Ancient Greece Do you want to learn all about Ancient Greece? well read on to find out what year 5 have been learning about……..

Sunlight glistens over the sinister, dangerous mountains. Rough rocks shine upon the sky. Gentle waves are lapping on the golden, shiny sands. Shiny, crystal, fresh water is swirling all around. The air is filled with tranquillity and harmony. The island has a fresh summer breeze and feels joyful. The mountainous rocks have green, soft moss on them. by Aniqah In Year 5 we wrote our own descriptions about Greece.

Athens Athens was the largest city in Greece. Athens became rich because they had lots of silver and gold. Athens had a beautiful and a busy city with lots of work. The city’s most famous building was the temple called the Parthenon. In the Parthenon, there was a statue called “The Proctector” and it was the goddess Athena.

Sparta Physical training and fitness was considered to be an important part of a Spartan child’s education. Girls did not fight in wars but they took part in physical activities because Spartans believed fit and strong women would have healthy babies that would be good soldiers. Year 5 have been debating which city is the best. There were lots of different opinions and we decided a mixture of both cultures would be best.

We learnt all about Mount Olympus: the home of the Greek Deities.

We also wrote information texts about the Greek Deities and monsters. There were many monsters in Greek mythology and here are some of them. Scylla and Charybdis The Minotaur The Hydra The Chimera

Ancient Greek Myths In their effort to understand their environment and the forces of nature, the Ancient Greeks invented stories to account for the things that went on in their lives. These tales, known as myths, were spread around by travellers. What were Myths about? They were about gods who controlled the elements of nature. The myths told tales about powerful Olympian gods, sea gods, woodland gods, sky gods, underwater gods, half-gods, human heroes, courageous or romantic adventures, betrayals, battles, wanderings, and so on. A lot of these myths involved a quest. A hero would have to go on a quest to find something or rescue someone.

There were three types of plays: Tragedies: The first type they invented was the tragedy. In tragedies, one or more major characters always suffered a disastrous end. Comedies: Comedies were invented next. In comedies, plays always had a happy end. Satires: Satires were plays that made fun of mortal legends and of real people. In Ancient Greece, you did not make fun of the gods - not in a play, not in real life, not ever. In Greek drama, the chorus or the singers told the story, not the actors. Actors used gestures and masks to act out their parts. Actors changed roles by changing masks. Probably the most famous actor in Ancient Greece was a man named Thespis. Actors today are called "thespians" in his honour. We also acted out the story of Perseus and Medusa.

Greek Olympics In year 5 we looked some of the Olympic events and tried them in our own Olympic Games. We also created Olympic medals using a range of pencils to shade. The first Olympics games are usually given the start year of 776 BCE, but they probably began even sooner. The Ancient Greeks loved competitions of all sorts, especially sporting competitions. The Olympics were not the only competition games held in Ancient Greece, but they were the most popular.

Did you know that only men and boys were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Women were forbidden, on penalty of death, even to see the Games. Women could own horses in the chariot race though. Slaves were not allowed to enter the games either, as they, and women were seen as second class citizens. It wasn't until 1900 that women were allowed to enter the games. We thought this was wrong so we wrote persuasive letters to Zeus asking him to allow women and slaves to enter the games. Our letters were amazing and Zeus was definitely convinced.

Making Chariots We made Greek chariots using cardboard templates, straw, hacksaws, wheels and sellotape. It was tricky to glue the frame together but we persevered and some pupils made horses to attach to their chariots. We also wrote instructions so that other people could make the chariots.

Polystyrene Printing of Medusa In year 5 we used polystyrene and scored Medusa’s face into it to allow us to print her face repeatedly on a piece of paper. This was quite tricky but we enjoyed it!

In Literacy, for the past few weeks, we have been learning about the myth of Pandora’s Box. We described the characters, interview them, wrote letters and a discussion text about whether Pandora should be blamed for opening the box. We discovered that it was actually Zeus who made her open the box and therefore we believe it is his fault.