“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- ‘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:

• Learning about Columbus’ discovery of America
• Developing painting skills of indigenous people to depict mood and emotion
• Plotting trade routes, explorers’ voyages and world wonders using 4-figure grid references
• Making and selling fudge (to learn about the history of sugar)

For their final outcome, the children will learn about sugar’s history in the Americas and how it became the ‘white gold’ of European imports. They will then make fudge and brand the packaging, to sell to the school and wider community to raise money for UNICEF (a global charity which endeavours to ensure the safety of children). This will have a lasting impact on the wider community as not only will UNICEF benefit, but the children will be responsible for making a 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.