Rivers
The River Otter
The River Otter starts in Somerset, in the Blackdown Hills and makes its way via Otterton to the sea at Budleigh Salterton.
We modelled the Water Cycle using plastic bottles. The water evaporates and makes the top of the bottle misty. When it cools, the water condenses. Can you see the droplets of water that form at the top of the bottle?
We built a mountain using sand, gravel and compost and then gently poured on some water to see how river valleys were formed, Which material was washed away the furthest?
To investigate which type of rock is deposited first we put sand, gravel and compost in a jar. Then we added some water, replaced the lid tightly and shook the mixture. We noticed that the grit settled first and the sand didn’t settle out completely until the next day!
In our class discussion we realised that some rocks are more porous than others (lets water through) and that rivers find the easiest way to get to the sea. We also noticed that the type of rocks in the Otter Valley were different in different places, sometimes sandy and sometimes on a clay or pebble bed.
Our experiment tested which soils were most porous. Different soils were put into the bottles and then the same amount of water added to each. We measured how much water passed through the ‘soil’ in 10 minutes. We tested sand, gravel, compost, plaster of Paris, soil from East Budleigh and soil from Exmouth!
East Budleigh soil was more porous than the Exmouth soil. Plaster of Paris was IMPERVIOUS.
Visit to Salem Chapel
As part of our local study investigation, the Middle Years visited SalemChapel.
A local historian, Kathy Moyle talked to the children and helped their research by exhibiting relevant pictures of bygone East Budleigh.
The children were particularly interested in services that had been available in the village and by looking at the photographs and documents discovered carpet shops and cafes, boot shops and post offices, among others.
The children also looked at old photographs of Drake’s School and found out that the school had its very own swimming pool!
They also found out that Salem Chapel had a school room and 12 teachers!
Finally everyone had a chance to walk up the winding staircase to the Gallery to see everything from a bird’s eye view, including the roof built for smugglers and the central post that replaced a tree (which the Chapel may have been built around).