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The grid below suggests a day plan based on two groups. Ask for if you
need help planning three groups or more, or would like more help on a
topic not listed.
For each topic there is detail given on the Guided walk / led activity,
Activity sheet and Woodland activity. Guided walk / led activity content
is dependent on age and prior knowledge of the children.
Group one
Group two
10.00 10.30
Arrival and welcome
10.30 11.00 1
Guided walk/ led activity 3
Woodland trail / woodland activity
11.00 11.30
" "
11.30 12.00 2
Activity sheet
2 Activity sheet
12.00 12.30 Lunch
and play Lunch
and play
12.30 1.00 3 Woodland trail /
woodland activity 1 Guided walk / led
activity
1.00 1.30
"
"
1.30 2.00
Play, shop and wcs
2.00 2.30 Depart
Choose a topic:
LIFE CYCLES IN A WOODLAND
HABITATS
FUNGI
GROWING AND USING WOOD
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES / MANAGEMENT / SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
MAPPING SKILLS
LIFE CYCLES IN A WOODLAND
1 Guided walk/ led activity. Discovering what plants and animals
live in the woodland environment, how to identify them, use of keys,
what they eat and how they grow, parts of plants, life cycles of plants
and animals, using games and other hands-on activities. We can focus on
a particular subject (seed dispersal, effects of light on plant growth,
minibeasts) or look at woodlands in a more general way. Collecting bags
or boxes can be used to remind children of the experiences back in
class.
2 Activity sheet 1, Get to know a tree - investigate how trees
grow and what creatures they support. Sheet 12, Bug hunt. Use the
questions to encourage thorough investigation. Also Sheets 3, Leaf
Search; 13 Animal signs; 14 Plant growth and seeds; 15 Habitats and food
chains.
3 Woodland trail or woodland activity. If your class could do
with a leg stretch and explore, use the Woodland Trail and the Discovery
trail or Quiz. They encourage a wide response to the woodland as a
whole, and last up to 1 hour, with activities to engage pupils with the
woodland.
You could use Woodland Activity No. 1, Woodland pictures: in groups make
a picture using natural materials of a woodland living creature.
Woodland Activity No. 6, the DIY quiz, challenges pupils on their
expectations and investigations of the woodland environment.
HABITATS
1 Guided walk/ led activity will establish the definition of a
habitat, and reinforce it using examples of the many animals found in
the woodland, from mole holes to the microhabitat of a fruit fly larva.
Adaption to a woodland habitat, food sources and food chains and
interdependence can be explored, using hands-on activities including the
use of identification keys. Collecting bags or boxes can be used to
remind children of the experiences back in class.
2 Activity sheet 15, Habitats and food chains, is ideal. Sheet 1,
Get to know a tree, looks at the habitat provided by an individual tree.
Also Sheets 12, Bug hunt; 13, Animal signs; 3 Leaf search.
3 Woodland Trail or Woodland Activity. If your class could do
with a leg stretch and explore, use the Woodland Trail and the Discovery
trail or Quiz. They encourage a wide response to the woodland as a
whole, and last up to 1 hour, with activities to engage pupils with the
woodland.
Woodland Activity No. 2, Shelter building, can be a fun way of putting
across the value of
shelter as an aspect of a habitat. Build one for yourself or for a
woodland animal.
FUNGI
(Virtually ignored in the National Curriculum, but probably the largest
kingdom of higher organisms on the planet and crucially important to the
web of life and to our everyday lives).
1 Guided walk/ led activity. Variety of forms and sizes, what
fungi are, where and how they grow, and how they fit into the woodland
ecosystem. Very hands on, with opportunity to share finds with whole
group. Dont worry the dangers of fungi are also explained, and
sensible precautions.
2 Activity sheet 4 gives an opportunity for small groups to go
fungus hunting. Use the questions at the top of the sheet to encourage
thorough investigation. Its not a race to tick them off!
3 Woodland Trail or Woodland Activity. If your class could do
with a leg stretch and explore, use the Woodland Trail and the Discovery
trail or Quiz. They encourage a wide response to the woodland as a
whole, and last up to 1 hour, with activities to engage pupils with the
woodland.
You could use Woodland Activity No. 1, Woodland pictures making
pictures in groups using natural materials of a favourite fungus, being
as accurate as possible.
GROWING AND USING WOOD
1 Guided walk/ led activity. Tree identification, growing wood in
coppices and plantations, use of different trees. Coppicing is an
ancient method of growing wood, and fits well with history topics;
pupils experience different stages of coppice growth and may see felling
in progress. See the effect of coppicing on the woodland ecosystem. This
topic is usefully combined with a have-a-go demonstration of turning a
felled pole into a fence post.
2 Activity sheet 1, Get to know a tree provides a focus for
detailed observational study. Activity sheet 5, How wood is used, opens
eyes to the value of wood in everyday life. Also Sheet 3, Leaf search,
and the Tree Spotter sheet.
3 Woodland trail or woodland activity. The Woodland Trail and the
Discovery trail or Quiz encourage a wide response to the woodland as a
whole, and last up to 1 hour. The Trail Quiz in particular reinforces
the differences between coppicing and plantations.
Woodland Activity 9, Tree Identikit, enables close study of a particular
tree species.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES / MANAGEMENT / SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
1 Guided walk/ led activity will show pupils how we manage the
wood and why, and help them discover what pressures and problems we
face. The leader can focus on a particular element, such as visitor
pressure, the sustainability of timber growing, the eradication of
pests. The pupils are encouraged to think themselves about ways in which
we might address problems. A hands-on demonstration of turning a pole
into a product emphasises issues of production, sustainability, waste.
2 Activity sheet 1, Get to know a tree, focuses attention on an
individual tree, which can be assessed for its contribution to the
woodland ecosystem, and assessed for pressures it faces. Activity sheet
5, How wood is used, shows some of the many uses of the sustainable
resource of timber.
3 Woodland Trail. If your class could do with a leg stretch and
explore, use the Woodland Trail and the Discovery trail or Quiz. They
encourage a wide response to the woodland as a whole, and last up to 1
hour, with activities to engage pupils with the woodland.
MAPPING SKILLS
1 Guided walk/ led activity will use our Wilderness Wood base map
to introduce concepts of scale, orientation, representation, and
discovering what maps are for. A navigation exercise to a certain point
will bring these concepts into use.
2 Activity sheet 16, Make a map, recaps on orientation, scales,
use of symbols. The task is to complete a partially drawn map of a
section of the wood.
3 Woodland Trail or Woodland Activity. The Woodland Trail lasts
up to 1 hour, following the white arrows through the woodland. You can
use the Wilderness Wood map to navigate along the Trail, predicting
features or devising a short-cut.
Woodland Activities No. 7, Treasure Trail, (an orienteering game) or No.
8, Natural maps (making a 2D sculpture map) are a fun and creative way
of putting across ideas and testing learning.
OTHER RECENT TOPICS INCLUDE: Survival, wood turning and wood crafts,
the Saxons
. We can help you with most topics see the
subject webs for more ideas!
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