Pockets of Life
Source:
Grounds for Learning (‘place pockets’ activity) & Eco Schools Scotland Handbook.
OBJECTIVE
A simple activity to explore diversity in the school grounds, with cross-curricular benefits. It can be extended to explore ways of developing or enhancing biodiversity, which is a core environmental topic in the Eco Schools Scotland programme.
This can be a useful way of surveying what you have in your schools grounds before making any improvements, and as a way of stimulating discussion about what change is needed to improve biodiversity. It can be repeated later as a way of measuring change, carried out at different times of year to study seasonal differences, or in different locations to assess biodiversity in different habitats.
Did you know?
Biodiversity, “the very stuff of life”, means the whole variety of life on Earth. It encompasses all living things, from human beings to micro-organisms, not just species which are rare or threatened. Understanding the importance of biodiversity for life processes helps us to understand the need to protect and enhance our environment’s diverse range of plants, birds, animals and the habitats upon which they rely.
Biodiversity is a core environmental topic in the Eco Schools Scotland
programme. An understanding of the variety of life around us can be fostered
first by exploring what can be found within the school grounds. This activity
can be carried out even in grounds that have apparently little sign of natural
life!
Before the activity
Assemble A4 transparent pocketed wallets (designed to store photographic slides in suspension files). These can be bought from photographic stores. Cut these in half, to make one set of pockets (approximately 10 pockets), per pupil.
Hand lenses are useful for close up observation.
Check the site before use to ensure there is no dangerous debris that could be handled e.g. broken glass etc.
Discuss with the group what kind of life they might find in the grounds. Set parameters for health and safety (e.g. do not handle fungi/nettles etc), including washing hands at the end of the session. You may wish to decide how much is reasonable to take from a living plant (e.g. one leaf/berry) or simply use fallen plant matter only. Enjoy looking at living animals e.g. spiders/ beetles but do not put them in the plastic pockets! Remember to replace natural materials at the end of the session if it not used for extension work.
The activity
Either singly, or in pairs, each child is asked to explore their chosen area of grounds, and collect 10 different things, each to be placed in a pocket. The group can decide what they are sampling – for the purposes of researching biodiversity it may be to see if they can find 10 different living plants. The group can compare different areas of the playground to see if they are rich or poor in biodiversity terms e.g. compare tarmac areas with grass, or mown grass versus long grass areas.
After 10 minutes or when the pupils have completed their collection, reassemble the group outside. Everyone can hold up their place pockets to the light and compare what they have found. Discuss. Was it easy or difficult to find 10 different growing things? Were some areas better than others? Does your Pockets of Life samples look like those of your classmate? Discuss what is similar and what is different. What does this tell us about the variety of life in the playground? Where do you like to spend time in the playground? Is it the same place as where there is most variety of life? Use a hand lens to appreciate the detail of each find.
Suggested follow-up
Sort and classify what has been found, e.g. by size/shape/type of plant. This could be done outside either on a hard plain surface or large A3 sheet. Once the objects have been grouped – draw around them with chalk or crayon. This can be developed into a Venn diagram, or the information collated for graph work. Charts or graphs can be sketched out in chalk outside, or the information brought into the classroom for further mathematical work. Why not use the plant materials themselves, using glue and card, to show the variety of life in the playground graphically?
Use slide hangers to display the pockets of life in the classroom windows.
Develop language and communications skills. Use describing words for the plant materials found for size, texture, shape, colour. Can these pockets of life inspire a picture, tell a story or stimulate a poem?
This activity can support citizenship and health promotion. If the objective was a survey of the school grounds to assess what changes are needed, why not indicate on a map or plan of the school grounds where the biodiversity ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ spots are? Draw or photograph the different habitats in the school grounds, e.g. short grass, long grass, tarmac, trees, pond etc. Give marks out of 10 for wildlife value. You may discover that there is little variety of life and habitats in the playground, with artificial areas dominating or litter problems. Explore ways biodiversity could be enhanced in the grounds e.g. changing the mowing regime in grass areas, planting more areas, putting in tubs and planters etc, as part of your plans for improving the grounds.
Discuss our impact on the environment, and local and global biodiversity issues. How does this link with the sort of places that make us feel happy or relaxed?
Assess your needs for future outdoor teaching and learning. The grounds could be enhanced by the introduction of ‘wildlife friendly’ plants, those that have interesting sensory features, or are low maintenance (e.g. drought tolerant). Any changes will have to be costed – some things will be cheap and simple, others more expensive and requiring careful planning.
Repeat ‘Pockets of Life’ activity after improvements are made, to celebrate positive change. Keep ‘before’ and ‘after’ records, both qualitative (e.g. children’s comments/ words/ images) and quantitative (e.g. graphs).
Downloads
Eco Schools Scotland Programme core topic Biodiversity
Eco schools Scotland Handbook biodiversity sectionGrounds for Learning Biodiversity Resources
Scottish School Case Studies:
High schools
Currie Community High School, Edinburgh ground development and worksheets www.currieecology.org.uk
Hamilton Grammar School, South Lanarkshire how they carried out a botanical survey of their grounds.
Early Years
For good practice, see sharing practice for outdoor learning - http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/earlyyears/sharingpractice/outdoorlearning.asp
The 'Life Stories’ Project aims to show that Biodiversity is not just about science, but also about our relationship with the natural world, including the social, cultural and economic links. The use of stories, factual, traditional and mythical is a potentially powerful way to interpret these links. Life Stories is a project being developed by SNH to do exactly that - by gathering existing stories about Scotland’s biodiversity and making them available to those who wish to bring biodiversity alive for local people in their own environment. FREE