Discover. Connect. Consolidate.
Teachers lead rigorous subject learning in class. Children then revisit and extend their understanding through Field Journal activities, familiar experiences and optional Companion resources.
Your teaching journey
Track the ten journey Missions here; the final synthesis (Mission 11) is tracked separately. Lesson checklists remain in each subject tab. Your selections are stored locally in this browser.
Mission 11 is a final synthesis and is tracked separately.
Natural Sciences & Technology
Grade 6 ecosystems and food webs, with South African biodiversity, scientific enquiry and earlier-grade connections.
Geography
CAPS world map skills, trade, climate and vegetation, population, and an evolving A3 world-map journey.
English
English Home Language: listening, reading, writing, language conventions and presentation.
Visual Arts
Observation, line, tone, texture, composition and original art. Drawing workshops are flexible practice, not fixed lessons.
Natural Sciences & Technology · Living Systems
Ten teacher-led lessons · scientific reasoning and evidence · Field Journal Missions
Natural Sciences homework: manageable Mission closure
Plan for approximately 20–30 minutes of independent consolidation in a normal week. Where two Missions reach their final classroom use together, stagger deadlines rather than assigning both for the same week. Times are flexible, not required completion targets.
Social Sciences: Geography · Our Connected World
Ten lessons · locational knowledge, enquiry and the A3 map
Five-minute map routine
Locate the destination → distinguish country, island and region → draw the route → annotate one geographical feature → revisit the comparison with South Africa.
Optional Explorer Passport: after completing a destination Mission, children can write the country or region and date in their passport. There are approximately 30 spaces, so one passport can be used across three Field Journals. No stamps are needed. For the Polar Bear Mission, record the Arctic as a region, not a country.
Geography homework: destination completion
English Home Language · The Explorer’s Voice
Ten lessons · explicitly taught reading, writing, editing and communication
Life Skills: Creative Arts · The Explorer’s Eye
Ten lessons · artistic progression first, flexible media and Companion practice second
The drawing workshops are a library, not a syllabus
Use the Companion's printable animal studies as homework, optional practice or enrichment. The teacher may teach pencil, charcoal, ink, collage or another suitable medium. Pupils should progress beyond copying towards original observational work.
Coordinated creative timetable
The 11-Mission journey
Track Field Journal completion, destination and Companion pages
Planning & teaching resources
How the three Acorn resources support four subject pathways
Field Journal
Ten journey Missions plus a final synthesis Mission, in Adventurer and Investigator editions. Same journey, different scaffolding and depth: One Mission. Two Depths.
Use selected activities in class; complete remaining appropriate prompts at home after the Mission's final classroom use.
Explorer's Companion
35-page QR-accessed PDF. Field Archives offer links to real research and observations; Field Debriefs invite further thinking; printable drawing workshops build independent practice.
Paper first, screen second. Teacher-screen external links before classroom use.
A3 colour world map
Central to Geography, useful across the other subjects. Pupils locate countries, islands, regions and oceans, trace routes and record comparisons with their home area.
Optional passport
A reusable record of the child’s exploration. After a destination Mission, children write the country (or region, such as the Arctic) and date in an available space. With approximately 30 spaces, the same passport can accompany three Field Journals in sequence. No stamp is required, and passport use is optional rather than an assessment requirement.