What a glorious week in TB...both with the weather and with the challenges we have undertaken!
Lower School experienced the culmination of their Egyptian topic - a shoal of Egyptian mackerel had made the arduous journey from the Mediterranean sea to Bottle Brook to warn Flame of an impending attack by the goblins on the Munchkin homeland (all munchkins originate from Egypt) - the goblins plan to smash the munchkin Stone of Magic which is kept there!
Sadly, after the leg of their journey in fresh water, the mackerel perished and the children of Lower School were tasked with mummifying them, in keeping with Egyptian tradition.
Bodies were washed in oil; gills, stomachs, intestines and livers were removed and encased in salt in the canopic jars; brains were removed; abdominal cavities were stuffed with salt and saw-dust; bodies were covered in salt before being wrapped and tied in linen.
A group then channeled the Egyptian god, Waltmun, and he helped them to prepare and perform a mummy-entombment ritual which included chanting, singing, music and dancing. Internal organs are now located in a lion-topped tomb and the mackerel-mummies inside the Great Pyramid.
In addition to this, some in Lower School finished canopic jars and mehen boards, or undertook pond dipping - here they found wonderful things (see what I've done there?), including tadpoles which had grown both front and back legs!
Upper School children started their session considering 'Legacy' - how do they leave school better than they found it - how they would like to be remembered by the teachers as the move to JF or into Y6. We considered how the importance of our legacy grows as we get older, as we need references and such from adults who know us.
Following this, some completed weaving, tried pond dipping, undertook texture art, built dens, constructed trim-trails, made natural dyes or had a go at printing with plants and flowers.
With the natural dyes (nettles, common lilac and buttercups), we needed to separate solids from liquid, so the children had to problem solve using their learning from science the previous week! Additionally, we looked at the environmental impact of the dying of clothing, and considered our responsibility in terms of the clothing we buy and the impact this has on the people and environment where it is manufactured.
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