At Duchy of Lancaster we use knowledge organisers to set out the key learning for our learning in Geography, History, Science, Art. Knowledge Organisers can be downloaded to use at home HERE. 

Art

Still Life and Form

This unit uses still life to explore how artists use different techniques to show the form of an object. In the first lesson they explore what a still life is and how it is a genre in art which has existed for a long time, comparing a still life painted on the walls at Herculaneum from the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in 79 C.E. with pop art by Andy Warhol from the 1960s. The children then spend three lessons looking at the still life work of Morandi, using his work to investigate the meaning of form, and how artists use different techniques to create the illusion of three dimensions in a two dimensional drawing. They practise using different pencil techniques to show form and then draw their own still life from observation using cross-hatching. This skill builds on the work done in the previous unit about line. The children then move on to investigate how colour can be used to show form in the still life paintings of Cezanne and paintings of horses by Stubbs. They draw their own still life in colour, learning how to layer oil pastels working from dark to light. The concept of working from dark to light with opaque materials, such as oil pastels, is then revisited at the beginning of year 4 where the children paint still life with acrylics in the unit on Light. The last lesson in this sequence looks at flower paintings by Moser and paintings of horses by Bonheur, studying how these artists show form as well as exploring the different opportunities afforded to women, compared to men, for 18th and 19th century artists.

Still Life and Form Knowledge Organiser 

Science

Cycles in Nature

Building on their understanding of the environment, plants and animals from previous units, children will learn about cycles in nature. They will study patterns, trends and cycles that occur throughout the seasons, in the life of plants and in the life of animals. Children will understand that the tilt of the earth creates our seasons. This knowledge will be built upon in the Year 5 unit on Astronomy. Children will ask and answer questions about the patterns seen in nature as the seasons change. They will look closely and observe changes in the seasons in their own environment. Children will think scientifically about the changes to plants through the seasons, how the increased hours of sunshine in the summer help plants to gain the necessary energy to grow bigger. Building on knowledge from Year 1 children will look again at deciduous and evergreen trees. Building on knowledge from Year 2 Geography, children will recognise how the seasons and animal migration patterns are interconnected. Building on their understanding of cycles, children will study the life cycles of plants and animals, specifically flowering plants and frogs. Additional life cycles of living things can be added to add further context. Metamorphosis is introduced as children learn about the changes in the life cycle of frogs. Children will identify the function of different parts of flowering plants and will explore the part that flowers play in the reproduction of flowering plants. This knowledge will be revisited in more detail in a later Year 3 unit studying plants.

Cycles in Nature Knowledge Organiser 

History

Ancient Egypt

During this unit, the children will look at Ancient Egypt’s hierarchal society at this time. Children will look at social pyramids and be introduced to the terminology- slaves, Viziers, Craftsmen/Artisans, and Pharaoh. They will also learn about what it would be like to live in Egypt at this time- looking at how archaeologists have been able to find out about the food they ate, the clothes they wore, the houses they lived in and the jobs they did. The children will learn about the similarities and differences between the lives of the rich and the poor, and the lives of men and women at this time. This unit will also focus on fascinating Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. Teachers may wish to go into more detail into this, perhaps studying Egyptian Mythology and Legends in English (we would recommend studying this in English after the children have some background knowledge of Ancient Egypt). Understanding the religious beliefs of Ancient Egyptians is integral to understanding some of their great achievements- such as the building of the pyramids. The children will look at Egyptians beliefs regarding the afterlife and will look at the artefacts found in the tombs of both a craftsman and his wife, as well as one of the most well-known pharaohs- Tutankhamun. This unit will focus on how archaeological discoveries, such as Howard Carters discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, have enabled us to learn more about life in Ancient Egypt. This unit helps children develop a sense of chronology and appreciation of the ancient world. The children can build upon their knowledge in Egypt later on in the Art curriculum, where children will learn more about the Great Sphinx, the bust of Queen Nefertiti and the death mask of Tutankhamun.

Ancient Egypt Knowledge Organiser 

Geography

Settlements

This unit introduces settlements. Building on an understanding of local geography, children will learn that settlements are places where people live. They will look back to ancient times when humans were nomadic hunter gatherers and will link to their learning in history about Ancient Egypt and people settling along the Nile to farm. They will begin to reflect on the settlements we have today and why they were first built. Throughout the unit children will look at the link between the geography of a place and its human features. They will learn that rivers were an important resource for travelling and transporting goods in the past and that many cities grew around a river. It is important for children to understand that settlements are located in certain places for a reason and the geography of an area can often reveal why. Prior to this unit children will have begun to learn to use Ordnance Survey maps and will have looked at maps with keys. In this unit children will explore population maps and will use keys to interpret information about population density from the maps. Introducing population density lays the foundation for understanding population distribution, its causes and effects, which will develop as children work through the curriculum. In this unit, children will look again at maps of the local area and consider land use in different locations. As children work through their primary geography curriculum they will use and apply their geographical skills, such as map reading, using symbols, grid references etc in many different contexts as they learn about places around the world. Over time children will get better at the skill of map reading using a wide range of maps as they learn more and remember more of the curriculum.

Settlements Knowledge Organiser 

Please see below for the knowledge Organisers for each term. 

Spring 1 2022

Squirrels

Light

Rivers

The Anglo Saxons

The Art of Ancient Egypt