Unit in Brief Page 1 Views Wood Wildlife To explore the variety of wildlife found within the habitats of Views Wood and to understand the relationships and interactions within the ecosystems. Curriculum Links Science Key Stage 2 Living things in their environment - variety in nature and classification, food chains, pyramids and webs, decomposers. Movement and adaptation in animals. Science Key Stage 3 Practical scientific activities and fieldwork. Understanding competition between and variation, adaptation and classification of species. Sustainability and human and natural influences on the environment. Real-life scientists and careers in natural science. Experiencing science outside the school environment. English Key Stage 2 speaking using imaginative and scientific vocabulary. Creative writing techniques and comprehension. Geography Key Stage 2 Understand environmental change and sustainable development. Using fieldwork techniques. Asking geographical questions. Geography Key Stage 3 Understanding environmental interaction and sustainable development. Appreciating people s attitudes. Geographical fieldwork techniques. Physical Education Key Stage 2 - outdoors adventurous activities, working individually and as pairs and within teams to complete challenges. Physical Education Key Stage 3 adventurous activities. ACTIVITY TITLE CURRICULUM LINKS TEACHERS NOTES Animal Tracking KS2 - Sc2 1a 4b.c 5 PE 11.a.c STUDENT WORKSHEETS See Trees Breathe Minibeast Safari Food webs Deer s Ears The Wood Cutters Game KS2 Sc2 3a.b.c KS3 Sc2.1a.b.c 2.2a.b 3.3a.d 3.4c KS2 - Sc2, 4.a.b.c, 5.a.b.c.d.e, Ge2.b, 5.a, PE11a KS3 - Sc2.1.a.c, 2.2.a.b, 4.c.e, Ge2.2.a, PE3.e KS2 Sc2 5.d.e KS3 Sc3.3d 3.4c KS2 Sc2 5a.b.c, PE 11.a.c KS3 Sc3.3d, PE3.e KS2 Ge 5.a.b, Sc2 3.a.b.c.5a.b, PE 11.a.c KS3 Ge 1.5.a 1.6.a.b, Sc 3.4.c, PE 3.e Minibeast ID sheet and tally sheet Food webs worksheet
Page 2 ACTIVITY TITLE CURRICULUM LINKS TEACHERS NOTES Woodland Hide and Seek KS2 Sc2 5b.d, PE 11.a.c KS3 - PE 3.e The Twig Snap Test KS2 Sc2 5.f KS3 - Sc 3.4.a.c 4.e STUDENT WORKSHEETS Animals on the move KS2 Sc2 2.e, En.4.a.b.c.d Worm Charming KS2 Sc2 5a.b.c, PE 11.a.c KS3 Sc3.3d, PE3.e Listen to me KS2 En.1a.b.c 2.a.b.e 3.a.b 4.b.c Leaf Caterpillars KS1 Sc2 3b 4b 5a.b.c, Art 5a.b.c KS2 Sc2 3b 4a.b.c, Art 5a.b.c Natural Art KS2 Sc2, 2.e, 4.b, Art1.a, 2.a.c, 4.a KS3 - Sc3.3.d Views Wood - Wildlife Activities 1. ANIMAL TRACKS teacher s notes To introduce the different types of mammals that can be found in Views Wood. This is a good icebreaker activity to encourage children to think about the differences between these animals, i.e. where they live, what they eat, how they move etc. Animal footprint pictures in advance you will need to tie these to the trees along the first part of the path into Views Wood, up to the third waymarker, to make a trail. When you arrive along the path, get the children to follow the trail and see if they can guess what animal it is. They can untie the pictures as they go. You can also input clues with the footprints to encourage vocabulary and natural history knowledge. If you have a large group, you can split them into smaller groups and print off the tracks for each group so they know which one they are to follow.
50mm long 25-35mm wide Page 3 This animal has a tail called a brush, this animal lives in a den. This animal is a herbivore, this animal lives in an underground burrow. 90-110mm This animal can eat meat and berries, this animal comes out at night (nocturnal). feet 40-45mm This animal can roll into a ball, this animal likes to eat worms. This animal is a good climber, this animal likes to eat nuts.
Page 4 Their feet splay outward when running or walking on soft ground 60x45mm approx This animal can have antlers, this animal is big. 20-24mm This animal can sit on your hand, this animal has a long tail. Male 30-35mm Female 25-30mm This animal is a carnivore, this animal is small and sleek and can run very fast. 2. SEE TREES BREATHE teacher s notes To teach pupils about the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. This activity only works well in summer or early autumn, on warm days and in direct sunshine. Do this activity at the start of the walk so that you can see the results when you return at the end. Some small clear plastic sandwich bags Elastic bands. A sign saying please leave these materials for school group. With your group, place the bags over a bunch of leaves at the end of a branch (still attached to a tree) and seal it at the top with the elastic band. At the end of the visit when you return you will see condensation on the inside of the bags. This is the result of transpiration the evaporation of water through the leaves of the plant. You can put the bags onto different species of trees, evergreens will transpire less due to the shape of their needles, or compare some in the shade to those in the sunshine
Page 5 3. MINIBEAST SAFARI teacher s notes To teach about the variety of invertebrates which can be found in different micro-habitats within Views Wood. A minibeast identification sheet (design team) A white cloth (bed sheet or table cloth size), this is optional. Minibeasts (insects) can be found flying though the air, under leaves and wood on the ground, on the leaves, under bark everywhere. In the clearing and as you walk along the trail, encourage the children to try looking in different places and type of habitats to see different types of insects. On the Minibeast safari sheet tick them off as you go. Remind children not to pick up the minibeasts with their fingers as they can be very small and delicate little living things, and some of them don t like the feel of hot human skin. Others may sting or release chemicals as their defence against danger, i.e. a predator or us. Also to put back any wood they lift up so they don t destroy the insect s home. If you bring a blanket you can put the cloth on the ground below the branches of a living tree, shake the tree branches and look at what minibeasts fall onto the cloth below. Try different tree species or trees in the shade and the sun and you will get surprisingly different results. 4. FOOD WEBS teacher s notes To introduce the concept of food chains and food webs and the flow of energy and interactions between species in the environment. You will need a large ball of string and an open space. You can if you wish make some appropriate cards to pass around for the food web game, this is helpful if you are short of time, otherwise a reference list to hand is always useful. To save time you can split the group in two, however you will need more string. A bit about food chains: Animals and plants are linked by food chains. Plants get their energy to survive from the sun, they make their own food, and they are sometimes called the producers. Animals get their energy to survive from eating plants and/or other animals. A food chain always starts with a producer; this can be a green plant or even a decaying plant. The feeding levels of a food chain are called trophic levels. Producers are the first trophic level. The second trophic level will be a plant eater, also called herbivore or primary consumer. The third trophic level will be a meat eater, also called carnivore or secondary consumer. Some food chains are longer than others; the fourth and fifth trophic levels are usually where you will find the top carnivores that cannot be eaten by anything else. Some animals eat plants and other animals; these are called omnivores. Ask the class to stand in a circle. Encourage the pupils to think about what they have seen on their visit so far, and some of the plants and animals that have been investigated. Tell them they will all need to stand still and hold the string tightly without tugging it. Ask the first pupil to name a producer, and hand one end of the string to them. Ask a second pupil across the circle to name an herbivore to feed on the producer, pass the string to him/her so it pulls tight between the pupils. Ask a third pupil across the circle again to name a carnivore, pass the string to them. Depending on the choices continue this food chain with the next pupil, or start a fresh chain passing on the string each time, try to spread out the chains around the circle. As you continue the pupils may exclaim that you are making a spider s web, you are in fact creating a food web. Some pupils may query why each food chain is connected i.e. a fox then leads onto an oak tree, explain that when the fox dies and decomposers such as bacteria, break the fox down, the oak tree will feed off the minerals this leaves in the soil. So the whole cycle begins again.
Page 6 5. DEER S EARS teacher s notes A fun game to encourage pupils to think about how animals hunt for their prey and how they avoid getting caught. It can include discussions about adaptation. A blindfold and or scarf. Two twigs that look like antlers. Ask the group to spread out so they are not within arms reach of each other. Ask them to practice walking quietly and slowly, first with their eyes open and then closed as they listen for sounds of other people. Ask them to spread out again and stand quietly with their eyes closed; practice listening and ask the children to try cupping their hands around their ears to direct the sounds, talk about the shapes of animals ears, e.g. foxes, rabbits and deer and the way animals move quietly. One child is blindfolded, and sits in a central place. Give them some antlers to fix to the side of their head to remind them that they are a deer. The other children spread out in a large circle about twenty big steps away from the deer. The aim of the game is for the stalkers/predators to creep up and tag the blindfolded deer without being heard. If the blindfolded deer hears anything, he points in that direction and says I hear you. If he is correct, that child is out and must sit quietly where they are. This activity works best if you point to the stalkers to indicate when they should start, and have stopping points if the deer is getting crowded by stalkers; if this happens, the stalkers should go back to beginning. 6. THE WOODCUTTER S GAME teacher s notes To reinforce, in an active and alternative way, the processes involved in woodland management and how sustainable they are. Based on the game Wink Murder. Stand in a circle. Select a woodland detective, and they must move away out of sight and earshot. Everyone in the circle closes his or her eyes. The teacher then walks around the outside of the circle and selects one person to be the wood sawyer by tapping them on the shoulder. This person must not tell anyone that they are the wood cutter. Ask the class to open their eyes; now explain that everyone, except the wood cutter, is a tree in woodland that is managed by coppicing. The wood cutter s job is to cut down the trees; they must do this by secretively winking or blinking at the trees. The trees once they have been cut will fall down to the ground, but remind them that they can re-grow with multiple stems each time they are cut - the trees can use their arms, hands and fingers to represent this. Remind the trees that, once they know who the wood cutter, is they must try to keep the secret too and that there is no talking in this game. Now call back the woodland detective, explain that their job is to detect two things - what type of woodland management is happening and who is the wood cutter. Once the woodland detective has guessed correctly, you can discuss with the class about the types of trees that they were pretending to be. Now you can play the game again with a new detective and wood cutter, but this time the management of the woodland is different. The trees will not be able to grow back once they are cut. Once the wood cutter has been identified or there are no trees left standing, discuss this type of woodland management which is clear fell or thinning explain that this is common in faster growing plantations of conifer trees. If you have time, you can play the game again and mix it up so that the trees can choose to be a mature standard or a coppice, they cannot change their tree management once the game has started, see what happens with this more mixed management.
Page 7 7. WOODLAND HIDE AND SEEK teacher s notes A sensory activity to encourage pupils to think about animal adaptation, survival and predators and prey. You will need a few blindfolds for this game. Set some boundaries for the group to hide within. Choose some children to be seekers (perhaps one child per adult), the seekers will be blindfolded and the adults will stop them tripping or walking into trees. The other children are to hide (can be in pairs to save time with a large group) but they will each have an animal sound they must make from their hiding place. Woodpeckers can tap trees, birds can hum or whistle, some can clap their hands to sound like the wings of a startled pigeon, some can be frogs, bees, owls, grasshoppers, snorting and grunting hedgehogs, and any other woodland animals they can think of. The seekers must find the hiders using their ears alone. 8. THE TWIG SNAP TEST teacher s notes Ask the class to collect from the ground 10 small twigs each, and come back to you with them. Discuss the roles of fungi and bacteria in breaking down wood and other organic material. Suggest to the class that wood is a strong material until the fungi and bacteria begin their work and start to eat the wood. Ask them to test with their twigs whether the decomposers have begun their work, by snapping the twigs with their fingers. Most will snap easily. You can then discuss how you might need to make the test fairer and improve it. Ask the class to imagine a world without decomposers, where no wood ever rots; discuss decomposers role within food chains. 9. ANIMALS ON THE MOVE teacher s notes Adapted from Joseph Cornell s book Sharing Nature with Children. To explore and appreciate animal features and characteristics, using role-play, team work and imagination. You will have already mentioned a wide variety of animals within the course of your visit. Split the class into groups of 3 s, 4 s and 5 s, a range of group sizes. Ask each group to choose an animal that you would encounter in woodland, it can be a mammal, bird, invertebrate, reptile or amphibian. Ask them to keep their choice secret. Now encourage them to think about what their animal looks like, and how it moves around the wood. What sort of walk/flight would it have, what mannerisms, i.e. would it be social or solitary, shy or confident, cheeky or preoccupied? Now ask the pupils to recreate the movement of the animal using their own bodies moving altogether as one unit. Help the groups where needed; some cases may require the additional help of plant materials (a millipede might need the extra legs in the form of grass), other cases might benefit if individuals play the role of individual animals (i.e. a colony of ants). Each group will perform their secret woodland animal to the class who will guess what they are.
Page 8 10. WORM CHARMING teacher s notes A sensory activity to encourage pupils to think about animal adaptation, survival and predators and prey. You will need a few blindfolds for this game. Set some boundaries for the group to hide within. Choose some children to be seekers (perhaps one child per adult), the seekers will be blindfolded and the adults will stop them tripping or walking into trees. The other children are to hide (can be in pairs to save time with a large group) but they will each have an animal sound they must make from their hiding place. Woodpeckers can tap trees, birds can hum or whistle, some can clap their hands to sound like the wings of a startled pigeon, some can be frogs, bees, owls, grasshoppers, snorting and grunting hedgehogs, and any other woodland animals they can think of. The seekers must find the hiders using their ears alone. 11. LISTEN TO ME teacher s notes To encourage pupils to look closely at the environment and appreciate variety in nature using descriptive and imaginative language, working with fellow pupils. The pupils need to be in pairs for this activity. Pupil A leads pupil B a few paces through the habitat, pupil B has their eyes closed. Pupil A says, listen to me, I can see and describes a natural object without saying its actual name, the description can be fantasy based. When they have finished speaking, pupil B can open their eyes and they must find the object being described. Some examples; A feast of juicy globes blackberries A fairy s bed carpet of moss A fairy s swimming pool water filled hollow in a tree A hide for a pixie a leaf with two small holes in it The tail of a cat hazel catkin 12. LEAF CATERPILLARS teacher s notes A creative activity to look at the different tree species and the types of leaves they have and include discussions about seasonal changes. One thin twig per child (the children can find these). Secateurs. Card cut out in the shape of a caterpillar head and tail, one per child. Pens or crayons. An adult can cut one end of the child s twig to make a point. The children can collect different coloured leaves to thread on to the stick to make the caterpillar s body. When the stick is full, decorate the card head and tail and slot onto the stick to stop the leaves falling off. Leave a bit of twig poking out each end to be a tail and nose or tongue, an adult can cut off the pointed end for safety, or you can use conkers, acorns or sweet chestnuts on each end instead of the card. 13. NATURAL ART teacher s notes A creative ephemeral art activity using natural materials and thinking about animal adaptations. In groups make pictures, patterns or animals out of natural materials you find in the woodland. You could design an imaginary creature and describe how it is adapted to the environment. You can make up stories about your picture. You can use sticks to make a frame; it might be a good idea to give the children a size restriction. You can use concentric circles of coloured leaves and sticks. You could challenge them to find a particular coloured leaf to include in their picture.