Inspired by: Traction Man Meets Turbodog - Week 1

The learning objective for students is to retrieve, record, and present information from non-fiction sources. In an engaging activity inspired by the fictional character Traction Man, students are tasked with researching real-life explorers and presenting their findings in a chronological timeline. They are provided with a Famous Explorers Fact Sheet to record key facts such as the explorer's name, country of origin, dates of birth and death, their famous achievements, and the dates of those achievements. The explorers for research include Junko Tabei, the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest; David Hempleman-Adams, an adventurer known for his polar expeditions; Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel into space; Ferdinand Magellan, who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe; Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, a distinguished mountaineer; Chris Bonington, a celebrated British climber; and Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer and explorer.

In a separate activity, students focus on the importance of organisational and presentational devices in structuring text and guiding readers. They consider what equipment is necessary for climbing by referencing the British Mountaineering Council's guidelines. Students are encouraged to highlight and note the use of headings, bullet points, and underlining in the provided text. They also explore the practical skill of rope coiling, modelling their method to the class and creating a 'Beginners Guide to Rope Coiling' pamphlet, considering the most effective way to present their instructions. Additionally, they evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of video versus written instructions, using a BMC video on rope coiling as a reference. These activities aim to enhance students' understanding of thematic elements in literature and the use of perfect verb forms to express time and cause, all while drawing inspiration from the adventurous tales of Traction Man.