Lesson video

Hi, welcome to another geography lesson.

My name is Ms. Roberts and I'll be taking you through this lesson today.

Together we are going to be looking at some parks and green spaces in the city of Cardiff, and we'll be thinking a bit more widely about why cities need to have parks at all.

I really enjoy going to the park, do you? Let's start this lesson then and find out some more about the importance of parks and green spaces.

By the end of the lesson today, you will be able to explain why it is important for cities like Cardiff to have parks and green spaces.

Some of the key words that you are going to be using to do that are here for you.

Listen carefully as I say each word and then you can repeat them after me.

Our first key word you have already heard today, and that is green spaces.

Can you say green spaces? Excellent.

Our next key word is parks.

Can you say parks? Lovely.

Our third key word.

I like this word, this word is peaceful.

Can you say peaceful? Great.

And our last key word for today is recreation.

Can you say recreation? Very good.

I'm going to go over what these words mean with you now, so don't worry if you are a little unsure about them at the moment.

Now, green spaces are not rooms that have been painted green.

Green spaces that we are talking about are areas of land that have plants, or grass or trees that people can visit.

Green spaces include places like parks, or woodlands and wetlands.

The next key word is parks.

Parks are outdoor public spaces where people can go to relax or play.

Some parks have playgrounds with play equipment in them, other parks are just large, wide natural areas.

Now the next word is peaceful.

I do like it when it's peaceful.

When something is peaceful, it is quiet and calm and not disturbed.

And the last key word is recreation.

Recreation is an activity that we do for pleasure, so any hobbies or pastimes you have or sports that you enjoy doing.

And the reason why recreation is a key word today is because often those activities that we do for pleasure can happen in a park or in a green space if they are an outdoor activity.

Lovely.

Now we're going to get into the lesson.

The first part of today's lesson will investigate the question, are cities just full of buildings? And later we are going to specifically look at the green spaces in the city of Cardiff.

Cities are sometimes referred to as a concrete jungle.

If you look around a city, you can see lots of buildings, pavements, roads, and bridges that have all been constructed or built by humans as the city has grown.

If you look at those features in cities, you'll see that they are mostly grey or brown in colour.

That's because concrete, which is the material that most buildings and roads and pavements are made of is grey.

You can see in this picture of part of Cardiff that there is a grey pavement and many grey buildings To reduce this concrete jungle effect, cities use zones to create different spaces.

Those zones include having some open green spaces, which can range from being quite small spaces to much bigger spaces like parks.

Some cities also have very big wide streets or avenues, and you can often see lines of tall trees along those streets.

You can see a tree lined street in Cardiff here in this picture.

Green spaces like parks are very important places because they help to soak up noise and pollution that is caused by heavy traffic in cities.

For residents and visitors, parks and green spaces provide peaceful places for recreation and for relaxing away from the stresses of the busy city.

In this picture, you can see many people are relaxing and enjoying this park.

Green spaces provide places where people can relax by walking their dog, playing outdoor sports and games, or just taking a walk in the pleasant natural surroundings.

People also enjoy eating outdoors, especially in the summer when they can have picnics in the park.

I love a picnic, do you? So I hope you've been listening closely, can you answer this question for me? How do parks benefit people that live in cities? A, people can grow vegetables, B, people can escape the noisy city, C, people can take relaxing walks, or D, people can pick wild flowers.

Now be careful there could be more than one correct choice.

Have you chosen? Lovely.

Let's check the answers together.

I have chosen option B first because it's true people can escape the noisy city.

I decided not to choose option A because parks aren't places where people grow vegetables.

Vegetables can be grown in people's own gardens or in special places called allotments.

Option C is also my choice, people can take relaxing walks in a park.

I enjoy taking a relaxing walk in the park near me.

I haven't chosen option D, wild flowers in parks do look very pretty, but we shouldn't pick them.

Wildflower should always be left to grow where they are in their natural habitat.

Now let's put your new learning to use by completing an activity about parks.

The residents of a busy city are unhappy because the council is planning to close a local park and use the space to build houses instead.

Your task is to work with a partner, and together you are going to plan a short speech to share your concerns about the park closing.

Your speech must include reasons why you think the park should not be closed.

Pause the video now and work with a partner to complete the activity.

All done? Wonderful.

You've got some great ideas there.

Now, some of the children from Oak Academy are here to share their ideas from their speeches.

John asks, "Where will I walk my dog?" And that's a fair enough question.

I'm sure a few of the residents were worried about that.

Izzy is concerned about the pollution that could happen.

"The pollution will be worse," she says, "and that's bad for my asthma." That's very true, pollution can have a huge effect on people's health.

Alex is concerned because he will have nowhere to play cricket.

That's very true.

You certainly can't play cricket in the house.

So where will people go for recreation like playing cricket? Laura also says, "There will be nowhere to get any peace and quiet." More houses means more cars, more cars means more traffic and more noise and more cars means pollution.

All of those are excellent ideas and would be very persuasive in a speech.

Great work everyone and well done, you as well.

So let's move into the second part of our lesson now and think about Cardiff and the green spaces specifically that are there.

In Cardiff there are many parks and green spaces, some are large historic parks, but others are smaller or privately owned spaces, for example, people in residential areas may have a front or a back garden.

There are also green spaces beside the river Taff.

You may know that the River Taff runs through the centre of Cardiff.

So along the river we do find some natural spaces.

One of the biggest parks in Cardiff is found right in the city centre.

And it's not just the biggest park, it's also the most historic park in Cardiff.

It's called Bute Park and it's around 250 years old.

Amazing.

This park is a huge park with lots of different areas.

It's got areas of grassland, it's got some trees, it has some flower gardens, and there is a cricket ground in the park as well.

The people of Cardiff often use this lovely large park for big events where people can gather together.

The river Taff runs through Bute Park.

Along the river Taff there are several foot bridges in the park so people can cross the river while they are taking a pleasant walk through the park.

Foot bridges are also a great place where you can stop and play pooh sticks.

Do you know what pooh sticks is? Have you ever played it? I love playing pooh sticks.

So you stand on a bridge and you are there with a friend and each of you takes one stick, together at the same time you drop your sticks over the bridge and then quickly you turn around and run to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick comes out from under the bridge first.

The reason we can play games like pooh sticks on bridges over rivers is because all rivers are flowing, they're flowing from their source, which is the start of the river, to the mouth, which is the end of the river.

So the sticks are having their own race under the bridge.

Next time you are in a park, why don't you stop and play pooh sticks.

Now, Bute Park is also very convenient for the people of Cardiff to access it.

That's because it is in the middle of the city, it is directly behind Cardiff Castle and it's very close to the city centre and the shops.

It's got lots of different entrances, so places that people can get into and outta the park.

So no matter which area of the city you are in, there is an easy way to get into the park.

The picture shows one of the entrances to the park, which is right by the castle.

That's why this gateway looks very similar to a castle.

I'd like you to try a true or false activity with me now about green spaces in Cardiff.

Listen to this statement and decide if it is true or false.

Cardiff is a city, so it does not have any green spaces.

Is that true or is that false? Have you decided? Good.

So give me thumbs up if you think it is true, and thumbs down if you think it is false.

What have you chosen? I've chosen thumbs down, have you? Well done.

This is false.

It is false to say that Cardiff is a city, so it does not have any green spaces.

Now we are geographers, right? So we can't just make a statement unless we have some information or evidence of some sort to explain how we know what we are talking about.

So I'm going to read you two sentences.

I want you to pick which of the two sentences is the most helpful in this situation.

Listen carefully.

A, there are over 330 parks and green spaces in Cardiff, or B, nearly 500,000 people live in Cardiff.

Which of those sentences is the most helpful here? Have you made a choice? Good.

Did you choose option A? Well done.

Option A is the most helpful.

Option A tells us that in Cardiff there are over 330 parks and green spaces, so it provides evidence to say that Cardiff does have green spaces.

Option B, nearly 500,000 people live in Cardiff, that explains that Cardiff is a city and it's a very busy place.

It doesn't help us to explain that there are green spaces in Cardiff.

Time now for another activity to finish off the lesson today.

This is a gap fill activity.

There are four sentences about Cardiff that have got at least one word missing from each sentence.

I want you to choose from the words in the box to complete each sentence.

I will read the sentences to you now.

Number one, it is important for cities to have parks and blank spaces.

Sentence two, people enjoy spending time in parks because they are blank places without the noise from the traffic.

Number three, parks are also important spaces for blank, for example, doing outdoor sports.

And number four, cities like blank have a lot of blank, parks can help to reduce this.

Pause the video now while you decide which words complete each sentence.

Have you finished? Good job.

Let's go over the answers together.

Sentence one, it is important for cities to have parks and green spaces.

Sentence two, people enjoy spending time in parks because they are peaceful places without the noise from the traffic.

Sentence three, parks are also important spaces for recreation, for example, doing outdoor sports.

And the last one, number four, cities like Cardiff have a lot of pollution, parks can help to reduce this.

Did you put all the words in the right places? Well done.

So we are at the end of our lesson about parks in Cardiff, now let's have a quick review of what we now know.

We know that parks and green spaces are important in cities for many reasons.

We know that parks help to soak up and absorb all that noise from the traffic.

We know that parks are used for recreation and relaxation because they are peaceful places.

In Cardiff, Bute Park is a large park and the River Taff runs through the park.

I found it so interesting learning about all the things that people can do in a park.

I can't wait till the next time I go to a park.

Join me again for another geography lesson.

Goodbye for now.