The challenge
Hello, I'm Chris Packham and welcome to Planet Create, where your ideas and creativity help solve global issues, and today we're looking at life on land. Protecting the world around us and preserving nature is so important to me. I've spent many years of my life doing what I can to help the environment. Now, the United Nations stated that the world could face the largest species extinction event since the dinosaur age. I know that sounds extreme, but we really need everyone’s helping to stop this happening.
You may have heard the word biodiversity before, it’s short for biological diversity, which is basically the term used for the variety of animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, microorganisms and having a wide range of all of these helps build healthy ecosystems. They provide us with clean air, water and they nourish our food. Now I've got to tell you most of the important habitats for nature here in the UK including woodland, wetlands and wildflower meadows are in poor condition. So we need to try and keep as many different species of our wildlife in our garden's as possible.
Did you know, that if you leave a section of your garden wild by letting weeds grow, it allows insects and amphibians, such as frogs and toads, to shelter. Also, if you have a pond in your garden, it attracts masses of wildlife. You may not have the time or the space for a pond. But you could just use a washing up bowl and see what wildlife that attracts.
I want to set you a little challenge. I want you to design something to put in a garden. It could be yours, or a friends or family members' garden, but it needs to attract wildlife. You can even put your creation in your school playground. Whether it's a bug or a bee hotel, or maybe even a hedgehog house. It's completely up to you. Good luck and enjoy creating. I can't wait to see your wildlife designs.
Wildlife habitats are declining, according to scientists, so what can be done to make a difference?
Wildlife TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham sets pupils a challenge to build a bug hotel, bee house or hedgehog home to try and support the local wildlife whilst thinking about how they can make mindful changes in their day to day lives. This challenges ties in with the UN Sustainable Development Goal number 15: Life On Land.
Teacher notes
Supports learning about: wildlife and nature, the environment, food chains, seasonal change, weather and climate.
Why not enable pupils to take their learning further and come up with some practical solutions?
Classroom ideas
You can adapt ideas to be a quick activity, an entire lesson or develop into a longer topic.
Happy Hedgehogs
Get pupils to help you set up night camera traps at school to find out if you have any hedgehog visitors (as well as other nocturnal visitors such as foxes). What other signs could pupils look for? Ask them to identify and map good spots in the school grounds to site hedgehog shelters over winter. Decide as a class how to make a cosy winter hedgehog home.
Species Survey
Help pupils map and survey your chosen area. As a class create a simple grid map of the area to be surveyed then look closely to find, photograph and identify bugs and plants, and note where they are found. Or you and your pupils could throw a hoop and map what’s inside the contents.
Draw conclusions e.g. Which creature prefers:
Shady areas?
Damp spots?
Old logs to hide beneath or burrow into?
Based on your survey, what wildlife will you and your pupils build a home for and why? Where will you site it?
Seasonal surprise
With your class you could repeat a species survey each season. Discuss which animals are you most likely to see in e.g. winter and where? What did your pupils find that surprises you? Work with your class to create a digital or collage map of findings and keep a simple data bank. Repeat yearly and find out how the wildlife population in this spot is changing.
Weather Watching
Discuss how does the weather vary in the school grounds? As a class collect weather data at different times of the year and / or in different spots.
Where are?
The sunniest warmest spots?
Wettest spots?
Most sheltered spots?
What is the direction of the prevailing wind?
With pupils keep a year on year diary. As a whole class map data and investigate connections between site and species. Where might you site a bog garden or wildlife pond and why? Which animals likes weeds?
We often don’t give plants like dandelions, groundsel, thistles and teasels a second glance and might even refer to them as ‘weed’s but they attract wildlife such as the beautiful Goldfinch. Work with pupils to look differently at a patch of waste ground to learn how different species use plants we think of as weeds. What could your class add to make it better?
These are just a few examples.
- What are you doing in your curriculum and with which primary age group?
- What ideas have you and your class got to meet Chris’ challenge?
Curriculum links
England
Design and Technology; Geography and Science.
Northern Ireland
Personal Development and Mutual Understanding, The World Around Us.
Scotland
Technologies: Sciences: Materials, Social Studies: People Place and Environment.
Wales
Health and Wellbeing, Science and Technology, and Humanities.
Where next?
Health and wellbeing technology challenge with Alex Scott
Former footballer and TV Presenter Alex Scott sets primary pupils the challenge of inventing a piece of equipment or technology to improve health.
Food waste challenge with Gordon Ramsay
Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay sets pupils the challenge of making a meal from leftovers to help reduce food waste.
Backpack challenge with Steven Bartlett
Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Steven Bartlett sets pupils the challenge of making a backpack from recycled materials.
