The Saxons

* The Saxons were named after a type of sword they used called a 'Sax'.
* The Saxons originally lived in Europe. Some of them came to live in Britain during the Dark Ages.
* The word 'Saxon' refers to several groups of people from Northern Germany and Southern Denmark. They were a type of Germanic people.
* They are sometimes called 'Anglo-Saxons'. This refers to two groups: the Angles and the Saxons. It can also mean the 'English Saxons'.
* The part of Britain which the Anglo-Saxons took over was named 'England' after them. It means 'Land of the Angles'.
* They all spoke a language similar to English. It is usually called 'Old English'. They used a type of writing called Runes for name tags and gravestones.
* Strictly speaking, the Saxons came from North-West Germany. Some of them moved south to set up Upper Saxony. The Angles came from Angeln in South-West Denmark. A third group, called the Jutes, came from Jutland in Central Denmark.
* Tradition says that the Saxons settled in Southern England; the Angles settled in East Anglia, the Midlands and Northern England; the Jutes settled in Kent, Hampshire & on the Isle of Wight.
* Other groups who settled in Britain can also be called 'Saxons'. These include the Frisians, the Franks and the Swabians.

Giants of the Ocean

Read this story about blue whales. If you find a new word, look at the words around it to help work out the meaning.

The biggest animal in the world lives in the sea. It is the blue whale. This largest of all creatures feeds on some of the very smallest of sea animals. They are called krill, and they look like tiny shrimps. When it is born, a blue whale calf is about 23 feet (7m) long.
Blue whales can grow up to about 98 feet(30m) long. Female blue whales always grow larger than males. An adult female blue whale weighs 26 times as much as an elephant. Its huge heart is the same size as a small car.

Answer the questions

1) Where does the biggest animal in the world live?

2) Is the elephant the biggest animal in the world?

3) What is the biggest animal in the world?

4) What does the blue whale eat?What do they look like?

5) How long is a blue whale calf when it is born?

6) How big can a blue whale grow?

7) which grows larger, a female or a male blue whale?

8) Which is heavier, a blue whale or an elephant?

9) Is a blue whales heart big or small? how big is it?

10) Would you like to swim with a blue whale? why?why not?

Castles

Castles:
Since the power and security of a lord depended upon his ability to defend himself, fief owners began to build sturdy castles. Castles were designed to withstand a siege and to mount a defense.

At first castles were made of wood. But they were too easy to burn down. By 1100 CE, castles were built of stone. Thick walls surrounded a castle. Inside these thick walls, there were many buildings.

At the first sign of trouble, the commoners rushed to get inside the castle walls before the gates closed and shut them out.

Questions
1)Who built castles?

2)What were castles designed to do?

3)What were the first castles of?

4)Why did they stop making castles from this material?

5)What did they start to build castles from by 1100 CE?

6)What surrounded the castles?

7)What was inside the thick walls?

8)What did the common people do if there where signs of trouble?


Location:
Castles were usually built on top of a hill, if one was handy. That way, the lookout guards could more easily spot attackers approaching.

Question 1 Where was the best spot to build a castle? Why?

The Moat:
A moat was built around many of the castles. This was a deep ditch surrounding the castle walls, filled with water. A bridge was built to cross the moat. The bridge was raised during an attack. The moat was loaded with traps and sharp spikes in case someone tried to swim across.

Question 2 What is a moat?
Question 3 where was it built?
Question 4 What was the moat loaded with? Why?

The Drawbridge:
The drawbridge was the bridge built across the moat. This bridge could be raised and lowered for added protection from intruders.

Question 5 What is a drawbridge? Why did a castle need one?

The Keep:
One of the largest spaces behind the thick walls was the keep. The keep was a storage area topped by a huge square tower with slotted windows for castle archers to use. The keep stored food, wine, and grain in case of siege.

Question 6 What was the keep used for? What did it look like?

The Barracks:
Other buildings made up the barracks. the barracks were the homes of the knights and their families.

Question 7 Who lived in the barracks?

The Great Hall:
The Great Hall was a passageway that connected the lord's home to the keep.

Question 8 what two places did the great hallway connect?

The Chapel:
The chapel was build either inside the lord's home or as a separate building. The chapel was a place to hold religious services.

Question 9 what was the chapel built for? where was it usually built?

The gatehouse
was a building used by the guards at the gates. The portcullis was the grating of iron bars at the gateway.

Question 10 who was stationed in the gatehouse?

Question 11 What do you think was the most important building in the castle?

Rock Climbing

People of all ages enjoy the challemge of climbing on large rocks and up steep cliff faces. Rock climbers wear specially designed shoes and light clothing. Climbers also wear harnesses, which are devices that are strapped around the body. Ropes attached to the harness are anchored to rocks. The harnesses and ropes keep climbers safe if they fall. Rock climbers often work in pairs. As one person climbs,another on the ground pulls on the rope to make sure it is not too loose. People who climb on icy cliffs or glaciers use ice axes to cut holes in the ice where their feet can go.
Finish the sentence

1a) The harnesses that climbers wear are.....................................................
* worn strapped around their body.
*made of rope woven with steel thread.

b) When two climbers work together, one climbs while the other................................. *goes above to pull on the ropes.
*remains below and pulls on the rope.

c) People who climb in icy places use ice axes to .......................................... *chop the ice from around their frozen ropes.
*to cut holes in the ice where they can put their feet

d) Who enjoys the challenge of rock climbing?

e) Where do rock climbers like to climb?

f) What do rock climbers wear?

g) What are harnesses?

h) What are the ropes attached and anchored to?

i) What keeps the climbers safe?

j) Do rock climbers usually work alone or in pairs?

k) How does the partnership work?

l) Do some climbers climb on icy cliffs?

m) What special piece of equipment do they use?

n) Would you like to try rock climbing? Why? Why not?