Teacher guide · Think Lab · Medium · about 32 min
🏞️ River Journey
Pupils practise curiosity and problem solving through "River Journey": Follow a river from source to sea.
Lesson guide
1. Hook · 5 min
Show the 🏞️ mission title and read the opening: "Order a river's journey.". Take three quick guesses.
2. Model · 5 min
Think aloud through the first step together. Use Cog the Owl's line as your prompt: "Good thinking. Show me the why."
3. Do · 10 min
Pairs work through the 4 steps on screen or on the printed sheet. Circulate and ask "why?"
4. Discuss · 10 min
Use two or three of the discussion questions. Ask pairs to share different answers, not just correct ones.
5. Reflect · 5 min
Exit ticket: one sentence on how they used curiosity today.
Discussion questions
- What was the hardest choice in "River Journey", and why?
- Longest river in the UK — explain your reasoning to a partner.
- How do people use rivers? Give three ways — explain your reasoning to a partner.
- Where could you use curiosity outside school this week?
- If you did this again, what would you change?
Adapting it
Support: Read prompts aloud, pair with a confident partner, and accept spoken or drawn answers for writing steps.
Stretch: Ask pupils to create their own extra step for a partner and explain the correct answer.
Curriculum links
- National Curriculum: Geography: locational knowledge, place and map skills
- National Curriculum: Maths: reasoning mathematically and problem solving
- National Curriculum: Computing: logical reasoning and algorithms
- PSHE: Living in the wider world: making decisions and evaluating choices
Pupil sheet
🏞️ River Journey
Name: ____________________ Date: __________
1. Order a river's journey.
___ Middle course
___ Mouth
___ Sea
___ Source
___ Upper course
2. Match the river word.
Source → ________________
Mouth → ________________
Tributary → ________________
Meander → ________________
3. Longest river in the UK?
☐ River Severn
☐ River Thames
☐ River Tyne
4. How do people use rivers? Give three ways.