| Itinerary
for the day |
 |
| 9:30
- 9:45 |
Coffee
Welcome
Health & Safety
|
| 9:45
- 11:00 |
Pond dip / Minibeasts |
| 11:00
- 11:15 |
Coffee and discussion |
| 11:15
- 11:55 |
Water investigations |
| 11:55
- 12:15 |
Talk / Demo on
Water Box and Water Audit |
| 12:15
- 1:00 |
Maths in the garden
/ Materials (two groups) |
| 1:00
- 1:30 |
Lunch |
| 1:30
- 2:00 |
Environment |
| 2:00
- 2:30 |
Coffee and discussion
Eco-Centre awareness |
| 2:30
- 3:15 |
Plants |
| 3:15
- 3:30 |
Questions and answers |
| 3:30
|
Depart |
|
|
| Minibeasts |
|
| Where can
you find them, how can we encourage them at
school. Staff set off on a minibeast hunt,
David Attenborough style! Advice was given
on where to find them, catch them and how
to use them in the classroom. You don't need
to be able to identify each one, look for
the features - are they fast/slow, wet/dry,
hard/soft, there's a world down there. |
|
| Maths
in the Garden |
|
| We used the
garden at the Centre as a basis on which to
develop ideas for numeracy sessions. |
|
| Whether starting
from scratch and designing a garden to support
maths or using existing grounds, numeracy
can be brought to life and made fun. Many
real problem-solving activities present themselves.
For example, ideas we discussed included counting
pebbles laid in concrete
comparing the circumference of
different sized circles laid in the paving;
using multiplication to measure a paved path;
giving directions using left/right or compass
bearings to move around the pathways, looking
for symmetry, investigating tessellation and
solving problems - how can you measure the
trellis with a ruler when you cannot reach
the top? |
|
| This session
was designed for Teachers of Key Stage 1 children
but it can be adapted to suit any age group. |
|
| Water
Circus |
|
| The Centre
was given over to the staff to experience
several water experiments with our staff on
hand to help/explain. |
|
 |
What's
the best material for Teddy's coat? |
|
Floating
and sinking |
|
Can
you hit a target under water? |
|
Chromatography |
|
Siphoning |
|
|
| All the practical
ideas were simple, safe experiments with inexpensive
resources, relevant to the National Curriculum
and fun to do. The staff certainly had a good
time. |
|
| Food Labels |
|
| What's in
a label? How can we use the information? Using
resources with virtually no cost the staff
did an exercise based on food labels incorporating
literacy, numeracy, Geography and PSHE. |
|
| The staff
were set the challenge of creating a meal
and investigating the air miles for their
meal. The "prize" of a chocolate orange for
the most environmentally friendly meal certainly
brought out the competitive spirit! |
|
| What's
in your School Grounds? |
|
| Staff looked
at plants commonly found in school grounds
(mainly weeds) and discovered they were in
the same family - this was done by looking
at the common features of the flowers, leaves
and stems. Packets of seeds were investigated
to find family connections. |
|
| Conclusion:
Aubretia, wall flower and cabbage are all
the same family. |
|
| Staff made
up a virtual cabbage family plant where all
parts could be eaten. |
|
| The final
session was to look around the grounds to
identify for themselves the plants used in
the sessions and to gather ideas of plants
to grow back at school. |
|
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|
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to Teacher INSETs |
