Real Life Superheroes - 5 amazing achievements everyone should learn about!
“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” - Christopher Reeve, AKA Superman!
The theme for our Daily Dance project is Superheroes! Everyday this week we will be introducing you to some real life heroes. We would love to see what you get up to as you dance and explore your way through this week, so share your videos, pictures or superhero stories with us on Twitter @WestEndinSchool. If you’ve not signed up for the Daily Dance but want to get involved, head over to The Daily Dance homepage for more information and to register.
What do you think makes a hero? Take a minute and write down three things that you think someone a superhero.
Got it?
Perhaps you said being brave or good, perhaps you said fighting the bad guys, or making the world a better place.
Well those qualities are not just for characters in stories or movies. In real life, there are so many heroes who are being brave and working hard to make good things happen.
This week we are going to introduce you to five real life superheroes from history and tell you a little bit about what makes them so amazing! Each superhero will have questions for you to answer and will introduce you to some special vocabulary for you to discover the definition of.
Name: Amelia Earhart
Born:
24 July, 1897. Kansas, USA.
Special skills:
Defying what was expected of women and soaring through the sky!
Top Quote:
“I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”
On 17th June 1928 Amelia Earhart joined a team to fly from Trepassey Harbor, Newfoundland, in Canada to Burry Port in Wales. The team of three completed the flight in 21 hours and Amelia Earhart found fame as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
Four years later, on 20th May 1932, Amelia Earhart flew from Newfoundland to Paris. This made her the first woman, and the second person, to fly solo across the Atlantic.
Earhart was an adventurer and continued to set new records and push the limits of aviation!
The end of Amelia’s story is a mystery. In 1937 she set off with the ambition of becoming the first person to fly around the world. Her plane lost radio contact with the team on the ground. It is unknown what happened to Amelia and her plane, but she was never seen again.
Despite her sad ending, Amelia is remembered and celebrated not only as a hero of flight, but also as a symbol of the great things women can accomplish!
Find out more:
What was Amelia’s childhood like?
Can you find where Newfoundland and Paris are on a map and draw a line to show Amelia’s solo journey across the Atlantic?
What awards did the US Congress give to Earhart?
Superhero Dictionary. Can you define:
Solo
Aviation
Ambition
Name: William Shakespeare
Born:
1564. Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.
Special skills:
Writing creative and entertaining plays that have been performed across the world, in more than 80 languages and for more than 400 years!
Top Quote:
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
Also known as The Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare is one of the most famous playwrights of all time.
Shakespeare’s writing career is first recorded in London in 1592, but how and why he moved to London from his family home in Stratford-upon-Avon is still a mystery!
Whilst in London Shakespeare formed a company of actors named ‘The Chamberlain’s Men’. They were later renamed ‘The King’s Men’ when King James I became their patron.
The Bard’s plays are often sorted into three categories: comedies, tragedies and histories. You probably know some of his tales because so many modern stories have been influenced by Shakespeare. For example, did you know that the story of The Lion King was based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet?
Whilst he is best known as the most famous playwright of all time, Shakespeare was also an actor and a poet. His total works include 39 plays, two long narrative poems and 154 sonnets - that’s a lot of writing!
Find out more:
What schooling did Shakespeare have?
How far away is London from Stratford-upon-Avon, how would Shakespeare have travelled between these two places?
What were the first and last plays Shakespeare wrote?
Superhero Dictionary. Can you define:
Patron
Sonnet
Tragedy
Name: Greta Thunberg
Born:
3rd January 2003. Stockholm, Sweden.
Special skills:
Inspiring a whole generation of young people around the world to get involved in a movement fighting climate change.
Top Quote:
“You are never too small to make a difference.”
The youngest of our superheroes, Greta Thunberg developed a passion for protecting the environment from a young age. For three weeks before the Swedish elections in 2018, the 15 year old student skipped school to sit outside of parliament and protest. She was calling on her government to take more decisive action to help battle climate change.
After the election Greta returned to school for four days a week, but continued to miss classes every Friday to protest outside of parliament. Every week she was joined by more and more young people. Thousands of students across the globe have since participated in ‘School Strike for Climate’ on Fridays, known as ‘Friday’s for Future’.
The young activist has since been invited to speak at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and in 2019 was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.
Greta is still fighting for change, and for everyone to consider what impact their actions are having on our planet.
Find out more:
What countries have held a ‘Friday’s for Future’ protest?
What things can we do to be kinder to the planet?
How does Greta travel when she has to give speeches or have meetings in other countries?
Superhero Dictionary. Can you define:
Protest
Climate change
Activist
Name: Florence Nightingale
Born:
12th May 1820. Florence, Italy.
Special skills:
Selflessly fought for what she believed in to make sure those in pain could be cared for properly.
Top Quote:
"Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift – there is nothing small about it."
Florence was born into a wealthy Victorian family (although born in Italy, she was raised in England). She was expected to marry well and keep a beautiful home. But being a housewife did not appeal to her at all.
After many years of resistance, in 1850 Florence’s father allowed her to travel to Germany where she could train as a nurse. But shortly after beginning her work as a superintendent of a women’s hospital in London in 1953, she was asked to lead a team of 38 nurses at a field hospital to support The Crimean War effort.
Whilst working at the army hospital, Nightingale noticed how many men were dying not from their war wounds, but from infections and diseases caused by the lack of cleanliness in the hospital! She worked to improve the conditions in the hospital and to put an end to soldiers dying from these preventable issues.
After the war Florence’s image was printed in many newspapers and she became known as ‘The Lady of the Lamp’. She continued to work on improving hospital sanitation and to ensure that everyone - including poorer people in society - had access to some healthcare.
The Lady of the Lamp reinvented healthcare in the Victorian era and set first building blocks for the incredible National Health Service we have today.
Find out more:
What was Florence’s childhood like?
What was the Crimean war?
What was life like in Victorian England?
Superhero Dictionary. Can you define:
Resistance
Cleanliness
Preventable
Name: Sir David Attenborough
Born:
8th May 1926. London, England.
Special skills:
Shaping modern TV entertainment and teaching millions of viewers about the natural world.
Top Quote:
"Surely we all have a responsibility to care for our Blue Planet. The future of humanity and indeed, all life on earth, now depends on us."
David Attenborough joined the BBC as a trainee in 1952, when only 14% of the country owned a television!
He worked his way up through the BBC pushing the limits of what people thought television was capable of. He encouraged programmes filmed outside of the television studio and worked to help launch colour TV in the UK.
In 1975 Attenborough took a step away from his role of managing the BBC and moved back to doing what he really loved - exploring. He became one of the most famous people on television as he explored the globe, filming different natural environments and educating the public.
Attenborough’s services to television were awarded with a knighthood in 1985, making him Sir David Attenborough.
He has said that he never set out to be an environmental campaigner, but simply to introduce people to the wonders of the natural world. And once you have seen how glorious the world is why wouldn’t you want to protect it?
Find out more:
What television shows has Attenborough made?
What are some of the places he has travelled to?
How has television changed since 1952?
Superhero Dictionary. Can you define:
Natural
Campaigner
Explorer
Write your own superhero biography
A biography is a factual text about somebody’s life. It is usually written in chronological order, starting from the beginning and following them as they get older. It is normally written in past tense.
Can you think of someone who is a real life superhero? Perhaps it’s a person from history, or it could be someone you know. See if you can write a biography about a real life superhero which tells the reader the key facts about that person’s life and what it is that makes them so super!
Share your real life superheroes with us on Twitter @WestEndinSchool.