Key Stage 4 programme - Grassland workshop (Biology)

In this session, secondary school students take part in a grassland workshop in one of the many meadow areas at Wakehurst. The grassland workshop is part of a half day or full day visit that is tailored to suit the needs of your group and planned in detail prior to the visit.

Students identifying meadow plants in the Loder Valley Reserve at Wakehurst.

Overview

Students explore the grasslands using a variety of techniques. They study how distribution of plants depends on different growing conditions and management regimes.

Length: Typical workshop - 1.5 - 2 hours.
Group size: 20 students.
Minimum supervision required: 1 adult per 10 students.
Programme cost: Part of a full day visit - fee starts at £180 | Part of a half day visit - fee starts at £130 | See our detailed pricing plan for more information.

Learning outcomes

School visits at Wakehurst 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 At the moment, the new government has withdrawn the changes planned for 2010/11 and will be producing new curriculum guidelines.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. Please note that all our sessions have a cross curricular approach and are tailored to suit the educational needs of your group. This session offers students the opportunity to learn to:

identify plants and animals in the meadow
construct a transect to show distribution of plants across the meadow
measure factors affecting distribution of plants e.g. soil, light, water and temperature
notice human effects on distribution
explore the interdependence of plants and animals
describe the management of a conservation area
compare this habitat with another.

Links with QCA/DfE schemes of work

The specification for exam boards vary. When you book a school visit at Wakehurst, let us know which exam board you are using and we will work with you to tailor the session for your students.

Key Stage 4 Science curriculum links (Pdf)

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Browse Key Stage 4 programme

A typical day at Wakehurst is made up of either two sessions of approximately 1.5 - 2 hours each, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, or three sessions of approximately 1 hour each, two in the morning and one in the afternoon.
We also offer a number of activity days, designed around a theme. Once you've selected a combination of activities for your group, you can make a school booking to visit Wakehurst by filling in our online form.