Humanities Broadcast Autumn term 1 Edition

Welcome to the Humanities Broadcast: Aut 1 Edition We hope that this finds our Roding Valley Community safe and well… here are some new ideas and things to do!

@humsrvhs

humanitiesfaculty@rodingvalley.net

We’re Back! !!

It’s great to be back at Roding Valley and see all our students and colleagues again.

After an ultra busy time everyone is ready for some rest and a break!!

Take Care and Stay Safe The Humanities Faculty

rvhs_humanities_

October: Black History Month To go alongside our study of the late middle ages and early modern period it is worth remembering that Britain already had a diverse population. There is evidence from Tudor and Stuart England of people of colour living and working in Britain long before the slave trade.

John Blanke, the musician - One of the court trumpeters, he was present in the entourage of Henry VII from at least 1507. He performed at both Henry VII’s funeral and Henry VIII’s coronation in 1509.

Jacques Francis, the salvage diver - An expert swimmer and diver, he was hired to salvage guns from the wreck of the Mary Rose in 1546. When his Venetian master was accused of theft in Southampton, Francis became the first known African to give evidence in an English court of law.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Tudors then Miranda Kaufmann’s book Black Tudors in an excellent starting place.

You could make an Autumnal wreath

Autumn Equinox Equinox comes from the Latin words “aequi,” which means equal, and “nox,” or night. On the equinox, day and night are of nearly equal length across the planet.

As the Earth orbits the sun, it is tilted at a fixed angle. For half the year, the North Pole is tilted slightly toward the sun, bringing longer days to the Northern Hemisphere, while the South Pole is tilted slightly away from the sun, bringing fewer hours of sunlight to the Southern Hemisphere. Then, as the Earth continues to move around the sun at its fixed angle, the North Pole is tilted slightly away from the sun. The equinox marks the point of the year where this transition occurs, and on the equinox the part of Earth closest to the sun is the equator, rather than places north or south.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the September equinox marks the first day of autumn. The reverse is true in the Southern Hemisphere where the September equinox signals the first day of spring.

Ancient cultures didn’t have clocks to calculate minutes of daytime and nighttime, but they could measure the sun’s position geometrically. People observed that the sun’s rising and setting points moved slightly each day of the year. The summer solstice would occur when the sun reached its northernmost point, marking the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun’s southernmost point marked the winter solstice, or shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the North Pole was tilted the farthest from the sun. The two days of the year when the sun rose exactly due east and set exactly due west marked the equinoxes.

Archaeologists believe a number of prehistoric sites were used by ancient peoples to track the position of the sun and predict equinoxes and solstices. Some of these sites include Stonehenge and Newgrange in the UK

Greek Mythology: To the ancient Greeks, the September equinox marks the return of the goddess Persephone to the darkness of the underworld, where she is reunited with her husband Hades.

Chinese Harvest Moon Festival: The full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox is sometimes called the Harvest Moon. The Chinese began celebrating the fall harvest at the Harvest Moon centuries ago, during the Shang dynasty. Ancient Chinese celebrated the successful harvest of rice and wheat and made offerings to the moon. Ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese people still celebrate the Harvest Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, lanterns adorn streets and family and friends gather to give thanks, share food and watch the moon. Round pastries, called mooncakes, are often enjoyed at this time.

Japanese Higan: Higan is a holiday celebrated by some Japanese Buddhists. It takes place twice a year, during the fall and spring equinoxes. During Higan, Japanese Buddhists will return to their hometowns to pay respects to their ancestors. Higan means “from the other shore of the Sanzu River.” In Buddhist tradition, crossing the mythical Sanzu River meant passing into the afterlife.

Harvest Festivals In Great Britain: The people of the British Isles have given thanks at fall harvest festivals since pagan times. Harvest festivals traditionally were held on the Sunday nearest the Harvest Moon.

Early English settlers took the harvest festival tradition with them to America. These tradition festivals, once celebrated around the equinox, formed the basis of American Thanksgiving, which are now celebrated in November.

French Republican Calendar: During the French Revolution, the French government designed and implemented a new yearly calendar. Each new year would start at midnight on the day of the autumnal equinox. In the revolutionary attempt to rid the calendar of religious or royalist influence, each month was named after a natural element.

The French followed this calendar from 1793 until Napoleon Bonaparte abolished it in 1806.

Modern Paganism: Modern pagans celebrate a feast called Mabon on the autumnal equinox. This harvest festival is a time to celebrate the gifts of the Earth.

In the far north, the autumnal equinox signals peak viewing of the aurora borealis, or northern lights.

The celestial display of brilliantly colored lights happens when charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, causing them to light up. These light displays peak around the fall and spring, or vernal, equinox. That’s because disturbances in Earth’s atmosphere—known as geomagnetic storms—are strongest at these times.

Amazing short film from 2014 in Scotland

Autumn Religious Festivals All Saints’ Day follows All Souls’ Day - this is more popularly known as Halloween!

Do you celebrate these? Send your celebration pictures to mcain@rodingvalley.net 29 October (Thursday) THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD'S BIRTHDAY / MILAD UL NABI (12th Rabi'ul-Awwal) (Sunni)

3 November (Tuesday) THE

PROPHET MUHAMMAD'S BIRTHDAY / MILAD UL NABI (17th Rabi'ul-Awwal) (Shi'a) Widely celebrated and a public holiday in many Muslim countries. Qur’anic readings and songs in praise of the Prophet feature. The exact date of the Prophet’s birth is uncertain.

Year 13 ‘A’ Level Politics students study US politics here is a good link to explain the process of electing a US President: (SMU)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-53785985

Autumn - Geography days out

Visit Greenwich Park with family and friends and think about the skyline you can see.

Have a walk through Epping Forest and think about your surroundings

What are these buildings?

Why are they so tall?

Why are they in one area?

Why do giraffes not exist here?

Where do all the leaves on the floor go?

Hygge is all about staying in with family (and potentially never changing out of your pyjamas), getting cosy and chatting with friends in a coffee shop, basically taking the time to enjoy a moment of contentment (whatever the weather),

Hygge or Lagom?- yup it’s that cosy time of year again … which will you choose?

Lagom is about living a frugal life with just enough possessions; everything functional and a life in balance. ‘Lagom’ is a Swedish term, roughly translated means “not too little, not too much – just right”; if everyone takes a lagom amount from life, they will be content,’ ‘Lagom encourages us to create a happy life by choosing to live a balanced and fruitful existence.’

There is a huge amount of information on the internet about both these cosy, comfortable ways of doing things... I challenge you to relax with some hygge or lagom!! So, light those candles and get the hot chocolate out!

Using your Google Drive to support you with Humanities Home Learning:

Don’t forget, all students have access to Google Drive at RVHS. This means that you can record your home learning assignments on Google Docs or Google Slides.

You can record your home learning using these options and then submit your work on Google Classroom. Your teacher will then be able to comment on the work that you hand in.

Watch the video attached if you need any more support: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE_d2TYwP5A&feature=youtu.be