Objectives:• Tounderstandthatthelocalenvironment(schoolgrounds)affordsavarietyofhabitats thatmeetthebasicneedsofarangeofanimalsandplants,whichdependoneachother inaninterconnectedwaycalledanecosystem.

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10

Science, PSHE, citizenship and English (A two-lesson unit of work)

Nature detectives

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10: Nature detectives 1

Duration: 60 minutes

AnimalKind film link - Section 2: Animals’ needs and feelings • Section 3: We can all be Animal Kind

Curriculum links: SCIENCE KS1 Y2: Livingthingsandtheirhabitats:b,c,d/Animals,includinghumans:bSCIENCE KS2 Y3/Y4: Workingscientifically:d,ef PSHE KS1: L3,R4,R5,R6PSHE KS2: L7CITIZENSHIP KS1: 2)a,e4)bENGLISH: Spokenlanguageyears1-6

Resources:• Naturedetectivesrecordingsheet• Clipboards• Preparedmapoftheschoolgrounds• ipads(ifavailable)

Year 2 Years 3 & 4

Teachers’ Notes

LESSON 1

Starter activity: 1) Ifnotalreadyshown,playtheAnimalkindfilmsection2:Animals’needsandfeelings.

2) Discusswiththestudentstheneedsthatallanimalshaveforfood,waterandshelter.

• Explainthattheirschoolgroundscouldbeimportantforthesurvivalofmanyanimalsandthatthey, asnaturedetectives,aregoingtoresearchthisandwillbegoingoutsidetocarrythisout.

• Askthechildreniftheyhaveseensignsofanybirds,orotheranimalssuchasminibeasts.Showtoys orpicturestorepresentexamplesofanimalstheymightseeintheschoolgrounds.

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10: Nature detectives 2

• Explainhowtheanimalsthemselvesareoftenafraidofussotheymightbedifficulttosee.However, itisequallyimportantforthechildrentofindevidenceofthefoodtheanimalscaneatandthe placeswheretheyshelter.Discussexamplesofthedifferenthabitatsormicro-habitatswherethe animalslive,suchasthesoil(moles,antsandworms),leaf-litter(millipedes,spidersandmice),dead wood(woodliceandotherbeetles),trees(birdsandsquirrels),plantsandbushes(slugs,bees, butterfliesandhedgehogs),ponds(frogs,newts,waterboatmenandfish),etc.

• Explainthatsomeanimalsarecarnivores(theyeatotheranimals),whileothersareherbivores(they eatplants).Showexamplesofplantfoodssuchasseedsandleaves.

Main activity: • ShowthechildrentheNaturedetectivessheet,explaininghowtheywilluseittorecordtheirfindings. Theycanusetallymarks,sketchesorwords,dependingontheirability.

• Putthechildrenintopairs(ormixed-abilitygroupsofthree),andgiveeachpairorgroupofthreeaclip board,pencilandNaturedetectivessheet.Ifanassistantisavailable,splittheclassintotwogroups.

• Onceoutside,thetwogroupsworkseparatelybutremainwithinviewofoneanother.

• Thechildrenareencouragedtofindoutwhethertheirgroundssupplytheneedsofanimals.Theyshould findthingslikedeadleavesforwoodlicetoeatandseedsorberriesforbirds.Theymayalsoseetreesto shelterbirdsaswellaslogsordeadleavestoshelterminibeasts.Theyshouldlookforpuddlesorponds fordrinkingwater.

• Hopefully,theywillalsospotbirdsandminibeasts.Thechildrenareencouragedtorespectminibeasts, stressingtheimportanceofnotdisturbingthemtoomuchandexplaininghoweasyitistoharmthem.

• PupilsrecordtheirobservationsontheNaturedetectivessheets.

• Afterabout20minutespupilsreturntotheclassroom.

Plenary: • Askstudentstoreportbackontheirfindings.

• Listontheboardthesourcesofwaterandfoodthatthechildrenfound.

• Discussthedifferenthabitatsthatpupilsdiscoveredandthetypesofanimalswholive,ormightlive, there.

• Thesehabitatscouldbemarkedonamapoftheschoolgroundsonthewhiteboard.

• Askpupilswhethertheycanconcludethattheirschoolgroundsaregoodforwildlife.Askthemifthere wereanythingssuchaslitter(glassbottlesorplasticbags)thatcouldharmtheanimals.

• Discusswhatchangescouldbemadetotheschoolgroundstohelpattractanimalsandimprovethe habitatsforwildlife.

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10: Nature detectives 3

• Ideasmightinclude: • Providingsourcesofwaterand/orfoodsuchasabirdtable/feeders • Creatinghabitatsbycreatingalogpileorapond • Puttingup‘nolitter’signs. • Makingorinstallingshelterssuchasminibeasthotels,frogortoadhomes,hedgehogshelters, birdnestingboxesorbatboxes. • Plantingofbushesandflowersattractivetobutterfliesandbees • Plantingofseedorberry-producingbushesandtreestoattractbirds

Differentiation: • LA:GroupssupportedbyTAs.Alternatively,putpupilsintomixed-abilitygroupsofthree.

LESSON 2

Starter Activity: • ShowAnimalKindfilmsection3:WecanallbeAnimalKind.

• DiscusswhatMichaelasaidaboutthewaysthatwecancareforwildlife.

• RecaponthefindingsoftheNaturedetectivessurveyoftheschoolgroundscarriedoutinthelast lesson.

• Summariseontheboardsomeoftheideasforchangesthatcouldbemadetotheschoolgroundsto helpattractanimals.

Main Activity: • Organisechildrenintothegroupsestablishedinthepreviouslesson.ProvideeachwithanA3-sizemap oftheschoolgrounds.

• Tellgroupsthattheirtaskistodrawupaplan,intheformofalabelled(annotated)mapoftheschool grounds,showinghowtheywouldimprovetheschoolgroundsforwildlife.

• Displaythemapoftheschoolgroundsproducedduringtheplenaryofthepreviouslesson,showingthe habitatsthatstudentsidentifiedduringtheirsurvey.

• Suggesttopupilsthattheyusethisasabasistodeveloptheirownplanforimprovingthegroundsfor wildlife.

Resources available on the AnimalKind website

• Nature detectives survey sheet (onecopypergroup)

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10: Nature detectives 4

• Tellthemtomarkandlabeltheirimprovementsontheirmap.

• Somemaywishtodrawtheirowndesignforananimalshelter,suchasaminibeasthotel,frogortoad abodeorhedgehoghome,andattachthesetotheplan.Iftheyareavailablestudentscoulduseipadsto carryoutresearchontheinternetintoanimalsheltersandhabitats.

Plenary: • Ifthereistime,pupilscanreportbacktotheclassontheirplansforwildlifeimprovementstotheschool grounds.

• Annotatedmapsanddiagramscanbeputupontheclassroomwalltocreatedisplaysofpupils’plans forawildlife-friendlyschool.

• Alternatively,pupilscanformsmallgroupstoproduceashortfilmpresentingtheirideasfor transformingtheschoolgrounds.

Differentiation: • ProvideLAgroups/pupilswithpre-preparedsketchmaporplanbasedontheoneoftheschoolgrounds drawnupduringtheplenaryofthepreviouslessonshowingthehabitatsthatstudentsidentifiedduring theirsurvey.

• Alternatively,putpupilsintomixedabilitygroupsofthree.

• MLandHL:Expectandsuggestmoreelaborateannotationofdiagramsanddesignofancillaryanimal sheltersandmicro-habitatssuchashedgehoghomesandpondsandlogpiles,informationsignsfor visitors,etc.Usewrittenexplanationsandscientificlanguagesuchasecosystemandmicro-habitat.

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Animalkind Lesson Plan 10: Nature detectives 5

Animalkind Lesson Plan 10

Nature detectives survey sheet Worksheet