Cranedale Day 2
After a good sleep, most of the group were
up already to go at about 7.30am.
Unfortunately, breakfast wasn't served until 8.15am so it gave them the
opportunity to tidy their rooms.
Something tells me that the children won't be so keen tomorrow.
Breakfast consisted of a variety of
different cereals, cooked breakfast, toast and orange juice. Many empty plates later and we were ready for
our first activity of the day.
The children were given a short lesson on
sea-birds and how to spot them. The
varieties included the fulmar, herring gull, kitty wake, puffin, gannet and
razorbill.
It is with great sadness for me to report
the death of a ancient tradition.
Generations of children has found great delight upon hearing the name of
a certain black cormorant. I'm sure all
parents reading this will know which bird I'm referring to. However, this morning there was not a smirk,
giggle, nudge, wink or guffaw. Clearly, language has moved on and this joke is
now well and truly dead. I can only hope
that the seventh planet in the solar system can hang to its status amongst
children.
The reason for the lesson was soon
clear. We were on our way to Bempton
Cliffs. Bempton is a RSPB protected area
which is the nesting place for thousands of sea-birds. The children were given a set of binoculars
and spent most of the morning spotting a variety of different birds. Only one variety proved difficult to spot –
the puffin. We were about to give up all
hope of spotting one when two appeared on a cliff about 20m from where we were
standing. This encounter lead to an
amusing conversation between Ryan and Jack.
The puffin's colourful beak is designed to attract a female companion. After the mating season, the male puffin
discards its beak.
“I'd keep mine all year” said Jack.
“I bet you would!” said Ryan.
After the excitement of the puffins, we got
back on the bus and drove a short distance along the coast to Flamborough
Head. We had lunch on the top of the
cliff and then made our way down nearly 200 steps to the bay at the bottom.
The children spent the first part of the
afternoon looking at coastal erosion and landforms. Flamborough is famous for its arches, stacks,
stumps and wave-cut platform. The children
had a lesson in an open topped cave and were able to remember various different
methods of erosion.
The second part of the afternoon was spent
looking at the variety of different species who have made the rock pools their
home. This allows them the opportunity
to learn about life cycles and food chains.
There is another name for this activity - “The Great Salterford Crab
Hunt”. At first, it seems like we were
to be unlucky. The crabs were ready for
us and had hidden themselves well. It
took a good twenty minutes to find our first one. However, after that first find, it became
much easier. We even found a lobster
which was mainly blue in colour. Despite
Mr Britten's protests, the lobster was
returned safely to the sea instead of going to the kitchen at Cranedale.
After all the fun, we climbed the 200 steps
back to the top and decided we needed a reward for all our hard work. Luckily, an ice cream kiosk was conveniently
positioned at the top of the steps.
Dylan bought his body weight in ice cream whilst Francesca consumed a
mountain of raspberry ripples complete with flake, sauce and sprinkles.
Evening Meal
Starter – Minestrone soup and a roll
Main Course – Roast pork, roast potatoes,
carrots, peas and gravy
Dessert – Chocolate sponge, chocolate sauce
and cream
Cheese, biscuits and grapes
Our evening lesson was called “Stop Motion
Animation” The children used ipads and
plasticine to make short animated films about food chains. Max, Dylan and Euan would probably still be
making their film now if given the opportunity.
I'm sure we can expect them to grow up to be the next Wallace and
Gromit. I hope they like cheese and
crackers.
