All the wildlife and countryside related parts of recent programs are available on the video player above. Over the coming weeks we will see how the ‘wild’ countryside changes over the seasons.
Wildlife Posts
9 July 2012 – Summer, when wonderful things, can happen to quiet people.
- Out and about in summer – Give Mario a break! Things to look out this summer. Also looks at some outdoor activities for school and summer holidays.
Download teachers notes for this section – Summer, when wonderful things, can happen to quiet people.
Links to websites with summer activities on:
25 June – Eat Drink Fly like an Athlete!
- Keeping bees for honey – Lester Quayle shows how he keeps bees for honey and explain about the different bees in a hive.
Download teachers notes for this section – Eat Drink Fly like an Athlete.
11 June 2012 – Athletic Snails, Micro Bugs, Yum! Yum!
- Athletic Snails – How slugs and snails are a pest for both farmers and gardeners. Then we look at what medal a snail might win at the Olympics – to give them a chance we scale them up to be the same size as humans
Download teachers notes for this section – Athletic Snails, Micro Bugs Yum! Yum!.
The snail racing kits, with stickers, guide etc can be downloaded from the Nature Detectives website http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/snail_racing_kit.htm21 May 2012 – Green Green Grass of May
- Busy Birds – Lots of spring activity to look out for, birds building nests, singing and new chicks.
Download teachers notes for this section – Green Green Grass of May.
8 May 2012 – May the food be tasty
- Planting out Wild Flowers for a Bee Larder – Luke Tilley from Stockbridge Technology Centre explains how best to plant out the wild flower plants and we explain how to make the most of any existing wild flowers in your school or garden.
Download teachers notes for this section – May the food be tasty.
23 April – April Showers: Lambs, Wild Flowers, Potatoes
- Wild Flowers for a Bee Larder– Luke Tilley from Stockbridge Technology Centre explains a little about the bee larder project he is running and shows you how to plant wild flowers seeds which can be used to start your own school or garden bee larder.
Download teachers notes for this section – April showers.
26 March – Spring Marches On
- Birds Courting – Wildlife is now bounding into spring with frogs and toads mating and producing spawn, birds are already courting to find mates and produce eggs. Also a timely reminder about dogs and the ‘Countryside Code’ during this important time for both wildlife and newborn calves and lambs
Download teachers notes for this section – Spring Marches On.
12 March – The ides of March are upon us!
- Bees – Explains why bees are so important, giving a brief explanation of their role in the life cycle of a flowering plant.
Download teachers notes for this section – Ides of March
27 February 2012 First signs of Spring.
- The snow hath retreated – Looks at the signs of spring. What can you look for as an indication that spring has sprung! Also how you and your school can get involved with helping scientists analyse if spring is getting earlier like some people believe.
Download teachers notes for this section – New Spring New Life
6 February 2012 New Spring – New Life; How you can help.
- Bird Nesting Boxes - helping new life. – Jon Traill a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust field officer gives tips and advice on types of bird boxes and where to place them for best results.
Download teachers notes for this section – New Spring New Life
26 January 2012 – Beyond the Farm (Building Ponds Part 2)
- Wildlife Ponds . – Jon Traill the Yorkshire Wildlife officer for water comes back to give advice on how you could improve or add a wildlife pond to your school or garden. It also shows how important industrial landscapes are reclaimed for wildlife and how many farmers also maintain and improve ponds to benefit wildlife in the countryside.
Download teachers notes for this section – Beyond the Farm – Ponds Part 2 Teachers Notes
9 January 2012 – Computers in Agriculture (Building Ponds)
- Wildlife Ponds. – Jon Traill the Yorkshire Wildlife officer for water explains why ponds are important in rural and urban landscapes. He also explain a little about the different habitats which can be created in a pond and how this benefits wildlife – both plants and animals.
Download teachers notes for this section – Computer in Agriculture Teachers Notes
Wildlife General National Curriculum Links
- Citizenship KS 1 + 2
- Design and Technology KS 1 + 2
- Science KS 1 + 2
- The videos have lots of science links to the units listed below for example:
- Shows plants and animal life cycles.
- Some of machinery could be used to discuss pushes and pulls.
Relevant QCA Schemes of Work
- Unit 3 Animals and Us
- Unit 1E Pushes and Pulls.
- Unit 2A Health and Grow.
- Unit 2B Plants and Animals in the local environment
- Unit 2C Variation
- Unit 4A Moving and growing
- Unit 4B. Habitats.
- Unit 5B Life cycles.
- Unit 6A Interdependence and adaptation.
- Unit 6B Micro-organisms.
The 9 Eco School topics.
With apologies if we are ‘teaching grandma to suck eggs’ here are some of our thoughts on how our videos link to the Eco School Topics.
Energy
- Growing food and the associated energy costs of buying home grown food or imported food
Water
- Use of water when keeping animals not just for drinking but also for food hygiene
Biodiversity
- How encouraging wildlife has and effect on school, garden and local biodiversity
School grounds
- How the digging a pond can help with the design and creation of new features in your school grounds
Healthy living
- Watching wildlife and the improvement of school grounds can also aid mental well being.
Transport
- Reduce transport costs by choosing local or UK produced food.
Litter
- How encouraging and feeding wildlife has associated litter responsibilities
- When outside be it school, garden or countryside “Take only photos Leave only footprints!”
Waste
- Explain that gardening and farming is and always has been synonymous with recycling. Pooh as fertiliser!
Global citizenship
- Explain how even the little things we do – where how food comes from, how much we recycle, our biodiversity, can affect the whole world be it good or bad!
National Government initiatives:
- Healthy Schools
- Sustainable Schools
- Every Child Matters
- Learning Outside the Classroom
- Thinking Skills.
