Killin Primary School

Composers and Singers

Image courtesy of the school

  • CLASS P5-7
  • SCHOOL Killin Primary School, Killin, Stirlingshire, Scotland
  • HONOURS  One girl in our class won a STEM competition and some of us have passed our Grade 1 piano exam
  • MINERVA SCIENTIFICA PROJECT Echoes from Ben Lawers, Autumn 2018

Scientific Connections

Soundscape cards

On the Echoes from Ben Lawers project the best things we learnt about were:

  • all the women in science
  • that there is the most rarest plants on Ben Lawers
  • marine biology
  • what a mycologist is
  • that the Snow Pearlwort is a rare plant

Compositions

Title:  Buried Treasure (Part 1)- The Snow Pearlwort
Scientist: SARAH WATTS
Composed by: P 5 – 7 Killin Primary School
Written in: September 2018
For: children’s voices
Performed by: the composers
First Performed: The Big Shed September 22nd 2018

Buried Treasure (Part 1) is about the hunt for the precious Snow Pearlwort on top of Ben Lawers. Buried Treasure (Part 2), all about the treasures buried in the soil, was written by KENMORE PRIMARY SCHOOL at the other end of Loch Tay. Some of us met in the middle at The Big Shed to perform the 2 parts together to the public. We all performed our music for Buried Treasure (Part 1) – The Snow Pearlwort to our school and parents with Frances and Herbie, alongside other songs about women scientists like BEATRIX POTTER.

Buried Treasure (Part 1) – The Snow Pearlwort was written by 3 groups in the class, with a chorus by Frances

CHORUS

There are Treasures in the snow, out of sight
Buried Treasures in the snow that suddenly appear

INTRODUCTION

We’re going on a journey.
Where are we going?          To Ben Lawers
What are we looking for?   The Snow Pearlwort

DOON IN THE WEE FIELD (Group 1)
Why don’t we look in the field? Is it here in the field?….. (sounds)…….It’s not here!

THE SOUNDS OF THE BURN (Group 2)
Let’s go and look by the Burn…. (sounds)…….It’s not here!

THE LADDERS (Group 3)
We’re looking in the Ladders…. (sounds)…… It’s not here!

THE MOUNTAIN (Everyone)
Why don’t we look up the top of the Mountain? YES!…… (sounds)….
We found some …..And here….. There’s some here….It’s everywhere
The Snow Pearlwort

CHORUS

There are treasures in Ben Lawers, all around
Buried Treasure in Ben Lawers, everywhere
The Snow Pearlwort!

Here are our scores, we used pictures to make the music – describing the picture and then making sounds that go with the pictures. We put them in order, using the idea of repeating and making a pattern just like music on a stave. See if you can follow our scores as you listen!

Education

We love singing and most of us play instruments and sing in a choir. Quite a few play drums, guitar, piano and the chanter and we have one saxophone, one flute and one trombone player.

We have a special music session every fortnight and we do loads of singing in the school. We have had singing workshops with Frances Morrison for the Killin Festival and spent 6 weeks working on the Scots Sang project with a performance at the Tolbooth in Stirling.

Investigating some lichen under a microscope

Occupations

Some of us would like to be scientists and enjoyed learning about the science:

  • I did think of being a scientist because I enjoyed learning about all the scientists and some of the things sound fun.
  • I thought about being a scientist because of the project and I thought it would be interesting to learn about lots of different things
  • I liked learning about astronomy best

Musical Highlights

  • The Music was fun!
  • The best thing I learned was the March of the Women of Science
  • I liked making sounds for the soundscapes, the sounds were unusual and all went together
  • The actions and the warm up was funny

Warming up with electric voice theatre

  • I liked singing Minerva Scientifica best
  • I liked that we co-operated in our soundscape group
  • The funniest thing was in the song about NORA MILLER when we sang “sink down to the bottom of the sea” and “Blop Blop Blop”

Rehearsing our actions

Did You Know?

  • Sarah Watts taught us that the snow pearlworts are rare and Ben Lawers is the 10th largest mountain in the UK
  • Sarah told us that the snow pearlwort is so small you need to crouch down to find it
  • I found it surprising that BEATRIX POTTER went to Dalguise (we went there too!)
  • that you can be anything you want

An Inspiring Woman

Music:  Frances and Margaret because they sang with us

Some of us performing our soundscapes at the Big Shed with Frances and Margaret

Science: NORA MILLER, marine biologist; SARAH WATTS, ecologist

  • Sarah said they were trying to preserve the snow pearlwort and that it is very special

Performing our soundscape pieces about the Snow Pearlwort

Links