We had a brilliant time on our trip last week. We carried out lots of activities which helped us to learn more about how special the River Thames is. These activities also reminded us about some of the other things we have learnt this year like the water cycle.
Write a post which tells us what you did and what you learnt on the day. You might also want to say why you would recommend the trip to other children.
Happy blogging!
I learnt how boats go on the lock there are large cat flaps in the lower gate called the sluices. When the lock keeper opened the sluices water level increased but when he closed them the water level decreased. We also went on a foreshore (beach) exploration we found rocks with holes in them they were used for fishing in the stone age.
ReplyDeleteWe also saw a food web. If there isn't any algae left things like shrimp would die then little fish would die and finally whopping big fish like shark would die. Algae is a green sticky liquid that grows were it is wet.
I would highly recommend going to the river Thames, it is fabulous and has so many amazing sceneries. Its an amazing place to explore and increases your educational knowledge.
On the trip we walked from school to the bus garage. We had a 40 minute ride on the 281 bus. We got off and walked to the Teddington lock and a guy called Pete came to talk about how the lock works and showed how the lock works and all of that jazz. then we had a 1 hour walk (more like an 1000 hour walk) to this boat called the Thames-venture and we ate our lunches on it. After our lunch we met this women called ??? (I don't really remember) and she told us about how the river was dirty in something like the 1800s or so and that all the fish in the river died. Then we went to the bottom of the boat and did this experiment about which material would let the water go through the quickest. Me and Sidney had gravel as our material and that was the quickest. Then we took the bus back to the school.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend this trip to other children because it was fun doing experiments and learning about the water when we were on the boat.
Our River Trip
ReplyDeleteOn our trip to the river, we went to Teddington Lock and Kingston. The plan was that we had to be set into groups, with 15 people going to Teddington Lock first and the rest would go to Kingston first. We would all walk to the 281 bus together.
Anyway I went to Teddington Lock first. Anyway approximately to get to Teddington Lock it took forty minutes on the bus. On the other hand, to go to Kingston, it took about an hour.
Once we got off the bus, we walked until we reached the lock. On the way we saw a suspension bridge and a weir. For your information a weir is a building that traps water in it.
Finally, we reached Teddington Lock. There we learnt many things. The first thing that we learnt was that if there is too much of rain, it will cause floods. Then he said that the opposite of flooding is drought.
Next we learnt that boats can’t go past if there is a weir so that is why that they have created locks. Another thing that I learnt was that locks have sluices that are like big cat flaps. Finally we learnt how a lock works and the history behind it (including the hilarious, fish, slapping dance.) We then set of to Kingston to have our lunch.
On the way we saw two landmarks before reaching Kingston. There we ate lunch on a boat called the Thames Venturer.
After lunch we had to go downstairs for our first workshop where we did a test on rocks and soils and which material would pass through water the quickest. The results were that gravel made the water pass through the quickest. Afterwards we came upstairs to do our final workshop. There we learnt about food webs and the PH scale before leaving. Overall it was a fantastic experience learning so many things.
On Wednesday we went on a trip to learn about the River Thames. First we went to Teddington Lock. We had to sit on some benches to wait for a man called Peter to come. He talked to us about rivers and gave us lots of information about things like what the mouth of a river is and where it starts. Then Mrs Hulford and Amari went to ask the Lock Keeper to open the lock gates. He did this and we watched the water coming through. Peter then took us to see a plaque in memory of some sailors who set off from Teddington Lock to help soldiers in the Second World War. The best thing we did with Peter was to go on the beach. We were told to find something natural, something old and something manmade. I found a shell, a piece of glass and a stone with a hole in the middle. Peter said that this was something that Stone Age people would use for fishing!
ReplyDeleteAfter that we walked to Kingston and had lunch on a boat. We met Jane, Sally, Linda, and Ivor. We had to test different temperatures, the air, the surface of the river and the bottom of the river. Ivor tied a thermometer to a spear and threw it in the water! We looked at the water to see if it was clean or not and talked about how important it was not to pollute the river so the fish won’t die. Then we did some experiments to find out what substance water went through quickest. This was gravel.
I thought this trip was excellent because we did exciting things and learnt a lot. I would really recommend it to other people.
Esme
n our school trip we went on a boat called Thames-Venture which was at Kingston.When we were there we learned all different things about the river thames,I learned how to take the temperature of the river by using a thermometer.Wehad containers on the boat which we filled with river thames water using a bucket and rope,then we used a small thermometer to see the temperature.We then tested different bowls which had gravel,clay,chalk and soil in to see which one was the quickest to let the water through.I found that the gravel was the fastest.
ReplyDeleteIt was the best day EVER!
Matthew
At Teddington Lock we met a man called Peter, he knew a lot about the river and he explained about the lock and weir. He said a lock makes the water levels the same and if a boat comes it will struggle without the help of the lock. The lock is like an elevator which brings the water up by opening the top gates. The boat will go in the lock and the water will flush out so the boat will go away.
ReplyDeleteAt Kingston we went on a boat called the Thames Venturer which is a Dutch barge. In the cabin we did an experiment to test which material water will pass through the quickest. We used a stop watch to time 100ml of water with gravel, chalk, alluvium and clay. Gravel was the quickest material. Then we used litmus paper to see whether the river water was acid, alkaline or neutral.
I would recommend this trip to other children because it was fun and you learnt a lot, although the walk was a long one!
On Wednesday we had a trip to river Thames. First we walked on the bus(281) then, we sit and ride in the bus 40 minutes. When we went off the bus we walk to Teddington Lock. We wait there for a man called Peter.He teach us how to use the river, and the best part was when we walk on the bridge. Then we went to the beach and I found lots of shells. Later on we walked to Kingston to boat called Thames Adventurer. After lunch we split to 2 groups, the 1 group stayed up there, the 2 group went underneath the boat. I stayed up there. We measure the temperature of water and we measure temperature of the water on the bottom of the river. Then we went of underneath the boat and we make there a experiments. Then we get back the same bus to the school and go home :) We get back between 5 and 5.30
ReplyDeleteOn Wednesday 19th March 2014, we went on a school trip to the River Thames, visiting Teddington Lock, and also the Dutch barge, Thames Venturer, which is currently moored at Kingston (instead of Teddington because of the water levels having risen due to the recent floods).
ReplyDeleteWe boarded bus no. 281 from the Hounslow Bus Station after a brief walk and Group 1 got off at Teddington before Group 2 (which I was in). We got off at Kingston and walked to the Thames Venturer. Sally, Linda and Jane (the crew) explained us the safety protocols, and then Sally asked us some questions about rivers, which we were able to answer from our knowledge of the Water Cycle that we had learnt in class with Miss Jolliffe.
The Water Cycle is the process by which water from the sea gets evaporated into water vapour, which then condenses into clouds. Eventually precipitation takes place, and that is when the water particles come down as rain, snow, hail etc. After this, it can either go back into the sea, which is called the surface run-off; or it can get absorbed into the ground, which is called percolation.
Then we did a test in pairs with Sally to see which rock was the most permeable - chalk, alluvium, gravel or clay (and made sure it was a fair one). We poured 100 ml of water through a funnel into a beaker. In the funnel, we first put cotton wool and then the material we experimented with (I had chalk), and we measured the time taken with a stopwatch for the last drop of water to fall through. We found that there was some absorption of water in materials like chalk, alluvium and clay, and some dissolving of it as well. Gravel was the most permeable (because of the gaps in between each rock), and clay was the least permeable (most impermeable).
Then, we went on to the upper deck, where Jane told us all about the food web - how the big fish like sharks depend on small green organisms called algae and how the algae would die if the river water was too acidic thus affecting the entire food web. Then we tested the temperature of the water at the surface, which was roughly the same as that of the air. To test whether the temperature of the water was the same in greater depths of the river, Ivor devised an ingenious method to measure by using a thermometer tied to a very long stick and dipping it in. We found out that the temperature was nearly the same as that of the surface.
We also tested the pH level of the water with Litmus paper and found it was acidic, because of all of the waste products floating in the river. Jane also got a bottle of river water, and the silt (the eroded material it carries) was swirling about, but after a while, when it was put down, the silt settled at the bottom of the bottle. We came to know that although the river Thames was very unclean in the 1800’s, at present it is one of the cleanest rivers in the world.
We were very hungry by then and quickly washed our hands at the ‘Sea Cadets’ and came back and had lunch on the boat, which was a unique experience for me.
To be continued...
Continued…
ReplyDeleteAfter lunch, we walked to Teddington with Peter (the captain of the Thames Venturer), along the river Thames. We saw Cormorants, Coots, some Canadian and Egyptian Geese floating in the water on our way. Although I was feeling a bit tired, I enjoyed the beautiful and picturesque surroundings.
On the way, we saw two landmarks. One, the Half Mile Tree, which marked that we had walked half the 1-mile distance to Teddington. Peter told us about the Elm Tree Disease, in which all the elm trees died and scientists were looking for a cure to eliminate the disease. Two, the Hawker Centre, which used to make aeroplanes, and was the one to launch the aeroplane that rose vertically and took off horizontally.
When we reached Teddington, Peter showed us a war memorial plaque for soldiers who sailed from here in ‘Little Ships’ to the beaches of Dunkirk as part of the rescue mission, ‘Operation Dynamo’, that saved the lives of over 300,000 British and French troops in 1940 during World War II. He also told us about an on-going hydropower project, which will use the energy from the Thames to power some newly-built flats.
We learnt from him that flooding is when lots of water overflows onto the land, and drought is just the opposite. The river Thames starts in the Cotswolds, and flows across England, and out to the sea. As the river gets more and more downhill, there are walls that make the water level what it is. Teddington is where the last gate is and it is also the largest lock.
Then we learned a lot about Weirs and locks. A lock is an enclosed area in the river, built between two stretches having different water levels. The water level of the lock can be changed by operating its gates, so that the boat can travel up and down the river despite the difference in water levels. A weir is a barrier across a river that obstructs the flow of water and maintains the level of water upstream.
The Lock Keeper (Katy) demonstrated how the lock works for us. Algae on the top of the sluices (the little cat flaps that open and close to let water in and out) mark how high the water level rises when one end of the sluices are opened (the other one closed) until the water levels are the same. Again when second sluice is opened (first one now closed), the water gushes out to the river until the two levels are the same.
At the end, we had time to go down to the Foreshore, the pebbly beach by the river, and it was really fascinating. Peter placed a stick on the shore to warn us about the oncoming high tide and then we collected shell. He asked us to find something old, new, man made and natural. We also found the upper jawbone of a catfish (a fox probably had taken the rest). Miss Jolliffe also tested the pH of the brackish water and it was mildly acidic.
Then, we walked to the nearest bus stop and waited for the bus. We saw the other group go by on a bus, and we boarded the one, which had empty seats. I was feeling very sleepy and after we got down, we walked back to school and finally came home!
I would recommend this trip to others because I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is not everyday that you can have a lovely day-out by the river, have lunch aboard a boat, do hands-on experiments, and learn so many new things.
On Wednesday 19th March, we went on an adventurous trip to River Thames and Teddington Lock to increase our knowledge of rivers. We were separated equally into two groups and were split further into another two groups.
ReplyDeleteFirst we all walked to the bus garage and got on to bus number 281. Eventually, we reached Teddington Lock after a 40 minute bus ride.
We sat on a bench and waited for the skipper, Peter, who arrived after about five minutes. He asked us questions about the source and estuary and even scribbled a diagram. Then he started talking about the lock itself. We soon found out that there was a 'sluice' which is like a giant cat flap but you can't see it because it is hidden by the water of the lock. Then he sent Amari and Mrs Hulford to ask the Lock Keeper, Howard, if he could show us how the lock works. They came out and I realized that Howard had said 'Yes'. I was really excited to see the how the lock works because I had never seen one before. Howard opened the top sluice and slowly, the water rose towards us. When he opened the bottom sluice the water level decreased again so it was in the same level as the river.
After that, Peter took us to the foreshore where we had to find something natural, man made, and a stone with a hole in it which was the challenge. He said that these were used in the Stone Age as weights when they went fishing. He told us that almost all of these rocks had been eroded, transported and deposited. He taught us that TED is an abbreviation for transportation, erosion and deposition.
A few of us started moaning that there were either hungry or tired so Peter suggested we start our walk to Kingston which was a mile long. Mrs Hulford said that when she went with Big Ben they complained a lot too so she set up a competition to see who complained the most. After a while Miss Jones said we were not allowed to mention the H word, the S word or the F word, which stands for hungry, starving and famished.
Soon we got to our first landmark which was the Half Mile Tree which marked that we had walked half a mile. Peter also told us about the Elm Tree Disease, so all the elm trees died. After twenty minutes or so we reached our second landmark which was the Hawker Centre. Finally we reached Kingston and met up with the other group. We washed our hands and went on the Thames Venturer which is a Dutch barge. We had our lunch on the barge and then started on our experiments. We met Sally, Jane, Linda and Ivor who were the boat's crew.
Our group went down first and worked with Sally and Linda. We did an experiment to see which material was the most permeable. Firstly we measured a 100 ml of water. Next we put some cotton pads in a beaker; then one material (alluvium, chalk and gravel) in each beaker, and we poured the water into the beaker using a funnel. The most permeable material was gravel as there were many gaps between them. The next was the chalk and finally the alluvium. We wrote down the water's appearance in our worksheet. It was time to go up to the deck of the boat to do the next experiments with Jane. She showed us a food web with algae at the bottom of the web which is eaten by small fishes like shrimps. The small fishes are eaten by bigger fishes like Herring, which is eaten by even bigger fishes like Pike. If algae is removed from the food web there will be no food for smaller fishes and they will die, this means there will be no food for bigger fishes and they will die too and so on.
To be continued....
.....continued
ReplyDeleteThe next experiment was to measure the temperature of the air, surface of the river and the bottom of the river. We found out that the temperature of the air was 17°C. The temperature of the surface of the river was 11°C and the temperature of the bottom of the river was 12°C. I was really surprised by the results! I thought the surface of the river would be warmer than the bottom of the river.
The final experiment was to find out whether the river was acidic or alkaline. We used litmus paper and the pH scale. Ivor got a bucket full of water from the river and we dipped our litmus paper in the water. The colour of the litmus paper changed to blue/grey which meant the water is more alkaline and the pH scale was 8.
Finally, it was time to go back to school. We walked to the bus stop and got on to 281 again. We played 'I Spy' and 'The Silence Game' all the way and everybody joined in.
Finally, we reached school and was pleased to be there as I was extremely tired!
I would recommend this trip to other children because it is a really exciting and fascinating way to build your knowledge of rivers.
Prisha
On Wednesday the 19th of march we went to are school trip and we walket a little bit then we went to the 281 bus then miss Jolliffa 's group went to Kingston and we saw a lovely boat and sally and two other people and some went up stairs and some went down stairs and then peter is incharge of the boat and miss Jones 's group went to teddington lock and when we went there we saw a shall and when peter put a stich in the water and the sea came in and then we went on the bus and then we went home on the 281 bus it was fun and I had a nice time. pavan
ReplyDeleteDowning Street class went to Kingston and Teddington Lock on Wednesday 19th March.
ReplyDeleteI went Kingston first in a barge called the Thames Venture.When I was downstairs whith Sally and Linda we did a experiment.Our aim was to see which rock or soil would let water through the quickest.There was four options:clay,alluvium,gravel and chalk.I predicted that alluvium would let wate through the quickest because it looked soft and had space for the water to flow through it.I was wrong gravel actually let water through the quickest.
Then I we did another experiment with Ivor and Jane.Our aim was to see the quality of the water to see if our river is to accidic or allkiline,because if the water was to accidic or allkiline our algee might die and if that happens than the animals that eat algee will die.After we had lunch we went to Teddinton Lock.
We met the captain Peter.As we were going we saw a Half Mile tree.They planted the tree to remember the the big event of the Elm trees.We also met a lockeeper who is sometimes a gardener her name is Kaity.She opend the gates and then water from the other side started to.Peter called the gates cat flaps and thats the only thing he could think of but it wasn`t he knew he could call them slucies.Finally we went to the beach.Peter said to try to find a stone with a hole in it but I couldn`t.
At last we went back home.It was the best trip ever thats why I would recommend it to other people I feel like telling it to the whole univese.