Keith Primary School

The Isabella’s Footsteps Project

On the project we learnt all about sea creatures and the different species of crustaceans like Lobsters, Shrimps and Goose-neck barnacles.  We learnt facts about barnacles, how to greet the Japan people in Japanese, the song, the chant, the cherry tree song and that Isabella Gordon was a good marine biologist.

• I liked finding out about Isabella
• I love singing together as a class
• I liked learning about crustaceans and crabs

The teacher thought we found it really interesting and did learn a lot!

Composition

Title: “Isabella and Her Big Adventure with Crustaceans“
Scientists: DR ISABELLA GORDON
Composers: P4, Keith Primary School
Words by: the composers
Written in: 2025
For: Voices and instruments
Additional works: “Isabella’s Footsteps” by Frances M Lynch
Performed by: the composers with Frances M Lynch, piano, Herbie Clarke, guitar, and Coralie Usmani, Viola
Recorded: 30th September 2025
Film by: Herbie Clarke with drawings by the composers

The children worked with a team of musicians from Electric Voice Theatre, Science Historian Catherine Booth and Scientist Miranda Lowe C.B.E. The resulting MEGASONG tells the story of Isabella Gordon’s life and a fantastical tale of 3 species she studied – European lobsters, Pistol shrimps and Goose-neck barnacles.

I found it interesting that we could make music without an instrument

We most enjoyed:

• Isabella’s Life story 
• Barnacles doing a sucking noise
• saying goose barnacles at the end
• Our ‘Isabella and the Ocean’ song
• the Lobster chant

We wrote about Pistol shrimps, Alpheus glaber
It was very good and exciting!

We wrote about European lobsters, Homarus gammarus
They have one big pincer and one small pincer

We wrote about Goose-neck barnacles, Lepas anatifera
Our favourite scientific words are: Lepas anatifera!

P4 are surprised during their performance of their MEGASONG by Miranda Lowe, zooming in from the Natural History MuseumThe main story is book-ended by a song written by Frances and the children together which tells the story of Isabella Gordon.  The full text of the Megasong appears on the video

I liked  

• singing
• learning about crabs and lobster
• the crusty crab
• singing
• Pistol shrimps
• singing 

Education

Half of us play musical instruments like guitar and piano, one of us plays the violin, and some of us sing in the school choir.

This year in our classroom for STEM we have done science like sound experiments, coke and mentos (to make volcanoes) and work on forces with Mrs Keedwell.

Occupations

Only 3 of us know that we want to be scientists but some of us are still thinking about it. We’re very musical of course, some want to be singers, and maybe even composers when we grow up.  The rest of us want to be lots of different things like a comic book creator, teacher, football player,  join the army or air force, become a nail artist, hair dresser, gamer, vet, toy maker, astronaut or artist!

Musical Highlights

Performing our MEGASONG to the whole school and singing our song about Isabella Gordon, “Isabella Loved the Ocean” to lots of people.

Did You Know?

• People once thought that Barnacle geese hatched from Goose-neck barnacles
• Barnacles make their own glue like cement
• Miranda Lowe works at the National History Museum
• Lobsters are not pink but blue

An Inspiring Woman

Isabella Gordon because she studied nature and was a top scientist who died in 1988

• I loved the picture of Isabella
• I liked that she was a famous scientist
• I liked seeing the picture of Isabella’s lab
• I liked the bit in her story about Keith show
• When she was little she was poor but she had a better life

Links