone to hear.

Earth, Sun and Moon

by Stephen

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Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Carl Sagan

Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars – mere globs of gas atoms. I, too, can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see less or more?
Richard P. Feynman

My son is in Year 5, and at school he is currently learning about the Earth, Sun and Moon, which is Unit 5E of the QCA Science Scheme of Work. For me this was always one of the most exciting science topics (and I have to declare a personal interest here, as I went on to study astronomy later in life).

I believe it’s an area of science that is intrinsically fascinating, and although light pollution is a growing problem for many of us, the night-sky is a (free) natural resource that can provide a jumping-off point for many useful science discussions. An hour’s star-gazing can lead quickly to some of the most fundamental questions that science tries to answer: How big is the universe? How old is it? What is our place in it? One of my earliest scientific discussions was debating (aged 6) whether the sun was a star or not (luckily I was on the right side of that argument!).

As with many branches of science there are lots of misconceptions (many of which are seem perfectly reasonable on the surface). Here is a list of many such misconceptions (note that all of the statements in the list are false). Some key ones that used to trip me up:

• We experience seasons because of the Earth’s changing distance from the Sun
• The far side of the Moon is always in darkness

One of the things about the Earth, Sun and Moon topic is the difficulty of explaining and imagining the complex interplay of the star, planet and satellite – how they rotate and orbit; what leads to the rising and setting, and the phases.

Here are some Earth, Sun and Moon resources from the BBC website, including a Flash activity. Here is a link to one of the NASA education sites, with a lot of resources and lesson plans that also relate to this topic.

Below are two videos from Heinemann Video Gallery that include animations and graphics of the solar system, and hopefully help to illustrate the way the planetary bodies interact.

Title of clip	The relative sizes of the sun, Earth and moon
Curriculum location	Primary Module B > Science > Year 5 > Unit 5E: Earth, Sun and Moon > Section 3: Size and distance
Description	Images to illustrate the proportions and structure of the solar system, with voiceover: the moon in the night sky; a satellite shot of Earth from space; the burning surface of the sun; a computer graphic showing the solar system, with each planet’s orbit around the sun drawn in a different colour; all of the planets of the solar system in order of their distance from the sun and showing their relative sizes.
Duration	54 seconds

 

Title of clip	The Earth’s orbit around the sun
Curriculum location	Primary Module B > Science > Year 5 > Unit 5E: Earth, Sun and Moon > Section 7: The Earth’s orbit
Description	The earth orbiting the sun, with voiceover asking questions about the Earth’s orbit and revolution on its axis: animation of a sun-centred solar system with planets following their elliptical orbits, each planet orbiting at a different rate around the sun; the animation focuses on planet Earth as it revolves around the sun, also showing a comet’s trajectory; time-lapse satellite image of the Earth rotating on its axis; satellite imagery of the Red Sea and African desert, with shadows highlighting mountain ranges; the Earth slowly rotates, the sun reflecting off an ocean; the Earth as seen from the surface of the moon, showing half of the Earth lit up and the rest in darkness.
Duration	1 minute 5 seconds

 

Please note that these are example clips provided through our YouTube channel and do not reflect the actual quality of clips in the gallery

St David’s Day

by James

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Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus! (Happy St David’s Day!)

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

This Sunday, March 1st, is St David’s Day in Wales. St David, or Dewi Sant as he is called in Welsh, is the patron saint of Wales. St David lived in the sixth century and travelled widely on pilgrimages, including to Jerusalem where he was made an archbishop. He eventually settled at Glyn Rhosyn (St David’s) and established a  religious community which became influential throughout Wales and the Christian world. He is alleged to have performed several miracles, one of the most famous being when he caused the ground to rise up whilst preaching so that he could be heard by a greater number of people!

The Welsh rugby team could mark the national festival by winning their Six Nations match  against France on Friday evening, and equalling the record currently held by only France and England of nine Six Nations matches without defeat. Of course, in the interests of maintaining sporting impartiality on this blog, we must also wish England good luck for their match against Ireland on Saturday

In the meantime, here is a video and a few resource suggestions that you might find useful if you are planning to do anything on St David’s Day in the classroom. The video is from the KS3 Geography Unit 1: Making connections section of the gallery, and is designed to assist students with describing the geographical context of an area. It is easy to see why Wales is renowned for its beauty, with magical castles and fantastic coastal and mountain landscapes.

Elsewhere on the web, and primarily for Key Stage 1&2 pupils, Activity Village has a range of printable resources, including colouring pages, craft ideas, and puzzles. If you want to give your students a challenge they could also attempt to do the electronic St David’s Day-related jigsaw puzzles!

For an overview of the life of St David and the background to the national day I would recommend the National Museum of Wales page, or that of Woodlands Junior School for the children to look at themselves directly.

Finally, try Newsround’s St David’s Day Quiz – after doing a bit of research for this post I was able to get 5 out of 6 correct, but slipped up on whether St David was a vegetarian or not?!

Title of clip	The Beauty of Wales
Curriculum location	Geography (secondary)  >  QCA  >  Key stage 3  >  Unit 1: Making connections  >  Section 2: How is our place connected to other places?  >  Learning Objective: to describe the geographical context of the local area
Description	A series of images to give a broad perspective of the landscapes and scenery of Wales: clouds billow over silhouetted peaks of Snowdon; clouds shadows traverse rocky outcrops on Mount Snowdon; Green Bridge of Wales (natural archway formed by coastal erosion), Pembroke Peninsula; Skokholm Lighthouse perched high over coastal cliffs; ruins of Cardiff Castle surrounded by moat, the Welsh flag flies from the tower; flock of sheep grazing in meadow; government and other buildings on Cardiff’s waterfront; Severn Bridge spanning between England and Wales.
Duration	1 minute 56 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

What is the impact of an oil spill?

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/therebel68/

The last few videos that we’ve posted have been examples from our primary modules so it seems like time for another KS3 Geography clip. There are lots of clips in the gallery relating to environmental issues, and one of the stories making the headlines yesterday was a huge oil spill off the coast of Ireland. Estimates of the amount of oil spilt range from 500 to 1000 tonnes, making it the largest oil spill in the waters around Britain since the Sea Empress ran aground in 1996 off the coast of south-west Wales.

The spill is thought to have happened as a Russian aircraft carrier was refuelling at sea, although the Russians have yet to admit that one of their vessels is responsible. It is about three miles long by three miles wide and is expected to reach the southern Irish and Welsh coasts in about sixteen days time. It’s too early to say what impact the slick is likely to have on wildlife as weather conditions might cause it to break up at sea, but it could result in severe losses among breeding birds and marine animals such as dolphins and seals.

Although still a considerable spill and potentially very damaging, this recent incident is unlikely to cause environmental damage on a scale that has occurred from other leakages in the past. The consequences of the Prestige oil tanker sinking off the Spanish coast in 2002, for example, were terrible. The ship’s cargo of 70,000 tonnes of oil had a massive impact on marine wildlife and the fishing industry in the region, as well as causing a political and diplomatic rift over who was to blame:

Title of clip	Oil spill from the Prestige
Curriculum location	Geography (secondary)  >  QCA  >  Key stage 3  >  Unit 14: Can the earth cope? Ecosystems population and resources  >  Section 5: What are the effects on the environment of this resource issue?  >  Learning Objective: to collect, record and present evidence
Description	A report on the environmental disaster caused by an oil spillage from the sinking Prestige oil tanker: 70,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the sea; local fisherman help navy cadets to clean the coastline of oil; 60 percent of the region is dependent on fishing for its livelihood and the area is rich in wildlife; the slick covers an area of 20 square miles and is still expanding; Greenpeace describe the clean-up operation as inadequate; mussel fishing boats have been ordered to stay in port, the owners are promised some compensation for the loss of earnings.
Duration	2 minutes 10 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