Today we started our new topic 'Flow' in order to engage the children we had a wonderul walk in to the village and along the river Leven
We walked through the village and towards Leven court, where we came off the main road and towards the river.
Once over the small bridge, we turned left and followed the path along the river bank. We walked along the wide grass verge and turned right through the gate – signposted public footpath. We arrived at the side of the river where the bank dips down to a small gravel area. The children used this easy access to take water and soil samples where it is shallow.
After collecting river and soil smaples we wanted to Measure the depth of water and the width of the river. We were also interested in the speed of the water flow. In order to measure the flow of water we dropped an ping pong ball in the water a short distance away, we measured the length of time it took to travel the measured difference.
Once we had completed our tests we looked upstream how the river meanders and bends. We looked for signs of erosion and how it causes the river bank to collapse in places. We spotted the silt/gravel building up on the opposite bank where the flow is slower.
We continued our walk along the river bank. We looked out for the the manmade land drain that discharges into the river. We located the flap valve that stops water going back up the drain to protect the properties from flooding.
The children continued to follow the footpath to the flood field that is signposted. As we walked through the flood field, we looked at how the banks of the river are built up and how the field is lower than the river. There is a weir that the river can pour through if it is high enough. The children noticed the semi-circular wooden structures in parts of the field – these hide drains that will drain the flood field once the river level has dropped down again..
At the side of the cricket club there is a small sewage treatment plant which discharges into the river.
Finally we arrived at the water park, where there was a weir. The children enjoyed hearing about the new bridge that connects the water park to the main road.
The children had a wonderful time, exploring their local environment and learning interesting facts about rivers along the way.
A huge thank you to our helpers for joining us on our visit!