Finding out about castles

This afternoon we have been learning how to use books and computers/iPads to find out information. We are learning all about castles, but there was lots we didn't know! First we looked at some photos of different parts of the castle and talked about what we knew about castles. Harry said, "Castles are big and strong so other armies can't get in," and Grace said, "the water around the castle is called a moat." We read the words on the photos but weren't sure what some of them meant, so we had a guess. We thought a keep might "keep you safe" and a portcullis "is a kind of gate to close to stop people getting in." (Lilly). Jamie knew that a dungeon "is where you lock people up" and Ollie said dungeons were "down in the castle." We looked at a picture of something called a battlement and thought it might be to do with battles, which are fights. We looked at the arrow slits and Maddie said, "they're for shooting arrows." We knew what a bridge was, but we weren't sure what a drawbridge was and how it was different to a normal bridge.

We came up with some questions we wanted to find the answers to. These were:
What is a drawbridge?
What is the keep?
What are battlements?
Why are arrow slits narrow?
How does a portcullis work?

Then we used books and the internet (using a laptop and the iPads) to find answers. We made notes as we went along so we wouldn't forget what we had learnt! Here are some of the things we found out:

The drawbridge goes up to stop people getting in. (Maddie)
Dungeons were dark and prisoners were kept there. Dungeons were full of rats and spiders. (Jamie)
The moat means you can only get across by boat or drawbridge. You can also fish in it. (Olivia)
The keep was a tall square tower. It was very safe and the king lived there. (Lucy)
Battlements are at the top of the castle. You can shoot arrows through the gap and hide behind the high bit. (Grace)
You close the portcullis with chains. (Lilly)
You can shoot an arrow out of the arrow slit but other people can't shoot in. (Harry)

There is still a lot we can learn about castles - today we learnt about different parts of the castle, and we know that you can get information from books and computers. Check out our blog for the rest of the week to see what else we can learn about castles!