On Friday, our Year 6 area was completely transformed into the heart of Ancient Egypt. This term, the children have fully immersed themselves in the world of the Pharaohs, blending historical inquiry with creative engineering and persuasive writing.
🏺 Mummification and Ritual
The children worked with incredible focus to design and create ornate Death Masks, learning about their significance in the journey to the afterlife. To understand the preservation process, we conducted a “mummification” experiment using tomatoes. This allowed the students to observe how salts (acting as natron) dehydrate organic matter—a slightly “gruesome” but scientifically fascinating process!
📜 Activism and the Rosetta Stone
In our literacy and history sessions, we debated the ethics of archaeology. The students wrote formal letters to the British Museum advocating for the Rosetta Stone to be repatriated to Egypt. This culminated in a visit to the museum during Thematic Museum Week, where the children had the opportunity to deliver their letters in person and see the artifacts they’ve studied up close.
⚙️ Engineering and Art
We explored the “Gift of the Nile” by studying the Shaduf – an ancient irrigation tool. The children investigated the mechanics of levers and counterweights used to move water to high-ground crops.
On the creative side, the students crafted Nefertiti-style headdresses and painted evocative desert mirages. These artworks captured the striking contrast of the Arabian sunset against the golden dunes, demonstrating a sophisticated use of colour and perspective.
What’s Next?
While we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ancient Egypt, we are now ready to sail across the Mediterranean. Next term, we begin our exploration of the Ancient Greeks, focusing on democracy, philosophy and the original Olympic Games!
