Category: Environmental Studies

OH-COP week with Tong School P4-7

On the 25th September 2024, as part of the OH-COP week, Tong primary school were visited by Fraser. He organised a introduction session to orienteering, map reading and supported the young people to create maps of their local environment.

“We’re standing here, in the playground”, “That’s the playpark over there”

The young people were each given a map, shown how to use the local landmarks and map key to locate their position on the map. They were divided into groups, taking turns hiding items in the school grounds and plotting the location on their maps, and locating the items hidden by other groups. The young people engaged fully with the task, worked well as a team and enjoyed finding increasingly difficult hiding places to increase the competition.

“Let’s go, I know where to hide the bag!”, “Mark it on the map”.

“We’ve got one more bag to get”, “The boys hid it there”

The young people were then asked to use natural resources to create a map of their local environment. Some created detailed pictures of their street, displaying their houses and the neighbouring homes, including distinguishing local landmarks.

“That’s my house, and there’s the road”

“I used the leaves for the trees, and the pine cones are cars”
With support, the children added a map key to their picture. They creatively used the resources to depict their local environment.
Once the activity was finished, some children enjoyed creating other pieces of transient art using the natural resources.
If you would like to arrange a session or help to run a session like this, please contact the Outdoor Learning Team.

OH-COP week with Tong School P1-3

 

On the 24th September 2024, as part of the Outer Hebrides Conference of Peoples (OH-COP) week, Tong primary school were visited by a Fraser. He organised a minibeast hunt in the local woodlands for the P1-3 pupils.

“We went on a bear hunt in these woods, “Let’s explore!”

 

They gathered to talk about the woodlands; how to be safe, responsible, and how the area might impact the local community and the wider environment. The young people were provided with a minibeast checklist and pen, magnifying glasses and containers, and in small teams were asked to explore the woodlands to record the minibeasts they discovered.

“Help me lift this up”, “Look, a slater”, “I’ve got it in the tub”.

The young people engaged fully in the activity, sharing the equipment and celebrating each minibeast discovery made by their team. They learnt about the food chains which might be present in woodlands, how habitats and the animals which reside in them will be affected by climate change.
“That’s a consumer”, “I’ll dig him out”, “Come see the spiderwebs”.
If you would like to arrange a session, or would like to use the resources provided, please contact the Outdoor Learning Team.

OH-COP week with Tong School Nursery

On the 30th September 2024, as part of the Outer Hebrides – Conference of Parties (OH-COP) week, Tong Nursery school were visited by Fraser. He organised a minibeast hunt in the nursery garden, encouraging the young people to learn about the world around them, and the animals which inhabit the local environment.

The young people were provided with a minibeast checklist and pen, magnifying glasses and containers, and were asked to explore ‘Muddy Town’, their outdoor environment and record the minibeasts they discovered.

“Look, a spider”, “I’ll mark it”, “Look at his web”.

 

The young people engaged fully with the activity, exploring nearly every inch of the environment. They eagerly shared each discovery they made, creating stories and adding an emotional context to the activity:

“That’s a baby slug, let’s find his mummy!”

 

The young people found so many minibeasts they decided to create a bug hotel. It was agreed the bug hotel would provide somewhere for the young people and staff to rehome minibeasts they found during outdoor play, to keep them safe. We discussed what materials we would need to build the bug hotel:

“We need leaves and grass”, “We can collect sticks”.

“These will keep them warm and safe”, “The bugs can eat these leaves”, “I’ll put the snail in”.

If you would like to arrange a similar session or help or resources to run it yourself for your school, please contact the Outdoor Learning Team.

Teamwork with Stornoway Primary P7

On Friday 1st November 2024, Tim and Fraser worked with the young people from Stornoway Primary P7. The activities were based in the Castle Grounds. The focus was teamwork.
Fraser’s activity was to design a shelter in the woods. The young people in groups of six to eight were tasked to build a shelter they could spend the night in. There was discussion about if this was an fun prospect, for some young people they were not definitely not excited by it.

 

The group were able to choose different sized tarpaulins, ropes, and to use natural resources. They were given thirty minutes to selected a suitable site in the woods, design their shelter, collect resources, and erect their home from home. All the teams were able to construct a shelter, some with a little more success than others.

After the thirty minutes, a team ‘spokesperson’ evaluated their shelter to the other teams. They talked about why their team selected the area, what resources they used and why, and what they would do differently next time.

The activity could be replicated in any school grounds and the equipment can be borrowed from the Outdoor Learning Team.

On possibility is the activity could be used to create opportunity to discuss the challenges of refugees and how people could become refugees. This progression has been used by one school with a lesson in a shelter leading to a discussion on how this made them feel.

The first part of Tim’s activities was for sub-groups to use a set of ‘skis’. These are planks with ropes which the  young people use to cross an area where they are not allowed to touch the ground with anything other than the skis. There were varying degrees of success leading to discussion of what successful team work might look like and different method of achieving success.

 

The equipment for these types of exercises can be borrowed from the Outdoor Team with briefing instructions and support if you would like it.

The second part of Tim’s activity was each sub-group was given a large sheet of paper on the ground and they had to create an art work, to create  window, or a picture with a deliberately vague brief to encourage creativity and discussion. The pictures were beautiful.

The resources needed for this were a sheet of paper and the young people’s imagination. They co-created transient art which in this case was connected to the environment and in some cases grew out of the environment. The activity could be used to create opportunities for discussions around sustainability.

Planting Beetroot with Small People

Beetroot is easy enough to grow in the garden, and it’s a solid favourite of ours! Your 5-a-day are important, beetroot is tasty and good for you. You can use it in soups, cakes, roast them or put them in salads. I personally like to stick some beetroot on a lollipop stick and eat it like a lollipop. 

They’re great veg to grow with kids because the seeds are quite big and so it’s not too fiddly for little hands. They grow best in slightly sandy earth, but they do well in any type of soil. For example, if your soil is a little too acidic, a little lime through it should balance it out. Beets grow best when there aren’t other plants right next to them so make sure it has a little room around it to grow. You don’t even need to plant beetroot in a plot, they’ll grow well in a tub or container of some sort!

If you want the young people you’re helping in the garden to be encouraged, beetroot is a good choice of vegetable for this. It’s easy enough to plant, and it grows easily a lot of the time. There is usually a little bit of time before you start to see it breaking through, but don’t worry as it will still be growing. They take a bit of time to germinate, even if you can’t see them. 

We used egg-boxes to start them off in. We chose these so that we could plant them into the ground if we wanted to, however if you don’t have the space to be able to plant them in the ground a reasonably sized container will do. Firstly we put some earth in each little section of the boxes. Little hands will certainly help with this!

As you can see here, beetroot seeds are big enough that little hands won’t have a problem picking them up here. You need one seed per egg divot. Put the seeds in the middle and press it down into the soil, before covering it with more soil. Your helper will be able to do this without a problem!

Your beets should germinate within 14 days, and you  might start to see, at the earliest, sprouts from the third day . Make sure you water these at least twice a week so they don’t dry out! When your beetroots begin to sprout you will start to see little purple shoots.

Around then, it’s a good idea to move your beetroots to somewhere with a  more room. For example, if you have a little garden space. Cut up your egg boxes and plant them in a little pre-dug plot. If you don’t have the garden space available, a big box will work just as well! The egg boxes will break down as they’re biodegradable anyway.

With this done, all you have to do is keep your beetroot watered and to watch them grow over time.

Then when they are ready it is time to cook them and make lollipops.

 

 

 

 

A Planntadh Biotas le Daoine Beaga

Tha biotas furast gu lèor fhàs anns an gàrradh, agus ‘s e fear dha na glasraich as fhèarr leinn a th’ ann. Tha do 5-gach-latha cudrothmach agus biotas blasta agus math dhut.  ‘S urrainn dhuibh an cleachdadh ann am brot, cèicichean, an ròstadh neo fiù ‘s ann an salad. Tha e còrdadh riumsa biatas a chur air forc agus an ithe mar ‘lollipop’. 

‘S e glasrach sgoinneil a th’ann airson fàs le clann, oir tha sìol aige mòr agus furast gu leòr a chuir sgàth ‘s nach eil è ro dhuilich airson corragan beaga an togail. Tha e a’ fàs as fhèarr ann am talamh le beagan stuth-mathachaidh troimhe, ach fàsaidh e ceart gu leòr ann an diofar seòrsan de pholl le beagan cuideachadh. Mar eisempleir, ma tha ur talamh ro shearbh, cuiridh beagan aol sin ceart dhuibh. Fàsaidh biotas as fhèarr nuair nach eil e faisg air planntaichean eile, dèan cinnteach gu bheil rùm gu leòr timcheall air gus am fàs e. Chan fheum thu fiù ‘s a chuir dhan an talamh ann an gàrradh, tha e comasach fàs ann an soitheach a choireigin!

Ma tha sibh airson misneachd a thoirt don òigridh a’ tha sibh a cuideachadh sa gharradh, ‘s e biotas deagh thaghadh airson seo a’ dhèanamh. Tha e furast’ gu leòr a’ phlanntadh, agus fàsaidh e a mhòr chuid dhan an tìd’. Bheir e beagan ùine gus am faic sibh e briseadh tron an talamh, ach na gabh dragh oir tha e fhathast a’ fàs ged nach faic sibh e!

Chleachd sinne bucais-uighean. Thagh sinn iad seo gus am b’ urrainn dhuinn am planntadh dhan talamh as deidh druiseag bheag fàs, ach mar nach eil rùm agaibh airson sin a’ dheanamh ni soitheach meadhanach mòr an aon rud. An toiseach feumaidh sibh beagan poll anns gach pìos dhan am bucas. Cuidichidh làmhan beag leis an seo co-dhiù!

Mar a chì thu an seo, tha mìol biotas mòr gu leòr ‘s gun tog nan làmhan beaga iad an airde cuideachd. Feumaidh sibh aon phìos mìol anns gach roinn den bhucas. Cuir gach pìos mìol am meadhan am poll agus brùth sios air le ur chorrag mus cuir sibh poll air a mhullach. Tha sin furast’ gu leòr airson làmhan beaga ur cuideachadh.

Bu chòir don bhiotas ginideachadh ann an ceithir latha deug, agus chì thu duilleagan beag as deigh timcheall air trì latha aig a ‘char as tràithe. Chan fheum thu ach bùrn a chuir air turas neo dhà gach seachdain gus nach fàs iad tioram. Nuair a tha nam biotas a briseadh tron am poll chì thu duilleagan beag purpaidh. 

Timcheall air an àm seo, ‘s e dèagh smuain a th’ ann nam biotas a ghluasad gu àite anns a bheil beagan a bharrachd rùm. Mar eisempleir, ma tha beagan gàrradh agaibh, geàrr an airde na bucais-uighean agud cuir iad dhan an talamh ann am plota beag. Mar nach eil comas gàrradh agaibh, nì bucas mor le poll a chùis cuideachd! Brisidh nam bucais-uighean sìos oir tha iad bith-chnàmhach co-dhiù.

Leis an seo deànt, chan fheum sibh ach air burn a chuir air ur biotas bho àm gu àm, agus cumail sùil air mar a tha iad a fàs thairis air ùine. 

 

Training for Nursery Staff

Since Tim has come back from doing the Forest Kindergarten Training he has been working with the Early Years team to help them develop their skills.

He ran a pilot course with the combined nursery staff in Tong school and will be running a trainer course in November 2019.

Although the course is called forest it is not just aimed at forests, the training is aimed at helping early years practitioners to take the young people they work with outside more regularly.

The model used is to consider the Place, the People and the Pedagogy;

Considering the Place involves the suitability and the practical steps needed to manage the young people in the place.

The People thinks about who is involved; the young people, the staff, the carers/parents managing their needs and expectations.

Pedagogy is the how what and why we take young people outdoors

A possible visual model:

The objective it to show practitioners the connectivity and to challenge them to consider the elements in their own practice.

This is partly done inside through conversation, which because of time constraints is done inside.

The final session on pedagogy was done outside in the fantastic garden area of the school. The practitioners were given opportunity to play. This, apart from being great fun in the rain, highlighted for this group the importance of child lead learning and how few resources they needed as the environment provides them. They saw imaginative play, social skills development, gross motor skills, fine motor skills and peer learning happen within their own group and considered how they could use this in their own practice.

Small world play

 

 

 

 

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