KS1 Topic:Oceans and Seas Block A: Oceans and Seas of the World

Learn about the seas that surround the UK. Develop knowledge of the oceans and continents of the world. Investigate how waves are caused and how they move. Inspired by the stormy seascapes of J. M. W. Turner, use a variety of techniques to create textured watercolour paintings and turn them into sea-storm collages.

Block A: Ocean and Seas of the World(5 sessions) / Main outcome: Art
Other outcomes: Geography, Music, Maths, English, ScienceandHistory
By the end of this block you will have achieved the following outcomes: /
  • Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products.
  • Use drawing and painting to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination.
  • Interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, globes and aerial photographs.
  • Name and locate the world’s 7 continents and 5 oceans.
  • Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to key physical features, including‘sea’, ‘ocean’ and ‘weather’.
  • Use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage.
  • Use voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.
  • Add and subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers to 20.
  • Compare, describe and solve practical problems for lengths and heights [for example, long/short, longer/shorter, tall/short, double/half].
  • Discuss and clarify the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary.
  • Discuss their favourite words and phrases.
  • Observe closely, use simple equipment and perform simple tests.
  • Use observations and ideas to provide answers to questions.
  • Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections.
  • Learn about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements.

Session 1: Geography/Music
Seas Around the UK
Learn about the seas that surround the UK; Play a simple travelling game to consolidate knowledge. / Children will
  • Identify the UK on a range of maps and globes, including those online.
  • Confirm that the UK is surrounded by seas and that these seas have different names.
  • Record these names on simple maps.
  • Listen to a song thematically linked to seas.
  • Perform this song as a group.

Session 2: Geography/Maths
Oceans of the World
Develop knowledge of the oceans and continents of the world; Play a world passport game to consolidate knowledge. / Children will
  • Investigate the proportion of land to ocean on Earth.
  • Recognise that the sea on Earth is split into five oceans.
  • Learn the names and positions of these oceans.
  • Understand the difference between a sea and an ocean.
  • Use mathematical language to compare the number and scale of the world’s oceans and continents.

Session 3: Science/English
Waves in the Oceans
Investigate the way waves are caused and how they move; Use investigations to build wave word banks. / Children will
  • Investigate the causes of waves in the world’s oceans, focussing on the influence of the wind and the sun’s heat.
  • Explore the ways in which waves move, passing through water rather than transporting it from one point to another.
  • Discover the effects of waves upon beaches.
  • Develop their vocabulary for describing the movements and effects of waves.

Session 4: Art/History
Painting Waves
Be inspired by the seascapes of JMW Turner; Use a variety of techniques to create different watercolour paintingsready to create a sea-storm collage. / Children will
  • Look carefully at paintings of sea storms by J. M. W. Turner and use these as a basis for their own work.
  • Use the techniques of blotting and adding salt to watercolour to create different effects of texture and patterning.
  • Mixcolours to create a range of hues appropriate for use in paintings of the sea.
  • Use a portrait of J. M. W. Turner to analyse differences between the modern and nineteenth-century worlds.
  • Discuss Turner as an influential historical figure both for British people and others across the world.

Session 5: Art
Creating Sea Collages
Use the watercolour paintings from Session 4 to create sea-storm collages. / Children will
  • Create a collage using painted paper.
  • Explore the effects of changing the place of elements within a collage, looking at balance and proportion.
  • Offer critical comments about their own and other people’s work.

Resources

Session 1

Provided: Seaplane; Seaplane Scene; UK Outline Map; Labelled UK Outline Map; UK Sea Name Cards

You will need: Atlases; Dice; Counters

Session 2

Provided: World Outline Map; Oceans and Continents Name Cards; Labelled World Outline Map; Numbered World Outline Map; World Tour Passport

You will need: Globe; Green and blue highlighters; Dice

Session 3

Provided: My Waves Word Bank

You will need: Water; Paint roller trays; Medium-sized pebble; Camping stove ; Small pan; Straws; Sand, small shells and small pebbles; Dominoes

Session 4

Provided: Portrait of J. M. W. Turner; Painting the Sky, the Sea and a Sailing Boat

You will need: A3 and A5 white paper; Paint brushes; Water; Watercolour paints; Table and sea salt; Cotton woo; Paper towels

Session 5

You will need: Watercolour paintings (from Session 4);Glue; Scissors

Useful websites for background information:

Continents, oceans and seas

Google Earth

World geography tutorial and quizzes

Song: When I Was One

Waves

Video clip: Gentle waves in Rio

Video clip: Violent waves in Portland

Turner’s seascapes

Turner’s seascapes

Video clip: Montage of Turner’s seascapes

Watercolour painting and collages

Video clip: Creating artistic effects on watercolour paintings

Video clip: More detail on using salt with watercolours to create textured effects

Examples of watercolour seascape collages

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