Geography: Canals and Rivers

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Geography Canals and Rivers
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Geography Canals and Rivers
Key Use the symbols below to quick reference
areas of the unit. ?Activity outline ?Resources ?
Differentiation ?Helpers/ Learning
Support ?Curriculum and Objectives
Resources ? Quick links to lesson resources. ?
Riddle worksheet ? Worksheet different types of
canal cargo ? Laminated Spot the difference
sheets ? Locks PowerPoint ? Lock diagram
instructions ? Lock levels sheet ? ? Bang Box
cards ? Prize winner worksheet ?
Unit Overview This unit is all about learning
canal terminology, getting to grips with what
canals are and how they differ from rivers. As a
major component of this students will come to
understand how locks work and what they are for.
This includes an opportunity to operate a lock
Curriculum and Objectives ?

• Objectives
• Recognise that canals are long and were used to
  transport cargo
• Identify how the canal has changed through time.
• Recognise some environmental damage along the
  canal.
• Suggest reasons why looking after the local
  environment is important and how it can be done.
• Explain what the difference between a canal and a
  river is
• Explain how canal locks work.

• Outcomes
• State where the canal goes to and what it was
  originally used for
• Identify old and new things along the canal
• Spot the differences in canal use in old and new
  pictures
• Spot litter along the canal that is potentially
  hazardous to animals / wildlife and say why
• Answer questions about the difference between a
  canal and a river
• Draw an annotated diagram that explains how a
  lock works from an instruction sheet
• Give a level to other peoples work on canal locks.

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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 1 - Before Your Trip.

? Objectives Recognise that canals are long and
were used to transport cargo. Outcomes State
where the canal goes to and what it was
originally used for. Starters Your Experiences
(10 mins) ? All students start standing up.
Students should sit down if they have never been
on a boat, ship or ferry before. Students should
then sit down if they have never been on a river
or canal boat before. Students should then sit
down if they have never been on a canal boat
before. Students should then sit down if they
have never been on the Grand Union Canal before.
When you find only 2 or 3 students standing you
can ask them to tell the class about their
experiences.
Main Activities Riddle Race (10 mins) ?
Students must decode the riddle on the worksheet
as quickly as possible and be the first in the
class to stand up and read it out. The statement
reads The Grand Union Canal runs from Birmingham
to London and was used before railways to carry
cargo between the two cities. ? Resources -
Worksheet decode message Canal Cargo (15
mins) ? Students complete the worksheet
different types of canal cargo in small groups
(2 or 3). They must say where they think it comes
from, what it is used for and where it might be
going to. Teacher then compares this with an
answered version while students improve their
work by adding to it and correcting it. ?
Resources - Worksheet different types of canal
cargo How Long Did it Take? (20 mins) Some
distances are given between towns and a
description of the speed of the boats. Students
try to calculate how long it takes the boats to
travel to and from different locations. ? This
activity is quite advance and will require a the
class to read and think carefully. To simplify
the activity, either add the working out stages
for the students or work through the exercise in
groups or as a whole class. ? Resources - How
long did it take? answers
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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 1 - Before Your Trip.

Plenaries Changes (5 mins) ? Ask the students
why canals arent used to carry cargo today. Draw
out the idea that they are slow and the long
distances involved cant be covered very fast. New
forms of transport like trains and proper tarmac
roads are faster. ? Students who understand
that the cargo travels a long way and very slowly
will have understood how long canals are and will
be some way to understanding that canals
change. Short Story (5mins) Students plan a
short story by writing brief paragraph plan s.
The story is about a make believe journey on a
narrow boat travelling from London to Birmingham
with a load of cargo.
Homework's Short Story (25mins) Students write a
short story from their brief paragraph plans
which they have already made. The story is about
a make believe journey on a narrow boat
travelling from London to Birmingham with a load
of cargo.
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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 2 - During Your Trip.

Starters Safety and Clap and Brace Games (10
mins) ? Students are given a brief list of safety
rules and play a couple of simple games to
practice being quiet and sitting down game for
emergencies. Observation (20 mins) ? Students go
out on the deck and look for things that are old
(50 years) and things that are new. ?
Resources- Clipboards pencils and paper.
Main Activities Spot the Difference (20 mins)
? Students get given two pictures in groups and
are asked to look at them. The pictures show the
same place today and in Victorian times. The
students are asked to spot the similarities and
differences and write them down. They use dry
wipe pens and post its to stick to the sheets.
They then feed back to the group. They then feed
back to the group. ? Resources - Laminated Spot
the difference sheets, dry wipe markers, post it
notes, pencil. ? Helpers/LSAs will need to
work with students to make sure they think about
how the canal has changed beyond physical
factors. The way the canal is used differently is
clearly depicted in most of the photos. Try to
get the students to tell you this. What is a
canal? (10 mins) ? Students answer true or false
using red and green cards to a series of
questions ? Resources - Red and green
cards Canals and Rivers Game (10 mins) ? A
brief chat about the difference between canals
and rivers is had. Students listen to short I
statement sand stand up if it describes a canal,
sit down if its a river and kneel if its
both. Locks PowerPoint (5 mins) ? Students watch
a PowerPoint presentation and discuss the lock
and how it works. ? Resources - Locks PowerPoint

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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 2 - During Your Trip.

Main activities Using a Lock (10 mins) ?
Students help to operate the lock while others
watch ? Helpers are needed here. Two helpers and
the teacher take 3 students each. All 12 people
disembark before the lock. They walk up to the
lock and one team cross the bridge. The gates are
then opened by the students if they arent
already. Line the students up with their backs
resting on the gate and get them to push with
their legs to move the gate. The teams then close
the gates once the boat has entered the lock. The
team with the teacher take the windlass and take
turn opening and closing sluice gates. Once the
boat has levelled and the sluice gates closed the
helper teams can open the other gates to allow
exit of the boat. If at the top of a lock
students should board before the boat moves off.
If travelling down then students can disembark in
the lock but must return to the boat after it has
exited the lock. See Risk Assessment Before
Running this Activity Lock Diagrams (25 mins) ?
Students make a diagram of a lock from
instructions and must annotate it to explain how
it works. ? Lock diagram instructions, pencils,
paper ? Groups will need extensive help deciding
how to lay out their work. Encourage them to
leave titles and words until after their diagrams
are done and leave colouring until the last 5
mins. Looking at other peoples work (10 mins) ?
Using the lock levels sheet students work out how
good other students work is and write the best
thing about it on a post it note. Students then
look at another students work and say if they
agree with the post it level and if not why not.
Students then return to their own work and try to
give themselves a target to make it better. This
target can then be met by completing the activity
as a homework or extension. ? Lock levels sheet,
pencils, post it notes Litter Spotting (10
mins) ? Students look at a PowerPoint with photos
of litter problems on the canal. They then go and
see if they can spot some litter that may be
harmful. They must write down what it is and how
it could be harmful. Students then feedback by
suggesting ways in which they could help. ? As
an extension to this students could design Litter
posters or even TV adverts. ? Litter PowerPoint,
pencils, paper
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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 2 - During Your Trip.

Plenaries Bang Box ? Students draw cards from a
box. The must read the word on the box and
explain what the word means or is. The words are
related to the canals. If the students draw a
bang card they can shout Bang. ?Resources -
Bang Box Cards
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Geography Canals and Rivers
Lesson 3 - After Your Trip.

Starters Recapping locks (10 mins) ? Recap how
locks work with the PowerPoint, asking questions
about what comes next and what things are
called. ?Resources - Locks PowerPoint
Main activities Lock Models (40 mins) ?
Students use card and boxes etc to make a lock
with gates that open and sluice. They can also
make a model canal boat to demonstrate their
model. Watertight models are obviously not an
option here but a good imagination will do. ?
Teachers should look out for models that show a
clear change in height between gates and sluice
gates that control the water level at the right
heights. These show a good understanding of how a
lock works. ?Resources - Card/boxes glue
scissors etc
Plenaries Prize winners (10 mins) ? Each team
gets a rosette from the prize-winner worksheet.
They must award it to the group that has done
best at what the rosette says. Rosettes say, Most
real looking lock, sturdy building award, best
moving parts. ?Resources - prize winner
worksheet
Homework's Improving your lock models diagrams
(20 mins) Either finish making the lock models or
attempt to make a new lock diagram with
improvements based on prior learning and
feedback.