BBC Doomsday

Back in 1986 the BBC published the Domesday Project.

The project was probably the most ambitious attempt ever to capture the essence of life in the United Kingdom. Over a million people contributed to this digital snapshot of the country. People were asked to record what they thought would be of interest in another 1000 years.
The whole of the UK – including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man – was divided into 23,000 4x3km areas called Domesday Squares or “D-Blocks”. Schools and community groups surveyed over 108,000 square km of the UK and submitted more than 147,819 pages of text articles and 23,225 amateur photos, cataloguing what it was like to live, work and play in their community. This was about documenting everyday life – the ordinary rather than the extraordinary.The project used the cutting edge technology of the day, and the data was eventually presented on a special type of Laser-Disc, read by a BBC master computer and navigated using an innovative tracker-ball pointing system.

And now its back … here … use it and enjoy !!

New lesson2go from ictopus: History Ages 7-8 Roman Soldiers

History Ages 7-8 Roman Soldiers

In this activity the children will learn about the differences between the regular Roman army (infantry) and
the auxiliary soldiers (cavalry). They will use websites that feature interactive games to dress and equip
Roman soldiers correctly before labelling and annotating a picture of a Roman soldier.

We see that a fair number of you have not opted to receive alerts to SGP magazines which are sent out
fortnightly. If you would like to receive these alerts please log in and go to [my details] where you can
alter your preferences.

Please login first, then access the activities via the lessons2go tab. To see this lesson select ‘Latest items’.

History on the BBC

The BBC is going to town, quite literally, at the moment bringing a whole range of history focused programmes and related resources and information.

There is the new series ‘Turn Back Time’ which started on BBC 1 on 2nd November. This programme is well supported by the web site ‘Hands on History’ which, in turn, is further enhanced by the ‘Victorian Britain‘ web site which has resources and teacher’s notes to support the programme.

New lesson2go from ictopus: History – Ages 10-11 – Some roots of English

History – Ages 10-11 – Some roots of English

In this lesson children will work out the meanings of some English words that have their roots in Greek

words. They will go on to use this information to make up some words of their own, possibly related to a

topic such as mathematics or astronomy.

Please login first, then access the activities via the lessons 2go tab. To see this lesson select ‘Latest items’.

A new term dawns

If you are getting ready for the new term then these ideas are worth a good long look ‘wearewhatwedo’.

Historypin could be of special use in building home/school links.

Our Island Story by H.E. Marshall

“Our Island Story’ was first published in 1905 as a definitive work on the history of these islands from the Romans to Queen Victoria – this could make an interesting summer read ! Thanks to Alison Allen of Outstream for this.  If you want materilas on synthetic phonics then visiting the CIVITAS ( the Institute for the Study of Civil Society ) site will give you details of their curriculum reading materials.

BBC History

The BBC has developed a new site for Primary History.  Greeks, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Children in Victorian Britain and Children of World War 2 … information, photos, videos, timelines  … excellent!!

Teach Indus

Teach Indus

Young Historian Competition 2009 – Extra Prize for animated or creative video entries!
This year the topics are: World War Two; Local History; Citizenship; Indus Valley Civilisation (extra prizes from ‘Teach Indus’); Erasmus Darwin /Samuel Johnson; Green Man cross-curricular themes; School History Magazine. Work can be presented in any medium!

Tag Learning has donated a Digital Movie Camera as an extra prize, for animations or creative videos for all Primary topics. (known as digi-blue to some)

Download a leaflet on all topics and how to enter from here, where past ‘Indus Valley’ Winning Entries are showcased with panel feedback, and find more info & examples of winning projects at The Historical Association .

Further Enquiries are welcome and can be made to the Project Director, Dr Trevor James, at the Birmingham & Midland Institute, 9 Margaret Street, Birmingham B3 3BS [sae please], or phone to discuss details – 015453-301097. Closing date this year is 24 July 2009.

History Education Consultancy produces ‘Teach Indus’ for resources for Primary Schools on the Indus Valley KS2 History.

Google Earth 5.0

The Beta version of Google Earth 5.0 has  been released.  The new features, including the ability to  dive under the sea and see the sea bed and rewind time, stunning :

• Historical imagery from around the globe
• Ocean floor and surface data from marine experts
• Simplified touring with audio and voice recording

Ancient Rome as you have never seen it before

Google have recently released their latest ‘layer’ for Google Earth. It is an astounding new 3D view of the ancient buildings. It can be found in the Gallery section of Google Earth (you have to upgrade to the latest version to see it) and you will need some power in your computer to get the best out of it.