We love teaching and making resources to promote enjoyment, motivation, and understanding for children and teachers with a particular passion for learning outside the classroom.
We love teaching and making resources to promote enjoyment, motivation, and understanding for children and teachers with a particular passion for learning outside the classroom.
This activity gets students exploring the wildlife in your pond by making their very own underwater viewer using just a plastic bottle, some tape, and scissors. It’s a fantastic activity if you’re looking at living things, habitats, or just want to give your students some time to explore this amazing world.
Teaching Structure:
Get the students to make their underwater viewers. Younger students may need help with this.
Give them time to use the viewers to explore the wildlife in your pond. Either during or after exploring they can complete the differentiated sheets recording their observations.
For higher grade levels you can get them to use books and the internet to ID what they see. Please note: There are obvious risks involved with this activity and there must be measures in place.
We suggest getting all students to lie down on an area close to the water level before using the viewers. Check out our risk assessment creator to produce a risk assessment quickly and easily.
We hope you find this pack useful and enjoy working outside with your class!
Check out our Outdoor Science Bundle.
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This is a great addition to your electricity topic. This Google Slide / Classroom activity is great recap your students circuit building skills while further developing their understanding into the magical world of electricity.
This resource contains 10 Google Slides where students are required to complete the circuits using the components given on the screen. They are also required to trouble shoot a couple of the circuits to figure out why they are not working. It’s great to further and reinforce their understanding of electricity.
The circuits get more difficult throughout the slides.
These Google Slides are aimed at years 3 - 5 and work great individually, in pairs, and as distance learning.
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This is an easy no prep Google Slide / Classroom activity to recap your electricity topic. It looks at the different symbols in a circuit as well as thinking about what each of the key components do through fun interactive activities.
Activity 1 - Students must drag the correct label to match the electric circuit components symbol.
Activity 2 - Fill the gap. Students need to drag the correct word to complete the sentence.
Activity 3 - Students must drag the electric component symbols to create a working circuit.
These Google Slides are aimed at grades 2 - 3 and work great individually, in pairs, and as distance learning.
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This is a great STEM project to get students exploring the local weather as they design and build their very own wind vanes before recording the wind direction over a given time period. This projects is great if you’re looking at points of the compass, the weather, fractions, or as a fun STEM challenge.
Teaching Structure:
Talk about what a wind vane is and why they can be useful.
In small groups, complete the design sheet by getting students to think of their own ideas about how to build a wind vane. If you don’t want to do this, just use the example design.
Share each idea and discuss whether they’ll work or not.
Share the example design. - Complete the final design sheet if their designs have changed.
Build the wind vane.
Place the wind vane in a suitable location and complete the record sheet over a given time period. It can be interesting to put each group in a different place and then compare their results to see any variations in wind directions.
Complete the evaluation questions.
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This is a great outdoor experiment that demonstrates how the earth is kept warm enough for life (as well as global warming) through the greenhouse effect.
They will carry out an experiment comparing the difference in temperature between the air in a glass jar compared to the air outside of the jar. This demonstrates the effect the greenhouse gases have on the Earth.
They will go onto think about what happens when we add to the greenhouse gases and the effect this has on the Earth’s temperature.
**Equipment needed: **tall jar, 2 x thermometers, 2 x pieces of white card, timer, sunshine & an activity pack.
Teaching Structure:
Ask the students how they think the Earth is kept warm. Explain that there are gases in the atmosphere that trap the warming radiation in and keep the Earth warm.
Explain that they are going to demonstrate this process by looking how the air warms up in a glass compared to the air outside of the glass.
Get the students to complete the method sheet.
Place 2 pieces of white card on the floor in a sunny spot (to keep the floor variable the same).
Put the jar with a thermometer in on one piece of card and put the lid on (if the lid is opaque put the jar upside down). Place the other thermometer on the other bit of card.
Record the temperature of both thermometers at the decided intervals and record the results in the table.
Complete the discussion questions and evaluation sheet.
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This camouflage worm activity is great to teach your students the importance of camouflage in nature. It’s a very simple yet effective activity that clearly shows how animals are colored to suite their environment.
Teaching Guide:
Before the lesson cut lots of different colored wool into 10cm lengths. Hide the wool around your outdoor space.
Discuss what the word camouflage means and explain that they are going to look into what it is and why it’s important.
Tell the students that for the next 15 minutes (approx.) they are going to be birds on the hunt for some yummy woollen worms! Let them go outside and hunt as many of the woollen strips as possible.
Once you’re back in the class get the students to discuss what they discovered when trying to find the wool. Which colors were hard to find? What can this tell us about the color of animals which may live in that area?
If appropriate, get students to complete the question sheet to encourage them to think about what camouflage is and why it’s so important in nature.
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This activity gets students thinking about the materials used to build different items that you will find in your outdoor space. They will consider what material has been used and why that material is appropriate for the intended use as well as what other material could also be suitable to use. This investigation is perfect for your materials and their properties science unit. This pack contains two levels of differentiation.
Diff. 1: They will draw a picture, write what the item is used for and what material has been used.
Diff 2: They will draw a picture, write what the item is used for, the material is it made from, and the properties it needs to have. They will then consider other materials which would also be appropriate for the job.
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Slide science is a fun and practical outdoor science investigation where students will look into which materials create the most friction when sliding down a slide as part of your forces and motion topic. We love to add a competitive element to this activity by explaining to the students that their challenge is to figure out which material has the least friction before choosing one of the materials to use for a slide race!
Teaching Structure:
4 – 6:
For younger students, they can simply carry out the investigation and complete the results table (with support if needed).
7 – 9, 10 – 12:
Get the students to complete the investigation method sheet.
Carry out the investigation by sitting on the different materials and timing how long it takes to go down the slide.
Complete the bar chart to show their results.
Have a slide race! Get the students to choose the material that they think has the least friction and see who can get down the slide the quickest.
Equipment needed:
A slide (the longer the better).
Activity pack
A selection of materials big enough for students to sit on.
Stop watches
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This is a great team activity to get children thinking carefully about composting. They will have to sort object cards based on whether they can be composted or not in a fun relay race.
**Teaching structure:
**
Discuss what composting is and why it’s so important. - Put the students into teams of 3 or 4.
Have two labeled zones or tubs for ‘compost’ and ‘don’t compost’.
Get the students to line up in their teams a good distance from the zones or tubs.
The first person from each team collects an object card from the teacher and takes it back to their team (if you want to make this even more exciting you could use real items!).
The team discusses whether it can be composted or not before the first player runs it to the correct zone / tub.
The next child then runs to collect a new card. - Do this activity for an agreed amount of time or until all of the object cards have been used.
Go through the object cards to see if they are all correct.
To add a greater level of competition you can get each team to write or put a colored sticker on each of the cards they collect and then count up how many cards each team got correct.
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This is a great challenge to set as home learning, use for distance learning, or as a home holiday project. It will get your students outdoors and exploring and enjoying the nature around them.
For this activity students must try to complete the photo challenge by getting a photo of all the things specified on the worksheet.
There are a few ways you can get them to complete the challenge.
Tick box: Get them to tick the challenges off as they complete them on the worksheet.
Photo book: Get them to print out and complete their very own photo book.
Google Slides: Get them to upload their photos on to the Google Slides photo challenge. Click here to get access to the Google Slides.
Check out our Outdoor Maths Bundle
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This resource contains a whole years worth of outdoor homework challenges with one activity per school week. The challenges are cross-curricular and contain loads of fun and practical activities from art to geography. It’s a great way to encourage students and parents to enjoy the outdoor space.
All of these activities are designed so that they can be done in a garden or small outdoor space using equipment you’ll find around the home.
Check out our Outdoor Science Bundle
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For this outdoor science investigation your students will become weather forecasters using only the clouds! Different kinds of clouds can give us a very good indication as to what weather is likely to follow. Your students will keep a record of the cloud types as well as the weather which follows for a few days / week before analysing their data to see if they can spot any patterns between the cloud types and the type of weather which follows.
This investigation is great if you’re looking at weather, forecasting, pattern spotting, and investigation skills. Before you start the investigation, explain that before modern weather forecasts many people would depend on their knowledge of the clouds to predict the weather and help to keep them safe.
Get the students to complete the table, recording the cloud types and the weather in the following days.
Once they’ve done this for a good amount of time (9 or 10 days) they can then look at their data and see if they can spot any relationships between the cloud types and the weather which followed.
Once they’ve analysed their data they can complete the investigation evaluation questions.
Extension - Get them to complete the research sheet to see if their results were correct.
Before you get the students to do their diary, it’s worth looking at the weather forecast to try and choose a period with varied weather.
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This activity, which is part of the life cycles unit, consists of 2 cootie catchers (or fortune tellers) for learning or revising plant structures. The children must try to figure out which part of the flower is being described. It’s a great way to have students review their knowledge of different plant parts and not even realise that they’re learning! They’ll be engaged and excited with this addictive activity (as I am sure you will be too!).
This pack contains two Cootie Catchers, each with a second copy included if you would like your students to write their own definitions for each plant part themselves. There are visuals included to meet different learning styles.
Vocabulary included:
- petal
- pollen
- stem
- roots
- seed
- fruit
- leaf
- plant
- stamen
- stigma
- sepal
- ovary
- style
- anther
Folding and playing directions are also included.
Have fun!
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A fun interactive PowerPoint designed to give your class an introduction into the magical world of the human eye (as part of the light and sight topic). This PowerPoint will teach your children all about the key parts to an eye and their function as well as some fun facts to get them excited! Along with this there is a great quiz to play to test their knowledge.
Contents:
- Slides 1 - 10: Parts of the eye and their functions (cornea, pupil, iris, sclera, lens, retina, & the optic nerve)
- Slides 11 – 15: Fun Eye Facts
- Slides 16 – 34: Quiz
- Slide 35: Conclusion
This PowerPoint is a great way to introduce the topic, however we have also enjoyed using it as a recap to give the children an extra boost!
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Have fun!
This is a fun, practical, and engaging unit on life cycles for years 3 – 6. It contains differentiated activities on the lifecycle of a plant along with a practical investigation looking at the best conditions for plants to grow in. It will teach your children about parts of plants and their functions, what plants need to grow, and reinforce the skills required to carry out a fair investigation.
It’s a great unit to get your class outside and enjoying science!
Contents
- Booklet Front cover
- 2 X ‘The Key To Success’: A practical activity investigation what plants need to grow.
- ‘What They Need’ Worksheet: A cut and stick activity about what plants need to grow.
- ‘Plant Parts – What Do They Do?’ – A matching activity looking at the function of different part of the plant.
- ‘Flower Parts – What Do They Do?’ – A matching activity looking at the function of different part of the flower.
- ‘Where Do Plants Grow The Best?’: Investigation planning sheet
- 3 X Results Sheets
- 2 X differentiated Line Graph Results Sheets
- Conclusion Worksheet
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Get every student in you class fully engaged with this fun card game. This ‘I Have, Who Has?’ game is a fantastic way to review the key terms and symbols for your electricity unit. I have used it very successfully as a quick starter activity to refresh their minds!
This pack includes 28 game cards so should be plenty for a whole class, however children can double up or have two cards depending on your class size.
Vocabulary Included:
- conductor
- circuit
- insulator
- symbol
- electricity
- component
- voltage
- amps
- battery
- wire
- switch
- series circuit
- parallel circuit
- circuit diagram
- fuse
- voltmeter
- current
Symbols Included:
- bulb
- open switch
- battery
- wire
- motor
- buzzer
- closed switch
- voltmeter
- resistor
- fuse
- ammeter
How to play: Distribute the cards to your students. Some students may get more than one card.
Select a student to begin by reading their card aloud. (example: I have the bulb symbol. Who has who has the symbol for a buzzer?) The student who has the card with the correct answer to the previous student’s “Who Has...” question reads their card aloud. And so on.
Students must listen for their turn and try not to break the chain. When the chain circles around to the first student, the game is over.
If playing individually or in small groups, these cards can also be used as dominoes.
If you like this resource please check out my Electricity Circuit Building Activity for a fun and practical way to teach your students about circuits.
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This QR code quiz is perfect for introducing the topic of ‘States of Matter’ or as a refresher lesson for years 3 - 6. It covers a variety of questions on solids, liquids, and gases. You will be amazed at how much they can learn about states of matter in a short amount of time!
This activity works best in the outdoors. Hide the QR codes around your outdoor area and then give the children the answer sheet and the I-pads. They must go around, find the answers, and complete the answer sheet.
If you are using the QR codes, you will need a QR scanner, which you can download free from the app store.
Alternatively you can print the cards two sided (with the answers on the back) if you do not have the technology available.
I find it works really well if you get the children to do the QR quiz, and then a week later give them the same questions to see what they have remembered.
Contents:
- 16 QR Quiz Cards
- 16 Cards with answers that you can print on the back of the question cards
- 1 answer sheet
We hope you have as much fun as our class did!
These Solar System Dominoes are perfect for an extension activity or an end of unit refresher, and best of all, we are giving them away for free! The children must match the facts with the correct planet in order to complete the dominoes. They can be used individually, in pairs, or as a whole class.
- Individual: Complete the dominoes puzzle
- Pairs: Take it in turns to complete the puzzle
- Class: Give each child a card and get them to make a line by matching the facts and planets.
Get your students involved with this drawing scavenger hunt where they’ll head outside to see if they can find and draw all the items on the sheet. It’s great if you’re looking at your local area, wildlife, and observation skills. You can also use this activity to help introduce habitats.
This resource contains a few different activity sheets that allow you to differentiate based on the things they are required to find.
It’s great if you can have a discussion about the scavenger hunt after they’ve completed it. What did they enjoy drawing the most? What did they find exciting to see? What were they surprised they saw?
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This is a great challenge to set as home learning, use for distance learning, or as a home holiday project. It will get your students outdoors and exploring and enjoying the nature around them.
For this activity students must try to complete the photo challenge by getting a photo of all the things specified on the worksheet.
This is a free version of a bigger resource. For more photo challenges and the digital version check out the other resource in our store.
Check out our full photo challenge pack here.