Year Four have moved on from looking at natural hazards such as volcanoes and earthquakes and have now begun exploring human caused hazards, in particular plastic pollution. To help us, we have been using two brilliant resources. The first one is DigiMap for schools. This is a new subscription we have bought into as a school and is a fantastic mapping tool that allows you to move between Ordnance survey style maps and aerial maps. We used this to explore the Geography of Bristol (a place that has done a lot of work managing plastic pollution) as well as the Isle of Arran (a Scottish island that had a very big plastic pollution problem). 

The second website we have been using is plasticadrift.org. This website allows you to see the journey that plastic takes when it ends up in the ocean. The children were shocked by not only how fast the plastic will travel but also the huge, far reaching journey it takes over time. Ash and Pine class would recommend having a look at this at home as it really is eye opening. 

We have had great conversations about how this problem occurred, in terms of human use and a 'throw away culture' but also the Geography of the prevailing winds and ocean currents that carry the problem around our planet.  

"It is really surprising and it made me really think." Ellie

"It is terrifying how much plastic is in our ocean." Leo

"The websites we have been on are really fun and we have learnt a lot from them." Amelia 

"I couldn't really visualise how much plastic there was until I saw it." Freya 

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." Anna