Craighill Primary School, Tain

We learned to tie knots today: A clove hitch, a timber hitch, a fisherman’s knot and an adjustable knot. We practiced our knots a lot and really started to get the hang of it!

Bushcraft 4: Learning to Tie Knots on PhotoPeach

We used our knowledge of knots to make a stretcher for an adult with rope and two pieces of wood. All our knots held and we lifted three adults and one of our friends with no trouble at all.

Making a Stretcher on PhotoPeach

The P7 classes from Craighill went to Cameron Barracks to take part in an event called Safe Highlander. We were split into groups then went round stations where we were asked questions and given safety advice. There were stations about safety: on the internet and at a construction site. We were given dramatic demonstrations about fire and road safety. Were were shown how to put people in the recovery position and given advice about how to save a drowning person and what to do if we found flares on the beach. We were talked through different dangers with electricity–at substations, on power lines and in our homes.

Safe Highlander on PhotoPeach

We found all sorts of invertebrates when we went pond dipping today: From leeches to dragonfly larvae, pond skaters and snails, greater and lesser water boatman, caddis fly larvae to tadpoles and newts–we examined and spotted many creatures. When we each get a copy of the identification key we used today, we’ll be able to identify more!

Bushcraft 3: Pond-dipping on PhotoPeach

We all drew the names of objects out of a hat and made a picture or a sculpture representing that word from natural materials. We had words like: bird, rainbow, smiley face, deer, waterfall, tree and butterfly. We wonder if you can tell what the objects were that we made.
Bushcraft 3: Forest Art on PhotoPeach

Today we also wrote two poems in large groups. Each person was asked to come up with two words only, whilst looking at a tree. Everyone had a different perspective on it: One pupil was wearing a blindfold and was touching the trunk; another had a magnifying glass and looked closely at the trunk and branches; another was looking through a kitchen roll tube from a distance; two pupils had framed mirrors and were lying on the ground looking at the branches above through the mirrors. The rest found their own space and looked at the tree from that perspective.
We wrote each word on a post-it note and then as a group, decided how to put the words together to make a poem. Read these to see what you think:

Scots Pine
A cooperative poem by primary six
The tall, colourful, rough tree
Is mighty and gimungous.
It is furry and soft.
Intertwining branches are bumpy.
The almighty tree is scratched and scary.
Spiky,
Scratching,
Reaching,
Collosal.

Scots Pine
A cooperative poem by primary seven
Mossy and straight
thin and tall
sticky and sharp
enormous, gigantic.
Jagged and rough
uneven and sparse
hard and pointy.
Fantastic, fat branches
home for insects.
Full and branchy
A sprouting giant.

Our second big challenge was a “Murder Mystery”, where we had to identify the food chain–the murder–that went on in a cordoned off area. Before we arrived, Ian had made animal tracks in mud and laid items such as fur, egg shell, poo, pellets and skulls in each cordoned off area. Each group were given identification guides–illustrations of animal tracks, pellets and poos. Using these guides, we could guess the animals that were predators and the animals that were prey in the cordoned off area.
We had a great time and learned a lot!

Murder Mystery on PhotoPeach

This week we went to Skelbo Wood as investigators! We did two activities during our time there: The first, we’ll call “Discovery”.
Our “Discovery” challenge involved drawing a card out of a bag which had a letter and some instructions on it. We read the instruction and did what it said. For instance, it might have had the letter “C” on the card and it said “Crawl on your hands and knees and find something colourful, cracked or creeping”. After all the activities were completed, Ian told us that the letters were an anagram. We laid them out on the moss and made the word “Discovery”. We learned a lot from this activity. For instance, we discovered an ovipositor called an ichneumon; these insects lay their egs on grubs. When the eggs hatch, they eat the grub! We learned how to distinguish between a frog and a toad: A toad is dry and warty and crawls along the ground, while a frog is smooth and wet and jumps.
We also did an activity where everyone had to find their own space and sit quietly and still for two minutes, just listening to the wood and calming down, trying to discover an inner peace and stillness.
The weather was mixed–it rained and drizzled. But we all had a fun time. We had our snack under a tarpaulin and were ready to go on to our second big adventure of the day.
Discovery on PhotoPeach

Please leave a comment here in French.
Today, choose the first online French activity link on the blog. Go to Unit 14–Best friends. Listen to the question and answer of the cartoons and repeat it to yourself a few times. Click into place the next two pages of cartoon bubbles. Note the difference between the masculine and feminine words. I have typed the masculine word first, then the feminine and finally the definition: mon and ma (my); ton and ta (your); ami/amie (friend); meillier/meillieure (best). Here is my example:

Bonjour! Je m’appelle Julie. Mon meillieur ami s’appelle David. OR Ma meilleure amie s’appelle Mary.

We tried two different ways to light fires today. First, we tried the technique of rubbing two sticks together. We worked together in groups and we all created a lot of heat with the friction of the sticks. Although some of us got some smoke and made some ash, no one got a fire going that way. However, Ian showed us how to use a fire steel flint and striker and most of us had a chance to light a cotton wool ball on fire. VERY EXCTING!
Bushcraft Skills: Lighting Fires on PhotoPeach