Today we were taking a look at the plant life around us, with the hope that spring would have sprung. Unfortunately a cold North easterly still kept the bloom in but we had a great time with what we had. How to identify trees was the discussion round the fire and the pupils came up with
1.leaves
2. Bark.
3.Shape.
4. Colour of trees
and I threw in…
5. Flowers
6. Catkins
7 Fruit.
The pupils set out with leaves identifiers and blossom and catkin charts.The activity was a partial success due to the leaves not being fully out we had to rely on old leaves but we took cuttings from the trees with the intention of opening them in class in water.
We also collected cones and discussed why Oak trees look still in winter while other trees are looking very green.
Evaluation and Personal reflection.
Again, the bite size look at one aspect of our wild space was great and easily handled. I should have kept an eye on the trees and nature and saw that this activity would have been better in 2/3 weeks from now. Still, it will be good to watch our cuttings and I promised the pupils that we would put beans in water to see then grow.