LCP NON-FICTION CARD YEAR 1 TITLE: Mozart

KS2

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The Countryside Code

It is very important that the countryside is protected and taken care of.

Why the countryside is important

The countryside is precious and important for many reasons:

•In the countryside are the farms that provide us with vital food: cereals, vegetables, milk, fruit and much of our meat;

•In the countryside we find much of our most beautiful scenery: fields, woods, lakes, rivers and hills;

•Some of the most interesting and rare and interesting creatures: animals, birds and insects have their homes in the countryside;

•Many people dwell and earn their living in the countryside;

•Many more people love to visit the country for pleasure and relaxation. They find the countryside a lovely place to be because it is fresh, clean and unpolluted.

Because the countryside is so valuable it has to be preserved from damage and pollution.

A special set of rules has been drawn up by The Countryside Agency to help people understand how they can respect, protect and enjoy the countryside. The set of rules is called “The Countryside Code.”

What the Countryside Code tells us.

This is come of the advice the Code gives us:

•Visiting the countryside can be dangerous at times if we do not take proper care. In places there may be quarries, marshland, pools, woodland and steep hills where it would be easy to have an accident. Look out for signs that warn you of danger. If you are travelling alone make sure that someone knows where you are going.

•The weather can sometimes change very rapidly in the countryside. Walkers may set out in sunshine and clear light and soon find themselves in dense mist or struggling in heavy rain and high winds in unfamiliar places. People need to wear proper clothing and check the weather forecast before they set out.

Animals in the Countryside

•Wild animals and some farm animals can be unpredictable and dangerous, especially if they are with their young. Visitors need to look out for warning signs and give all animals plenty of space.

•People can be a cause of danger and harm to the countryside. Litter and leftover food can be dangerous to wildlife and farm animals. It can spread disease. It can spoil the beauty of the countryside. So people should take their litter home with them. People who drop litter or dump rubbish are breaking the law.

•Rocks, soil, plants and trees, which all help to make the countryside beautiful, can be easily damaged. They should all be treated with care. Vegetation and wild plants should not be picked. They provide homes, shelter and food for wild life.

Fires

•Fires can do terrible damage to the countryside. They can destroy property, crops and wild life. Fires should not be lit in the countryside except in special places where permission had been given.

Farm Property

•Leave property and gates as you find them. Farmers usually close gates to keep animals in. Sometimes, however, they leave them open so animals can reach food and water. Leave gates as you find them or follow instructions on signs. If you are in a group make sure the last person knows how to leave the gate.

•Do not cross fields where crops are growing unless a path has been made across the field.

•Use gates and stiles wherever you can. Climbing over walls, hedges and fences can damage them and increase the risk of animals escaping.

•Don’t touch machines and farm animals. If you see an animal in distress don’t interfere with it. Contact the farmer instead.

Keep dogs under good control.

•The countryside is a wonderful place to exercise your dog. But you must control your dog so that it does not frighten or disturb farm animals or wildlife. You must keep your dog on a short lead in most parts of open countryside between 1st March and 31st July and at all times near farm animals.

•Take particular care that your dog doesn’t scare sheep and lambs or wander were it might disturb birds that nest on the ground, and other wildlife. If the parents are frightened away eggs and young will die without their protection.

•Clean up and get rid in a sensible way, of any mess your dog makes. Dog mess can cause infection.

Consider other people.

•When riding a bike in the countryside slow down for horses, walkers and vehicles and leave them plenty of room.

TALK TIME

•When did you last visit the countryside if you do not already live there? Where did you go? What did you most like about it and why?

•If you live in the countryside what do you find are the advantages and the disadvantages?

•In what ways would city dwellers suffer of there was no countryside?

•Why do you think you have to keep a dog on a lead in the countryside between 1st March and 31st July?

•In what ways can the countryside be dangerous?

•Why should you let people know where you are going if you are on your own in the countryside?

•Why do you think maps are useful in the countryside?

•What is the main purpose of the Countryside Code?

•Why should you use gates and stiles rather than climb over walls and hedges?

•Recently many people fro the countryside made a great protest march to London. What were they protesting about? Do you agree or disagree with their protest? Say why you hold your opinion?

AMAZING!

Woods are an important part of the countryside. They raise the temperature; they look beautiful and attract visitors; they provide food and shelter for wildlife and birds; they increase the oxygen supply in the air; they provide firewood and material for furniture and building.

THINGS TO DO

•A class of girls and boys from the city are on their first educational visit to the countryside. They want to do an adventure walk from their hostel to Beacon Hill, where a fire was lit to warn that the Spanish Armada was on its way. Look at the map and write down the safest route fro then to take. Say why they should follow your route.

•[Art Work: map of countryside showing hostel at one end and Beacon hill almost at the other end. Mark in three possible routes. (paths/roads) two of the routes pass through protected parts of farm land that require protection and areas of possible danger e.g.

-fast flowing river with ford; swamp land; a steep craggy slope; thick woodland; a field of cereal without a marked path; farm land with livestock, including a bull and sheep with lambs.

The third route is picturesque and is free of obvious obstacles or dangers.]

•Make a glossary for city dwellers of the symbols used in an Ordnance Survey map to mark features of the countryside.

•Your school is on the outskirts of a town and near a large marsh. The marsh is home to a very rare English wild flower and a species of frog. The Town Council decides to build a ring road to stop the traffic jams that are polluting the town and wasting hours of travellers time every day. They decide to build a ring road round the town. It will cut across the marsh near your school and endanger the rare flowers and frog species.

Compose a case to persuade the Town Council to change their plan. Your will need to consider their reasons for the by-pass. Remember there may be other reasons, apart from the rare plants and creatures why people want to preserve the marsh. For example your school may use it for natural history study; bird watchers may visit it and so on.

•Make a diorama of the marsh area to go with your written argument. The diorama should show the attractive features of the marsh and the surrounding countryside. It may help you to look up books or the internet to find out about marsh land. Remember to construct your diorama in a way that gives a 3D effect. Write a description of how you built it to go with the completed diorama.

•The Town council has worked out that an average of 9800 vehicles pass along the main street of the town every weekday between 8am and noon. At this rate what could be the average number of vehicles every quarter of an hour? At this rate how many vehicles would pass through the town between 1st January and 31st March. (exclude weekends).

•What is the nearest countryside to your home? Find out about it and write a brochure describing its main attractions. Remember the brochure should make people want to visit.

•Make a list of the main advantages/disadvantages of living in the countryside/town. Set them out in this way.

Say at the end under a separate heading which place you would prefer to live in and the main reasons/reasons why.

•Go back to the map of the countryside. Make a list of the clothing and other articles you would advise the children and their teachers to take when setting out on their adventure walk on an Autumn day. Set your list out like this:

Make a list of some of the wildlife you might meet in the countryside. Say whether they are likely to be dangerous and why.

It is not just visitors who have to observe the Countryside Code. Farmers and landowners are responsible for making sure that visitors are welcome and safe. To find out what the Code tells landowners to do visit the land managers section of

CARTOON CAPERS:

•Straw used for the roofs of some countryside houses? T _ _ _ _ _

•R _ _ _ _ is a word used to describe the countryside.

U _ _ _ _ is used to describe towns and cities.

•A ______t_ _ _ is a term used to describe the farming of the land.

•Farmers are not allowed to plant some of their fields each year so that too much food is not grown. This is called “set _ _ _ _ _ land.

•W _ _ _ _ , _ a _ s and _ a r _ _ _ are three of the most common crops grown in the countryside.

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