Year 3's Trip to the Floating Classroom - St Vincent's Catholic Primary School

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On Tuesday, Year 3 visited the floating classroom in Paddington canal for a special ‘Plant World’ workshop as part of our Plants topic in Science!

We arrived at the floating classroom nice and early. It was quite a windy day so the skipper told us that we would be taking a different route around the canal. For the floating classroom teachers to get to know us, we played some name games so we could introduce ourselves and so that the boat could get ready to set off!

A short while later it was all ago! There were some safety rules which we went through first before Flora showed us a map of the canals around Paddington and the route we would be taking (which included a 300m long tunnel…).

For our first activity we went out to deck on both the bow and stern of the barge to spot lots of different types of plants growing in and around the canals such as flowers, trees, tall and small plants. We realised that there was a lot of different plants which grew by the canal, some naturally like willow trees and the algae on the water and some which were grown by people such as petunias in the window boxes of restaurants and homes. Plants weren’t the only wildlife living on the canal. We saw many different types of birds such as ducks and swans. Some made their nests in special boxes on the water out of reeds and feathers floating in the water.

After a much needed snack break we enjoyed re-capping about the different parts of plants and their functions. This involved one of our class mates turning into a tree! The teachers were so impressed with our knowledge and we asked lots of brilliant questions too! Next, it was time for learning about the life cycle of plants and how they new plants grow through pollination and seed dispersal. Some of our other class mates became flowers and bees who we learnt transfer pollen from flower to flower to allow them to develop new seeds to grow more flowers! Zoe taught us that some times seeds can be dispersed by the wind, humans and other animals such as squirrels. This might be done of purpose or by accident such as when squirrels forget where they have hidden their seeds!

After lunch we had some more time on deck to gaze at the beautiful scenery and learn more about the canal. Then it was time to think back to breakfast and the plants we eat such as wheat in bread, cocoa in chocolate spread, rice in cereal and soy or almonds in milk alternatives. We learnt that plant based foods can fall into different categories such as wheat based, rice based, oat based, corn based and other plants. We looked at different common household food item packaging to work out which category they fitted into.

When the boat finally docked back in Paddington (we went as far as Camden!), we were able to explore in one of the gardens and have a go at some tree spotting. We used keys of tree leaves and their seeds to work out the name of the different types of trees in the garden. It was lots of fun and we got to run around…

After coming back to the boat from the garden we looked at different types of seeds and thought about how the might be dispersed. Some children even found some seeds in the gardens and we had a go at letting them fall to the ground. One type of seed from trees such as maple, ash and sycamore fell like a helicopter, which we learn helps to ensure it falls straight to the ground so it can quickly grow into a new tree!

Our final activity was creating our own seed balls by adding water and lots of different seeds to a mixture of soil and clay! It got really messy but we can’t wait to plant our seed balls and see whether our seeds eventually produce their own seeds to continue their own plant life cycle.

Thank you to everyone on the floating classroom for such a wonderful day and thank you to the parents who accompanied us on the trip! We really appreciate your time and help!

What did you learn on the floating classroom?

16 comments on “Year 3’s Trip to the Floating Classroom”

Miss Coleman says:

22 September 2023 at 4:33 pm

What a fun trip Year 3, despite the windy weather. The staff at the Floating Classroom sent us a message to say that you were a ‘delight to teach’ and I have to agree!

Alexandra Y3 says:

22 September 2023 at 9:16 pm

I had the best time on this trip. I learnt a lot about the Sycamore tree. I especially found it interesting that the term ‘helicopter seeds’ comes from the fact that they spiral through the air as they fall from the Sycamore tree. The whole adventure was so amazing plus educational. I loved the Regent’s canal cruise. It was so nice when I saw the African wild dogs and monkeys when we passed the zoo. I cannot wait for the next trip. Thank you Mr. Kersys for organising and all the teachers in my class.

Nicolas says:

24 September 2023 at 9:36 am

I liked looking at the different plants and identifying the trees in the park. We went with the boat through a long tunnel. The boat was nearly as wide as the tunnel and it could have hit the walls easily. But this did not happen as our captain was very good at driving! She used the horn to signal other boats to let them know we were coming! Once we let a rowing boat overtake us! I enjoyed the trip very much!

Alexandra Y3 says:

24 September 2023 at 11:18 am

I find it so interesting that most of the current London plane trees in London that are seen today were planted in the 18th and 19th centuries. They became so common in the capital that they became known as London plane trees. I enjoyed learning about this and my mum found it very interesting too!

caspian says:

26 September 2023 at 8:51 am

Hello everyone. The floating classroom trip was AWSOME! My favourite part was when we were in the tunnel and Skipper went to get a weird thing out of the way. It was only a plastic bag We also found things on a paper.

Phillyppe Y3

says:

26 September 2023 at 6:57 pm

I learned that a plant needs water, sun light ,time, right temperature and nutrients from the soil.

Joseph says:

26 September 2023 at 7:30 pm

Hello everyone.The floating classroom was very fun and AMAZING! my favourite part was when Skipper got a big stick and took out a big plastic bag out of the river and i also liked when we had to find stuff with a piece of paper thank you Mr Kersys and all of the teachers for organising this trip for us.

James says:

27 September 2023 at 7:55 am

I liked going through the 300 metre tunnel. At the end the cave water dropped on me.We we identified the different plants twice.

Marie Y6 says:

27 September 2023 at 8:15 am

Sounds like you had lots of fun on that trip !!!!! I wish I could have gone as well.

Moses says:

29 September 2023 at 7:55 pm

That looks like you had lots of fun year 3. Now I want to go there

Camila says:

1 October 2023 at 9:26 am

You look like you had a lot of fun and I can’t wait until my trip to the floating classroom next week on Tuesday.

Molly year3 says:

4 October 2023 at 9:25 pm

I do agree Camila.We did have a lot of fun on the trip.I hope you have a good time to when it’s your turn to go to the floating classroom.

Charles year 3 says:

3 October 2023 at 8:49 am

It was so fun . I learnt what a plant needs to grow.

Gino says:

3 October 2023 at 8:51 am

It was really fun and I learnt how plants grow. The long tunnel was the best thing we did but it was scary because it was a bin bag and it looks like a animal.

Molly year3 says:

3 October 2023 at 3:41 pm

I enjoyed the trip very much! We had so much fun and did loads of enjoyable things!

Adelaide says:

2 November 2023 at 4:03 pm

I loved it when we went at the front of the boat with all of my friends.