Key Stage 3 programme - Field studies in ecology

In this session, secondary school students work in Kew's conservation area and learn about the relationship between plants, animals and the environment. They also practice field study techniques - we apologise that this is not available until the beginning of May 2013.

The conservation area at Kew Gardens.

Overview

Students learn several basic field study skills in biological sampling, including pond dipping, grass sweeping, tree beating and using quadrats and transect lines. They also investigate plant and animal biodiversity and learn about the complex interactions between plants, animals and the environment.

Length: 90 minutes.
Group size: 15 students.
Minimum supervision required: 1 adult per 10 students.
Programme cost: £50 per group of 15 students.
Administration fee: £80.

Learning outcomes

School visits at Kew Gardens support and enhance the curriculum offered in schools. We aim to give students opportunities that are difficult or impossible to create in the school environment.

As teachers ourselves, we design our sessions to match the learning outcomes in the National Curriculum. At the moment, the new government has withdrawn the changes planned for 2010/11 and will be producing new curriculum guidelines. Once they have done that, we will re-visit the learning outcomes for our sessions.

The learning outcomes shown apply to the curriculum as it is at this time. This session offers students the opportunity to learn to:

demonstrate several biological sampling techniques
explain why ecologists use various sampling techniques and what kind of data each technique produces
justify the use of one method over another (e.g. line transect vs. belt transect)
define populations, communities and ecosystems
identify some plants and invertebrates using a basic identification key.