Tag Archives: outdoor learning

Investigating outdoors.

ASD1 have been exploring a variety of Habitats on weekly outings in the community, some close at hand, and others further away. We starting looking at the plants and wildlife that we could find in our own school grounds – there are micro-habitats there, with lots of mini beasts to find.

We then travelled to Eliburn Park to see what we could find in the reservoir there. We tried dipping our nets into the pond but only found some flukes (small worms) and the larva of a dragonfly. We spotted some ducklings and lots of wild plants too.

Our next outing on the bus was to look at woodland wildlife at Beecraigs Country Park. We heard lots of birds but didn’t spot any although we did encounter a very hairy caterpillar on our way back. We did gather a few treasures to examine further at school.

Easter Inch Moss was a very rich habitat and we have explored plant/ tree life and pond life there – and we even went off track into the wilderness, spotting a buzzard soaring in the sky.

There was even evidence of plant and animal life in Whitehill Industrial Estate.

When we get back to school we use books to look up what we have found and then write this up into our Nature Journals. It is fun being explorers!

John Muir outdoor learning presentation

After working hard all week I am sure you will all agree that the children did a fantastic job with helping to create today’s presentation. From the voice recordings to the amazing display it all looked wonderful.  I feel that the John Muir experience has really impacted on the children in a really positive way and I hope it will be something that they can look back on with fond memories. I have had to take the video files out of the power point as it was too large to upload.

 

 

A chilly, Hilly adventure

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On Thursday 28th April, six pupils from our ASD resource classes and five staff members made their way by car and packed minibus up into the hills behind Kirknewton to stay the night at Hilly Cow Wigwams and complete a day of outdoor learning.

We left the minibus behind and headed off on foot, led by Forestry Commission Ranger Jim, across fields filled with sheep and lambs to Selm Muir Wood.
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Jim showed us a variety of tree and plants, including how useful a willow tree is, and taught us how to tell the difference between pine and spruce needles. We also gathered some twigs and birch bark (which is good kindling) to make a campfire and when it was burning we boiled water for hot drinks and toasted marshmallows. We also had to take shelter under a big tarpaulin as it started to snow and some of the group were feeling the cold, so the hot drinks were very welcome!

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When we got back up to Hilly Cow wigwams we had time to unpack our stuff into the wigwams before making some glass coasters in the big barn with Nancy. After that we had some free time in the playpark before pizza and oven chips for dinner – yum!

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There was more free time for games and stories before bedtime and soon we were all snuggled up in our cosy wigwams.

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We woke up to a different view of the world because it had snowed heavily overnight! This didn’t stop Miss Carson and two pupils from getting dressed and heading out to build a snowman before breakfast!

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After we had packed up, we had a quick tour of the farm to meet some of the animals. We especially liked the new lambs and calf. We headed back to Kirknewton to Potter Around, where we all decorated our own mug before heading back to school.

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We had a great time and it was a great adventure!