Glaitness Class 6

Our trip to Hoy

2010-06-24T04:31:00.000-07:00

We had great weather on our trip to Hoy.

Our activities were canoeing, abseiling, archery, raft building, a walk to the Old Man of Hoy and a forest adventure.

We also had some evening activities and games which involved a lot of running around!

Here is a slide show from some of the activities which Miss Mackay was at.

Mr Bichan has video footage and it will be posted here soon.

A slideshow of the Glaitness School Primary 6 class trip to Hoy 2010.

The Chocolate Trade game

2010-06-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Did you know that we spend £78 per person per year on chocolate? But where does it come from and what happens between the cocoa tree and the chocolate bar?

Today we played a game which helped us understand the cocoa trading chain between the poorer countries in the south who produce the cocoa and the richer countries in the north who process and consume the chocolate.

The Big Chocolate Company says the deal is off.

The Fair Trade Chocolate company tries to reason with the supermarket.

The shoppers try to get a good deal.

The cocoa producers negotiate with the Big Chocolate company.

Shoppers wait while the supermarkets and chocolate companies thrash out the deal.

We learned that the supermarkets and the big companies are very powerful and that the cocoa producers get a poor deal unless there is a fair trade company to trade with. We also understood that the shoppers (US!) are the ultimately the most powerful, if we decide we want fair trade goods the supermarkets will eventually have to provide it.

Everyone was very motivated and worked well in groups.

It was great fun too!

Some things we have learned about the mountains in Colorado.

2010-01-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

The tallest mountain in the state of Colorado is Pike's Peak.

The Rocky Mountains run right through the state of Colorado.

The width of the Rocky Mountain Range is 122km to 650km.

There is tectonic plate movement in the Rocky Mountains.

The Rocky Mountains are 4800km from northern BC in Canada to Mexico.

The average temperature in winter in Colorado is 33.4 degrees F, but in the mountains it is usually colder because it is at a higher altitude.

Our ePals

2009-12-14T03:12:00.000-08:00

We have been emailing our ePals in Colorado. We have been finding out about the mountains and what it is like living in the middle of a continent, next to a huge mountain range, compared with here in Orkney.

There are lots of children in Mr Cleland's class compared with our 'peedie' class.

Ready to post!

2009-11-09T04:02:00.000-08:00

The parcel is ready to post and we are ready to email our ePals at Ridgeview Elementary School.

We are so excited!

Packing the box

2009-11-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

We have put together a box of interesting things from Orkney to send to Colorado. We hope the children at our link school enjoy opening the box and discovering what is inside.

Ridgeview Elementary School, CO, USA

2009-10-05T03:43:00.000-07:00

View Ridgeview Elementary School, Colorado Springs, USA in a larger map

Zoom in to find our link school!

The Sanday lighthouse

2009-09-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

This is the lighthouse on the island of Sanday which is in Orkney. There are so many lighthouses in Orkney because there are lots of dangerous waters.

St Magnus Cathedral

2009-09-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.
It was built by the Vikings in 1137.

2009-09-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

Orkney is a mainly flat group of islands apart from Hoy. We have very few trees and a lot of green farmland.

Old Man of Hoy

2009-09-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

This is the Old Man of Hoy. It is a 450ft high sea stack of red sandstone.

beach

2009-09-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

On the left side there is a beach.It was around in the First World War and the ship wrecks are still on the beach.

On the right side there is the Churchill Barriers that defend Scapa Flow. It was built in the Second World War to stop ships from getting through.

Skara Brae

2009-09-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Skara Brae was a stone age village that was occupied in 3100-2500 BC. The house contains a central hearth, a stone dresser and a small bed. This is one of the many buildings or villages that is still standing today.

Finding Colorado Springs on Google Earth

2009-09-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

Here is our class looking on Google Earth to find out where our link school is located in Colorado Springs, USA. Some of our class said that they had been to Florida, but we realised that it is still a very long way from the school.

We also took a photo of the Orkney Islands where our school is located, in the far north of Scotland in the UK.

Here is a picture of the P6 pupils smiling happily.

2009-09-07T08:22:00.000-07:00