Beaumont SESE Trail 5th class The SESE trail takes place in the immediate vicinity of the school

at Beaumont, Cork. It is composed of 6 stations which have a particular focus (for example, the graveyard station at Temple Hill focuses on history); however there is a balance of Geography, History and Science tasks at each station. The children will have completed lessons in relation to the history of their local area together with related Science and Geography lessons beforehand so that the tasks carried out will be more meaningful to them. The children will be shown the trail route on Google Maps and a safety talk discussing rules will take place in advance. The children will complete the trail in mixed ability pairs and the class will move between each station together (although the children will be given freedom to move around and complete their tasks in pairs at each station). The children will be provided with a digital camera and zip-lock bag (for samples). They will draw the route of the trail on the map as they move between each station. The teacher will accompany the children together with the classroom teacher and the classroom SNA for supervision purposes.

SESE Trail

Location: Beaumont Boys National School, Blackrock, Cork Class level: 5th class
Theme: Our Local Area & Environment
Date: Wednesday 8th May 2013

O Ou ur rT Tr ra aiill R Ru ulle es s
We are going on a History, Geography and Science trail around our school area. We need to be on our best behaviour and listen to teacher at all times. Rua the fox, Broc the badger, Grinneog the hedgehog, Ialtg the bat and Coinn the rabbit will help us along the way. Listen to what they have to say:-

Hi there! Im Rua the fox. My friends and I will be helping you on this exciting trail. We will all go to each station together but each pair will be moving around making their own discoveries, so make sure that you stay with your own partner at all times!

My name is Broc the badger. Remember, other classes are working in school today so we must speak quietly and walk there is no running allowed!

Im Grinneog the hedgehog. Safety is vital, so take care at all times and always look out for traffic when walking around the school driveway or near a road. Follow any directions that teacher gives you! Hi, Im Ialtg the bat. Try to answer all the questions and work together as a team. Dont forget to bring a pencil and eraser! You will also need a pooter and a zip-lock bag for collecting samples. And Im Coinn the rabbit.

HAVE FUN!!!

R RE EM ME EM MB BE ER R:: T TH HI IS SI IS SN NO OT TA AR RA AC CE E
Name: Trail Partner:

Pre-Trail Page

1. Write down 3 things that we have learned recently about the history of our local area:_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 2. Write down 3 plants that you predict you will find in the local area:_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 3. Write down 3 animals that you predict you will find in the local area:_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ 4. Write down 3 types of buildings that you might find in the local area:_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

This is a map of our local area with each of the stops on our trail marked on the map. Draw the route we take on our trail today as we move along to each stop with the teacher.
Stop D part 2: The Old Quarry Stop E: Wooded Area Stop F part 1: The Shop

Stop D part 1: The Graveyard

Stop F part 2: The PostBox Stop C: The Pitch & Putt Club

Stop B: The Reservoir

Stop A: Beaumont School

A. Walk out of the classroom in pairs with teacher. First, lets stop in the hallway by the front door. Look at the wall on the left hand side where you will see a plaque on the wall and photographs of the first classes in this school. 1. When was the school built?

2. Can you see any differences between the clothes and school uniforms worn by teachers and students in the old photographs compared to the clothes and uniforms we wear today?

3. Can you name some of the materials that were used to make the hallway? (Hint: look at the walls, the floors and the windows)

Did you know that the school was built on the site of Beaumont House where the famous Cork Beamish family lived?

4. Look at the pictures of the school and the old Beaumont House which once stood where the school now stands. Can you see any differences?

5. Walk outside and take a quarter turn to the left to face the playground. How many big steps would it take to get to the basketball court? Estimate Measure

B. Now lets walk out the front gate of the school together. Stay with your partner and listen to teacher! 1. As we walk up the hill, take time to enjoy the view over the city to our right and the green hills to our left. Now we are at the top of the hill looking at the old reservoir. A reservoir is used to store water. Why do you think that this water would be important to the local community?

Answer:-

Reservoir

2. Now look at the old stone wall beside the reservoir. Can you find the arch shape on the wall shown in this photograph?
I wonder what it was? Answer:I wonder why it is not used any more?

Arch in the wall

Answer:-

3. Can you find the following plants? Can you find another plant in the wall? Hint: look at the pictures below and tick the ones you can find on the wall. Plant Green Moss Yellow lichen Plant leaves Ivy Found? (Yes/No)

Were you surprised to find so Look for another type of plant living on the wall and describe it here! many plants living on the wall? Why?

Interesting fact!

Did you know that

the stone in this wall comes from the old quarry just around the corner?

Now we will walk down the lane between the reservoir and the Pitch and Putt club. Touch the stone wall as we C. walk down the lane. How does it feel?

1. The stone wall feels:Soft Hard Warm Cold Rough Smooth

2. When we reach the car-park of the Pitch and Putt club, we will gather as a group facing the entrance to the club. Write and draw what you see:I see ___________________ in front of me.

I see ___________________ to my left.

I see ___________________ to my right.

I see ___________________ behind me.

3. Now make a half turn and face the road. Look at the Cork Constitution Club House and sports pitch in front of you. What sport is played here?
Hint: Simon Zebo is a famous player with Cork Con and Ireland and he also went to our school!

What other sports facilities do you know of in our area?

TAKE CARE & LISTEN TO TEACHER! We will be walking to the top of Temple Hill on the footpaths but we will need to cross the road. Walk slowly and follow teachers instructions for crossing the roads safely.

D.

We are now entering a very old graveyard at Temple Hill. We should work quietly and respectfully here. Take care! There are a lot of broken stones that you could trip on so please walk slowly.

1. Can you find a very old headstone and a newer headstone? Write the Did you know? Temple name and date for each headstone here to compare them. Hill gets its name from a church that was beside Old headstone: New headstone:
the graveyard. The church was knocked down many years ago.

2. Some of the old headstones have some interesting sculpture carved into the stone. Find the headstones below, take a rubbing of the date from them on a blank sheet and write what you think the carvings mean.

Now follow teacher out of the graveyard and down a little lane that leads to the old limestone quarry. This was called Carrigmore quarry. Watch out for the old cottages along the way where the miners who worked the quarry lived long ago!

3. We will all now stand on the quarry floor and look up at the limestone cliffs in front of us. Count the amount of caves in the cliffs.
Did you know? Limestone from this quarry was used to build many famous buildings in Cork including Cork City Hall and the Court House.

Collect a small rock sample from the quarry floor. We will examine these later in class!
Interesting fact Limestone is a soft rock. Some of it dissolves over time in rainwater. That is why you will find so many caves here!

4. The old quarry has become a good habitat for bats. What part of the quarry do you think the bats live in? 5. The quarry has become polluted in recent years. With your partner, find examples of pollution here and take a photo with the digital camera.

We will now leave the quarry together and walk down the hill to the tree-lined park below.

E. 1. We will stop under a wooded area at the end of the hill. We will measure the wind direction and strength of the wind in pairs with wind ribbons:It is a strong / light wind It is blowing from _______________ 2. Close your eyes. What sounds can you hear? Are they loud or soft? Write down the different sounds you hear in the box below:Sound How many? Loud or soft? Birds singing People talking Cars driving Other sounds 3. Look under the rocks at the foot of the hill, look on the wall and look under the leaves of the bushes. Look for insects or mini-beasts. Take care and be gentle! What did you find?
Which one of these is the best habitat for insects? Why?

Mini-beasts under the rock draw or write

Mini-beasts on the wall draw or write

Mini-beasts under the leaves draw or write

4. In which area did you find the most insects? When we are finished we return any insects or mini-beasts to where we found them. 5. Now with your partner, explore the many trees in this area. See how many leaves you can find from particular trees (take a sample if possible) and take a bark rubbing for that tree on the blank sheets attached. Draw a picture of the leaves:-

Now we all gather together near the shop at the end of the park with teacher and Birn. F. 1. Who works in this shop? _________________________ 2. Do you think that this shop is important for the local community? Why?

Now walk with teacher along the footpath beside the road. This is a busy road so take care and stay with your partner at all times!

3. We will stop on the footpath at the corner with Beaumont Lawn. See if you can you find the post-box in the stone wall similar to the one shown in the photograph below. Why was this post-box placed here? ___________________________ Who collects the post from the post-box? _______________________ Why would this local post-box be useful for some elderly people in the community? ______________________________________________

Notice the letters V R

Did you know? The letters V R on this postbox in Blackrock just down the road stand for Victoria Regina which is Latin for Queen Victoria. This is a very old post-box that dates from a time when England ruled over Ireland. Post-boxes were painted red then, but when Ireland was freed from British rule and became a republic, all of the post-boxes were painted green!

4. What different kinds of materials can you see in and around the post-box Stone Iron Plastic Wood

Post-Trail Activities

1. This is an aerial photograph of our local area in Beaumont. Look at the photograph with your partner. Can you find the school? (Hint: its below/ south of the football field) Can you find the reservoir? (Hint: its a circular shape) Can you find the old quarry? (Hint: its beside the area covered in trees) Circle these on the photograph:-

2. We will look at the digital photographs that we took of the pollution in the old quarry. Do you think that there is a lot of pollution there? Why? How might this pollution affect people living in the area? How might this pollution affect animals living in the area? What could we do to conserve this area as a clean, safe habitat for animals and as a place for people to use for walks? What could we do to prevent pollution in this area in future? 3. We will look at the rock samples that we took from the old quarry and examine them to test for hardness and to analyse the texture of the rock. We will also examine the rock samples with magnifying glasses to see if we can find fossils in the rock sample. 4. We will look at the leaf samples taken from the wooded area on the trail together with the tree rubbings and use some books to see if we can identify the different types of trees. 5. We will look at the results of our insect and mini-beast search and see which appears to be the best habitat for these animals.

Page for tree rubbings

Page for headstone rubbings

You have now finished the trail.

Well done!