Using what they have found out about plant life cycles children work in small groups to create a life cycle musical composition. Thinking about instrument choice and dynamics, children respond to the music asking how well does it represents the life cycle? Suitable for years 3 and 4. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children find out about the diversity of music in Africa. African music has been influenced by the music of other cultures, but it has also influenced other music itself. Children listen to some African music, comment and try to identify instruments used. Suitable for years 5 and 6. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Look at a variety of African instruments in detail. Find out how they make their sound. What vibrates? Show children pictures of 6 instruments and play a small clip of music. Can children match the sounds to the instruments? Suitable for years 5 and 6. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Children discover that in Africa musical instruments are often hand made from objects found in the environment. Look at an African shekere in detail. Children make a shekere of their own based on a plastic washing up liquid container, then make music! Suitable for years 5 and 6. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Time to celebrate water! Children use the Oxfam online water photo-montage and Water Literate’s ‘Tap Into Life’ poem set to their provided music, to both prepare a performance and write their own celebratory poems with percussive backgrounds. Suitable for years 5 and 6.

Now its time to get up and moving. Children use ICT to learn basic steps before giving them a go to the music themselves. Maybe you can even invite a local expert in to really get things moving.

In this session the children get to the rhythm of Salsa! They find out about the history of the dance, before listening to some examples and getting to grips with the instruments used to create it.

The rock stars of the world need your help! They want their children to come to their concerts and rock-out, but they want to protect their precious ears! Find out all you can about sound; how it travels, pitch and volume. Then investigate materials to see which will provide the best insulation against sound. Be ready to present your ideas to a famous panel. Includes 6 session plans & resources: 01 - Sound walk 02 - Good vibrations 03 - Pitch and volume 04 - Pardon? 05 - Ssssshhhhhh! 06 - The Rock Star Challenge Hamilton’s science scheme uses hands-on investigative science activities to promote a deep understanding of scientific concepts and help children develop effective methods of scientific enquiry. Our scheme is fresh, original and free!

Children learn a ‘call and response’ song from Ghana in West Africa, after warming their voices by copying sounds made. Add actions and then a drum beat rhythm. Children use untuned percussion instruments to create different rhythms. Suitable for years 5 and 6. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

This unit is all about having fun with iconic song lyrics! Children will explore underlying themes and influences in key songs by the Beetles and Bob Dylan before composing their own song lyrics about current issues that are important to them.

Children take their compositions from the previous session and match them to some life cycle words that best describe what they can hear. Then they turn their attention to movement and music, combining them for a performance. Suitable for years 3 and 4. Find other lesson plans and resources at www.hamilton-trust.org.uk.

A storm is brewing. Thunder rumbles in the distance! In this session children use a text as a starting point for a musical composition. Using their own instruments made in the previous session they compose, record and perform their own music in groups.

Listen to the Rhythm of the Rainforest in this session! Children start by studying the Baka people who live in the African Rainforests, looking in detail at their instruments. Children then create simple instruments of their own using junk modelling techniques.

Be gripped by this significant historic event from the 17th Century! Find out about historical songs and chants connected to the Great Fire of London. Explore dynamics, pitch and tempo. Use all you have learned to create a simple 4-part music and movement composition, inspired by the Great Fire. Includes: - Topic Overview - Block Overview - Lesson 01: London's Burning Experiment with songs and chants. Change dynamics within music to change the effect, all while looking at the classic song ‘London´s Burning’. - Lesson 02: High and Low Sounds In this session, experiment with pitch by exploring low and high sounds in recorded music and by using a selection of musical instruments. - Lesson 03: All about the beat All about the beat - explore how to change the tempo of music- fast and slow sounds. - Lesson 04: Fire performance Use all you have learned about dynamics, pitch and tempo to create your own 4-part music and movement composition inspired by the Great Fire of London. Find more lesson plans and resources at www. hamilton-trust.org.uk.

Become an enthusiastic, expert palaeontologist! Learn about the climate, vegetation and living things of the late Cretaceous period. Research the main dinosaur extinction theories; plan and argue the case for each theory in a class debate. Finally compose a soundtrack for life after the extinction event, ready to play to guests in a darkened, atmospheric space. Includes: - Topic Overview - Block Overview - Lesson 01: End of an era After researching the timeline of the end of the Mesozoic Era, gain an understanding of the climate, vegetation and living things of the late Cretaceous period. - Lesson 02: Delving deeper Research the variety of extinction theories and consider arguments for and against each theory. - Lesson 03: Dino debate Plan and argue the case for each extinction theory in a class debate before voting for the most plausible. - Lesson 04: Extinction Music in the dark After reviewing the different extinction theories, compose a class soundtrack for life after the extinction event. Play to guests in a darkened, atmospheric space. Find more lesson plans and resources at www. hamilton-trust.org.uk.