Medium-term planning: Why should we change the way we travel?
Explore how transport has changed and what sustainable travel might look like in the future.
Transport is responsible for a quarter (24%) of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, making it the single biggest greenhouse gas emitter in this country. It is clear that this needs to change if the UK is to meet the net zero targets it has committed to, and if we are to succeed as a global community in halting climate change.
In this enquiry, linked to the principle of Adaptation, children in Year 2 explore how the way we travel has changed over time and what more sustainable and healthier forms of travel look like.
In history, they learn about how the designs of bikes and cars has been adapted, how train travel has evolved and about the achievements of key figures such as the Wright brothers. The maths investigations include a focus on data handling to find out how members of the class travel to school and in English there is an opportunity to create posters promoting healthy and sustainable travel.
In DT the children design their own healthy vehicles, drawing on their learning about the materials commonly used in vehicle construction in science.
At the end of the half term, the children perform the travel soundscape they have created as their Great Work, and they organise a pollution-free travel event at school as their sustainability action.
