Year 5 children visited the Isle of Wight on a geography field trip. The forecast for strong winds was spot on and, as we had foreseen, our ferry trip around The Needles was cancelled. Luckily we had an exciting back-up plan to replace this part of the day: a visit Carisbrooke Castle, one of Year 5's case studies in history.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the castle. They learnt about its prime location, construction and history. The children walked the ramparts, visited the museum, watched a short video of the history of the castle and met the donkeys that draw the water up from the well.
Afterwards, we headed down to the southern coast, where a geologist showed the children some of the fossils that had been found on the island. Then it was the children's turn to find dinosaur and other fossils down on the beach in amongst the 130 million year old (cretaceous) rock beds. Dinosaur footprints, fossilised wood, pyrite (fool's gold), sponges, oysters and echinoids (sea urchins) were all found.
The children enjoyed their action-packed day on the Isle of Wight as they returned on the ferry with heavy rock-laden rucksacks!
Read more about geography at Westbourne House.
