Key Stage 4 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.
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. Students also investigate plant and animal biodiversity and 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 At the moment, the new government has withdrawn the changes planned for 2010/11 and will be producing new curriculum guidelines.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.
Links with the QCA/DfE schemes of work
Science (DfE Framework for Science Learning Objectives)
- How science works - Explanations, argumentation and decisions.
- How science works - Practical and enquiry skills.
Organisms, behaviour and health
- Life processes.
- Variation and interdependence.
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