Ray Mears explores how 500,000 square miles of flat, treeless grassland was the setting for some of the Wild West’s most dramatic stories of Plains Indians, wagon trains, homesteaders and cattle drives.
Ray joins the Blackfeet Indian Nation as they demonstrate bareback riding skills before a ritual buffalo hunt and sacrifice, and learns how their ancestors were dependent upon the buffalo for their survival. He follows in the wagon ruts of the early pioneers along the Oregon Trail and hitches a ride on a prairie schooner with wagon master Kim Merchant. He discovers the stories of the early homesteaders who lived in sod-houses and farmed the wild grassland around them.
At a cattle auction in Dodge City he explores the story of the railways, cow-towns and the buffalo massacre. His journey across the Great Plains ends at Moore Ranch where he joins a long-horn cattle drive and learns about the life and myth of one of the Wild West’s most iconic figures, the cowboy.
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The battle over freedom of speech and how the monarch finally lost its power, and its head. As crucial as the Magna Carta, the introduction of the Bill of Rights in 1688 saw Parliament and politicians now assume complete domination over the monarchy for good.
Written to provided extension/ enrichment / independent learning options
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To coincide with the 50th anniversary of his death, this documentary presents an intimate portrait of one of the greatest monsters of the 20th century, including fresh evidence about his relationships with women, his family and his inner circle.
The West has rarely glimpsed behind Stalin’s granite mask into his extraordinary private world. But through interviews with family members, the programme reveals details about Stalin’s passions as well as his implacable cruelty. Filmed extensively in Russia, including carefully researched reconstructions, the film offers intriguing insights into his motives and behaviour.”
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More than half of us now live in cities. Crowded, chaotic and bursting with life - these are places under pressure. In this series, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan go behind the scenes to reveal the hidden systems and armies of people running some of the greatest cities on earth.
This time, they are in Hong Kong, where space is at a premium and real estate is the most expensive in the world, so Ade heads into the high rises to find people living in tiny spaces no larger than a cupboard. This former British colony, handed back to the Chinese in 1997, is a city driven by trade and commerce and Dan discovers how it is adapting to life in China’s embrace, while Anita learns about the city’s many traditions - from bamboo scaffolding to banishing bad spirits on the daily commute. Ade heads to the races at Happy Valley, and Dan discovers the history of the origins of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation - HSBC. Hong Kong is crowded, chaotic and facing an uncertain future. How does this city of contrasts manage the delicate daily balancing act that keeps it on track?
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The Peasants Revolt - Part 2 - Documentary to support the Tony Robinson Documentary
Written to support independent/ enrichment and flipped learning, students work thorough the sheet carrying out a series of data collection activities and higher order tasks
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This is a reading based enrichment activity written as an introduction to the lives of peasants during the medieval period and based upon the book of the same name:
ISBN-10: 0563522755
ISBN-13: 978-0563522751
The worksheet contains a variety of information gathering activities and higher order tasks to prepare students for the study of the period.
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Gunpowder 5-11, The Greatest Terror Plot - Worksheet to support the BBC Documentary
Drama documentary revealing the inner secrets of the Gunpowder Plot, using the words of the plotters themselves. Based on the interrogations of Thomas Wintour and Guy Fawkes.
For the first time, the inner secrets of the gunpowder plotters are dramatised using the actual words of their most senior captured leader Thomas Wintour, Guy Fawkes and state interrogators investigating the 18-month conspiracy in which a family circle of militant Catholic gentlemen tried to blow up king and parliament.
Wintour’s insider account of this epic tale of faith, fanaticism, persecution and betrayal is told in detail, from his recruitment of both Fawkes and his own brother to his capture in a dramatic siege and bloody shoot-out on 8 November.
The hopes, fears and plans for a Midlands rebellion, royal kidnap, the plotters’ penetration of the king’s bodyguard and Fawkes’s attendance, sword in hand, at a wedding attended by the king in December 1604 are shown, as well as a dramatisation of the thrilling, forgotten story of the final days after 5/11 as the conspirators are hunted down and then face the terrible punishments reserved for traitors.
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Horrible Histories returns for a special about King John and Magna Carta, starring Ben Miller. John annoys the barons and agrees Magna Carta at Runnymede after a banging rap battle. Meanwhile, across the world, we meet the formidable Genghis Khan in Mongolia and catch up with the crafty Saladin during the Crusades. With, of course, our host Rattus to guide the way!
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A special episode of the historical sketch show about Oliver Cromwell. We follow Oliver as he rises from obscurity, challenges King Charles I in the English Civil War, and ultimately orders the King’s execution - as he says, a it was a ‘cruel necessity’. In other parts of Britain we meet a bunch of oddly named Puritan soldiers, and the great writers Shakespeare and Milton square up for a word battle. With of course, our host Rattus to guide the way!
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Titanic the New Evidence Investigative journalist and Titanic expert Senan Molony examines recently recovered photographs of the doomed ship, which provide fresh insight into the reasons for its sinking. The images reveal a strange mark on the hull, which may prove previously, overlooked stories of a fire raging in the boiler room.
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Kate Humble joins a team of geologists on an awe-inspiring adventure to Ambrym in the Vanuatu island chain.
Here, she undertakes an arduous journey to Marum - a volcano containing one of only five lava lakes on the planet - abseiling right to its heart to discover if another major eruption might be imminent.
Along the way, she discovers how the volcano has shaped the customs and traditions of the islanders and discovers what it really means to live each day on the slopes of an erupting volcano.
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EDEXCEL HISTORY GCSE - Topic 2: Henry & Cromwell 1529-40
‘HENRY VIII AND HIS MINISTERS’ SUMMARY 'TOPIC ON A PAGE’ consolidation, revision, resource:
This resource provides students with a 'TOPIC ON A PAGE’ summary for each topic of the Henry VIII and his Ministers Unit. It fully covers the syllabus content for each topic and can be used by students and teachers to:
a) consolidate knowledge and understanding to encourage student mastery (embedding academic language and concepts) after students have completed a topic in class or as a homework task, helping them identify areas of strengths and weaknesses
b) as a quick starter activity to review prior learning or weeks/months later as a spaced retrieval practice task. I regularly take sections from the placemats and use them to support spiralled learning.
c) to encourage relevant exam responses - specifically targeting the FEATURES and 12 MARK EXPLAIN questions - knowledge is organised into CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES in line with sample exam questions e.g.) Why was Anne Boleyn Executed? Students are then directed to include three relevant examples that can be cited in the exam and allow access to the highest levels. Students have commented that this has helped them revise an organised and planned response to exam questions that result in a more concise written response in exam conditions.
d) the question squares can be cut up into cards to form an interactive timeline activity or ranking task when completing causation questions. They can also be used to support the HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE questions - organising knowledge into agree and disagree arguments.
e) as a useful revision aid before the final exam. (Many of my Year 11 students rely on these sheets in the final weeks and days of revision and have commented that they have helped make factual recall of the huge volume of the syllabus content more achievable.
The topic on a page summaries can be used as a stand alone resource or in conjunction with the Edexcel Pearson Revision Guide, where all of the answers can be found. This resource can also be used in conjunction with the topic placemats that I have produced to support students in lessons. In particular, I have successfully used the TOPIC ON A PAGE summaries with the ‘EXAM TECHNIQUE’ side of the placemats so when students are given exam questions, they can quickly find relevant supporting knowledge to use in a response. I have used this resource successfully with students targeted Levels 4- 9. It could be easily adapted for students working on or below L3.
Please see my placemats at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/9-1-edexcel-history-learning-topic-placemat-for-henry-viii-and-his-ministers-topic-2-henry-and-cro-11804694
Mexico City World’s Busiest Cities - Worksheet to support the BBC Documentary
This time, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan are in Mexico City, uncovering the hidden systems and armies of people that help run this sprawling megalopolis of over 22 million people. It is crowded, it is congested and this haphazard city sits in a major earthquake zone, but the people here have a strength of spirit that allows them to defy everything nature can throw at them.
Anita discovers how they are trying to stop this megacity from drowning in its own waste, while Ade heads to the edge of the sprawl to find out about the daily struggle for clean, affordable drinking water. Dan reveals how you build a skyscraper in an earthquake zone and learns the hard way that Mexican street food can be hot! Mexico City has grown at a staggering pace. How on earth does this epic sprawl survive its many daily battles?
In Mexico City, Dan Snow, Anita Rani and Ade Adepitan uncover the hidden systems and armies of people that help run this sprawling megalopolis of over 22 million people.
Written as a PDF
Worksheet to support the BBC David Attenborough Documentary - Climate Change the Facts.
The worksheet is written to support the viewing of the documentary and involves a variety of data collection , interpretation and map work activities.
The worksheet is written in Publisher and formatted to A3. It can however, be saved as a PDF file for A4 printing
Britain 2000 Years in The Making - Ep4 Dirty Money - Worksheet to support the TV Documentary. Written to support the teaching of the A level: Britain: Losing and Gaining and Empire - 1763-1914. Suitable as an enrichment task for able KS3
Britain 2000 Years in The Making - Ep 5 Superpower - Worksheet to support the TV Documentary. Written to support the teaching of the A level: Britain: Losing and Gaining and Empire - 1763-1914. Suitable as an enrichment task for able KS3
Blackadder Goes Forth - Goodbyeee - Worksheet to support the BBC TV programme. This task has been written to support both Ks3 as an introduction to WWI and a consolidation / flipped task for the GCSE 9-1 curriculum studying the Western Front .
Students are to watch and study the script of the programme, making inferences about : Conditions, Attitudes to War, Food and Causes of the War. They are asked to consider why things are funny and develop the habit of explaining their inferences. The work is set out in tables so could easily be cut up for card based group work
The worksheet, due to its content, is designed to be printed on A3 but can be fully edited and exported for printing by PDF to A4
Canada: A People’s History - Episode 7- Rebellion and Reform - Supporting Worksheet
Written to support flipped/enrichment/independent learning activities based upon the documentary programme
By 1830, the struggle for democratic government in the colonies of British North America has reached fever pitch. As the colonies grow in wealth and population, a generation of charismatic reformers – Joseph Howe in Nova Scotia, Louis-Joseph Papineau in Lower Canada and William Lyon Mackenzie in Upper Canada - confront the appointed governors and their local favourites with one demand: let the citizens’ elected representatives run their own affairs. In the Canadas, the struggle leads to bloody rebellion and disastrous defeat for the rebels. Yet within 10 years, the prize of self-government is won, thanks in part to an unexpected alliance between the French and English-speaking forces of reform.
Geologist Professor Iain Stewart shows how the continent of Africa was formed from the wreckage of a long-lost supercontinent. He discovers clues in its spectacular landmarks, mineral wealth and iconic wildlife that help piece together the story of Africa’s formation. But he also shows how this deep history has left its mark on the modern-day Africa and the world.
Iain starts at Victoria Falls, with a leap into the water right on the lip of the 100m waterfall. Hidden within this cliff face is evidence that the falls were created by vast volcanic eruptions 180 million years ago, marking the moment when Africa was carved from the long-lost supercontinent of Pangaea and became a separate continent.
The creation of Africa had a surprising impact on evolution. At the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Iain finds marine creatures that reveal that this part of Africa was once a shallow sea that formed when Africa was created. And within the arid Western Desert, he reveals 17m-long skeletons of early whales revealing how land-dwelling mammals were lured back into the shallow seas created by the birth of the African continent, leading to the evolution of whales.
At the diamond mines of Sierra Leone, the vast gravel pits once fuelled the devastating civil war. These diamonds reveal not just the very earliest origins of the land that makes up Africa today, but how the very first continents came into existence.
On the Serengeti Plains the wildebeest migration is fuelled by a process that will eventually lead to Africa’s destruction. Every year the wildebeest return to give birth in an area of nutrient-rich grass growing on fertile volcanic soil and ash and lava from the nearby volcano reveals that beneath Africa there lies a mantle plume of molten rock. This volcanic upwelling is so strong that scientists predict it will one day tear the ancient continent of Africa in two.
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