Year 5 Head Back in Time
The children in year 5 recently enjoyed a brilliant day at the Ancient Technology Centre in Cranborne. This is a site devoted to experimental archeaology. Based on the best evidence available, the staff at Cranborne have created a collection of replica buildings that stretch from Mesolithic times through to the Vikings. The centrepiece of the site is a huge underground building called the Earth House whose roof appears to a small hill. During their visit, the class focussed on the transition from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. They learnt how make bread using Stone Age technology, the importance of fire and how to make it using Iron ore and special bracket fungi, how to use flint knapping skills to create hand tools and how to prepare animal skins and branches for making clothes and tools. Finally, the children worked as a team to move a 1.5 tonne monolith up hill using levers and ropes. The hands on experience helped the children to gain a first hand experience of the life in the Stone Age and was an inspiring way to begin our new History topic.
