An Oxford Superhero

• Humanities
• Special Education

An Oxford Superhero

LO:  I can identify how Sarah Gilbert helped the world.

What is Covid 19?

Discuss with a partner or your class what you can remember about the time it was a big problem.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

When it first spread, many people died from it.  Now we have vaccines and the virus has become milder.

What were lockdowns?

Lockdowns were times when people had to stay at home unless they had to work in places like a shop or hospital.

Most children could not go to school but had to learn at home.

During Lockdowns, people were only allowed to go out of their house for an hour each day.

How was shopping different during lockdowns?

What type of shops were open?

Only a certain number of people could go into a shop at a time.  

People had to stand 2 metres away from one another.

People had to wear masks when they were out of the house.

What is Covid19?

1. A dance
2. A boy band
3. A virus
4. A spaceship

What did the government tell people to do during a lockdown?

1. Stay at home
2. Go to Spain
3. Build sandcastles
4. Grow a beard

What type of shops were open during lockdowns?

1. Toy shops
2. shoe shops
3. book shops
4. Supermarkets, food shops and chemists

So that lockdowns could end, scientists were working hard to find a vaccine to protect people against the virus.

(What is a vaccine?)

In Oxford a scientist called Sarah Gilbert led a team working to develop a virus.  She said,

" It was very important that we create a safe and effective vaccine.  We have to make it in very large quantities for a low price.  Not only that, we had to ensure it could be stored in a fridge to be used in a wide range of global health situations..."

She talked about the pressure they were under.  "After starting work on the vaccine in January 2020, our team worked around the clock at an incredible pace.

We didn’t have the luxury of time to make a number of different versions of the vaccine and pick the best. There was only one clean room in our manufacturing facility, meaning we only had capacity to make a single candidate. We just had to hope that the one we picked would work.

In December 2020, the Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine she co-developed was approved for use in the UK.

More than 3 billion doses of the vaccine were supplied to countries around the world.

Having a vaccine changed everything.  

Many lives were saved by and people could go back to work and school.

Sarah Gilbert and her team worked in Oxford, which is in the South-East of England.

England is part of the United Kingdom, which is in the continent of Europe.

Continents are large land masses.

There are 7 continents in the world.

We live in the continent of Europe.

Name as many of the 7 continents as you can.

The United Kingdom is made up of:

England

Wales

Scotland  and

Northern Ireland.

The capital cities of the United Kingdom are:

England  -  London

Wales  -  Cardiff

Scotland  -  Edinburgh

Northern Ireland  -  Belfast

Oxford is about 60 miles away from London.

Spot it on this map.

What is a continent?

1. a shopping centre
2. a large landmass
3. a waterpark
4. a type of hat

How many continents are there in the world?

1. 20
2. 55
3. 7
4. 300

Which continent do we live in?

1. South America
2. North America
3. Asia
4. Europe

Which of these countries is NOT in the United Kingdom?

1. England
2. France
3. Scotland
4. Wales

What is the capital city of England called?

1. Edinburgh
2. Belfast
3. Cardiff
4. London

What is the capital city of Scotland called?

1. Edinburgh
2. Cardiff
3. London
4. Belfast

What is the capital city of Wales called?

1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Cardiff
4. Belfast

What is the capital city of Northern Ireland called?

1. London
2. Belfast
3. Edinburgh
4. Cardiff

Your tasks:

1)  Complete a fact sheet on Sarah Gilbert or design a medal for her.

2) Shade in the UK on a world map & label the continent.

3)  Mark the city of Oxford on a map of the UK.