<p><strong>This simple outdoor activity for primary school children, which sees them collecting coloured items from outside, can be extended to cover everything from science to literacy.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>There are some outdoor learning activities that we just love. They can be ‘standalones’ that get repeated with different groups or at different times of year, or starting points for learning that leap off into many different directions. Colour palettes are a particular favourite – try the activity in its purest form, or have a go at some of our alternatives/extensions.</p>

<p><strong>A lesson in which KS2 and KS3 pupils learn to observe and draw leaves, developing their artistic skills and exploring simple scientific ideas around human survival.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>We are often told to draw what we see, rather than just what we think we see. However, this lesson encourages pupils to draw what they want to show, rather than just what they see. To do this, pupils will have to really understand the object in front of them by closely observing it, before then trying to get this across in their leaf drawing.</p> <p>The class then make comparisons of the leaf drawings to assess accuracy, and end with a game to see whether their drawings are useful in helping others to identify leaves.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> Pupils explore how to use drawings to share ideas accurately, and increase their proficiency in drawing to communicate technical information clearly. They develop knowledge and critical understanding of how art is used in the fields of science and technology.</p> <p>This lesson enables students to…</p> <ul> <li>Identify which leaf characteristics are important to show for the purposes of plant identification.</li> <li>Develop observational skills and drawing techniques that help them to draw what they want to show.</li> <li>Make comparisons of leaf drawings and assess their accuracy.</li> <li>Justify the importance of artistic techniques in science.</li> </ul>

<p>This lesson plan is inspired by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s book ‘The Lost Words’ and was developed in collaboration with Bridge Schools.</p> <p>Students are asked to go outside to observe the nature they see around them and then record it with a few simple games and activities.</p> <p>The lesson plan helps develop their ideas by producing pictures and poems inspired by their outdoor experience.</p> <p>Found Words is a young person’s answer to ‘The Lost Words’. This beautiful book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris sparked a project to encourage young people outside and then create beautiful work inspired by what they saw around them.</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/school-lesson-plans/lesson-plan-found-words" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/school-lesson-plans/lesson-plan-found-words</a></p>

<p>A lesson plan which explores the links between WW2 and the loss of British wildflower meadows.</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Have you ever considered the impact of a significant historical event on the world outside your window? Since the start of the <strong>Second World War</strong>, the UK has suffered the loss of 97% of its <strong>wildflower meadows</strong>. <strong>Wildflowers</strong> once formed an integral part of the British landscape. However, wildflower meadows now account for less than 1% of the British countryside. This history-focused lesson will explore the impact of some of initiatives, introduced during WW2, that may have contributed to this dramatic decline; as well as teaching pupils about the importance of wildflowers in relation to our own food security and challenging them to join our campaign to restore wildflowers to our communities.</p>

<p><strong>There’s a lot more to the rainforest than meets the eye! A whole world lies beyond our senses. Using the power of augmented reality, 360° camera views and interactive infographics, we bring rainforest ecology to life, enabling pupils to see the invisible relationships, systems and processes at play.</strong></p> <p>We have developed two experiences, which can be used by teachers in different ways: ‘Living Lens’ and ‘Weather Maker’.</p> <p><strong>The Living Lens</strong><br /> Living Lens experience<br /> Using their ‘Super Senses’, animals can see parts of the world that are invisible to us. The adaptations that they possess help them to locate their food and survive in the rainforest.</p> <p>Mosquitos sense heat and carbon dioxide (CO₂), helping them track their food: warm-blooded animals. Bats hear ultrasound and navigate in the dark using echolocation. Bees can see ultraviolet (UV) light. UV patterns on flowers guide them to their food.</p> <p>The Living Lens experience helps pupils to understand the relationships between plants and their animal partners, understanding how plants signal to animals and the ‘Super Senses’ that animals use to detect them.</p> <p><strong>The Weather Maker</strong><br /> Weather maker AR experience<br /> Trees have their feet in the ground and heads in the sky. The Weather Maker experience shows pupils the role that trees and forests play in global cycles.</p> <p>As part of the water cycle, trees literally pull water up their internal plumbing systems (xylem) as it evaporates out of the leaves as water vapour. This forms vast, white, sun-reflecting clouds that help cool the climate and make rain that waters lands near and far. Hence the name – ‘rain’ forests.</p> <p>As part of the carbon cycle, trees capture CO₂ from the air and turn it into sugar (by adding sunlight and water). This process, called photosynthesis, releases oxygen as a by-product ‒ handy! Microscopic fungi called ‘mycorrhiza’ form a symbiotic relationship with the plant root systems, receiving sugars from the plants and in return helping the plants to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. The forest trees, soil life and soil compost (dead stuff) are massive carbon stores. The more solid carbon compounds in the forest, the less CO₂ in the air- helping us to fight climate change.</p> <p>The Rainforest Dashboard interactive infographic helps pupils to see the role that rainforests have in the creation of weather and the regulation of the global climate. The ‘environmental conditions’ graph allows pupils to observe how various parameters change in the rainforest over a 24-hour period and is filterable so that pupils can investigate different parameters.</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/the-invisible-rainforest-for-schools" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/the-invisible-rainforest-for-schools</a></p>

<p>What would you like your rainforest Super Sense to be?</p> <p>This interactive lesson uses augmented reality to contrast our human senses with the weird and wonderful sensory abilities of some of the animals found in the rainforest – a bee, a bat and a mosquito.</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p><strong>Outcomes and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Locate some of the world’s tropical rainforests, describing what conditions are like there and why they are ideal for plant growth</li> <li>Identify the ‘super senses’ (adaptations) of three different rainforest animals and describe in simple terms how they use their ‘super sense’ to find their food.</li> <li>Summarise the animal/plant relationships they have learnt about in terms of how they depend on each other (interdependence)</li> </ul>

<p><strong>These practical science lessons get pupils creating their own fossils, which they then learn to excavate and identify.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Ever wondered what it might be like to be a fossil hunter? How would you excavate a fossil without damaging it and how would you identify the fossil? How is a fossil formed? In this practical science activity your students create their own fossils encased within a sedimentary rock and then have the responsibility of carefully excavating and identifying each other’s work. Has your class got the skills and patience?</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> These lessons enable students to:</p> <ul> <li>Consider how living things have changed over millions of years (evolution).</li> <li>Be able to describe how fossils are formed.</li> <li>Explain what we can learn from fossils.</li> <li>Use practical skills and creativity to make a model that describes a scientific idea.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>Introduce biodiversity and beauty into your school by planting wildflowers, providing food for a wide range of pollinators, including bees and butterflies.</strong></p> <p>Follow our easy how-to guide developed by the National Wildflower Centre.</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/how-to-grow-wildflowers-in-your-school" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/how-to-grow-wildflowers-in-your-school</a></p>

<p><strong>This lesson plan gets pupils making ‘magic potions’ from materials found outdoors – builds on literacy skills and is ideal for Valentine’s Day or Halloween.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Making potions or smelly cocktails is a classic outdoor learning activity. We’ve added some linked literacy activities and given it a seasonal twist for Valentine’s Day – although you could tweak this for any season.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>consider other’s feelings by deciding what gift or wish would be appropriate for someone close to them</li> <li>use their senses in unusual ways; close observation and lots of smelling!</li> <li>use language creatively to describe their potion and create magical instructions</li> <li>We’ve designed the lesson to help teachers cover parts of the KS2 English Curriculum.</li> </ul>

<p>**A practical activity during which primary school pupils make mini-shelters from natural materials. **</p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>In this fun, hands-on activity, children use team work, communication skills and lots of creativity and imagination to build mini-shelters from outdoor materials.</p> <p><strong>Objctives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables pupils to:</p> <ul> <li>Work in teams to create, present and peer review mini-dens.</li> <li>Practise teamwork, cooperation and communication skills.</li> <li>Enjoy being and working outside.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>A lesson plan in which pupils explore their natural environment looking for mini-beasts.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>What is more exciting or compelling to children than mini-beasts? In this session children use their senses to look, listen and touch their way around their outdoor space - encouraging a sense of curiosity that could lead to adventures and imaginative play.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <p>Treat animals in the environment with care and sensitivity.</p> <ul> <li>Observe and recognise some simple characteristics of mini-beasts and other living things.</li> <li>Work together as part of a group or in pairs, taking turns and sharing fairly.</li> <li>Develop curiosity and interest by exploring their surroundings using their senses.</li> <li>Communicate through conversation by sharing experiences, ideas and information with each other.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>Created with The Harmony Project, this 6-week plan challenges pupils to explore the wonders and diversity of living things in the tropical rainforests. Pupils will consider the threats and work out solutions for the future well-being of the Amazon.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Tropical Rainforests are a treasure chest. They support the greatest diversity of living things on planet Earth and fascinating relationships between plants, animals and people.</p> <p>To launch this learning adventure, behavioural ecologist Seirian Sumner invites pupils to form a new ‘science communication team’ known as the Rain-Shakers.</p> <p>Their challenge starts with an exploration of this amazing eco-system as pupils consider how they themselves are connected to the rainforest through the products they use in their every-day lives. They will then go on to find out about what threatens the Amazon rainforest and what people and organisations are doing about it.</p> <p>Finally, pupils will celebrate their learning by creating a ‘Great Work’. This will provide an opportunity for children to share with their community the knowledge and ideas they have developed together for positive actions to conserve the rainforests.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This plan enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Develop geographical knowledge about the location and climate of the tropical rainforests.</li> <li>Understand the principle of diversity and how living things are connected together within the tropical rainforest eco-system.</li> <li>Focusing on South America, develop an understanding of the negative impacts of human activity on the rainforests, and the positive ways in which people are working to conserve them.</li> <li>Develop a sense of agency and that working together we can all contribute to a more sustainable future.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>This enquiry of learning is a response to the climate emergency. Learning from the indigenous knowledge of the Inuit, young climate champions around the world and organisations like the Eden Project, pupils will discover that every one of us has a part to play as we work together for the well-being of our planet.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p>

<p><strong>This series of lessons uses the Eden Project’s Story-Inspired Learning approach to connect children with the biodiversity in their own school grounds and develop their understanding of the nature and process of scientific enquiry.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p><strong>Overview of the lesson series</strong><br /> At Eden we use stories as starting points (hooks) and play on children’s natural curiosity to engage our learners. The human brain is hardwired for engaging with storytelling. The ‘Paradise Pastures’ lesson series demonstrate how we take this playful, narrative-led approach and apply this to scientific enquiry. This series of immersive sessions would be best delivered during the summer term. The sessions begin with a period of exploration where the children touch on a range of enquiry types, skills and areas of science knowledge and understanding, and have a range of science experiences outdoors. These experiences act to spark their curiosity.</p> <p>Key to this lesson series is the idea that science enquiry is about much more than carrying out a ‘fair test’. There are actually 6 types of scientific enquiry: Observation over time, Researching, Identifying, Classifying and Grouping, Pattern Seeking, Problem Solving and Fair/Comparative testing. Once we come to realise and become practised in these different and equally valid ways of ‘finding out’, beyond trying to shoehorn everything into a ‘fair test’, then teachers and their children have more freedom to enjoy the nature of science.</p> <p>To find out further information about the types of scientific enquiry and the enquiry skills we recommend visiting the Primary Science Teaching Trust website.</p> <p>After these initial exploratory sessions, the students are encouraged to draw on their experiences and to develop their own scientific question: something which they themselves have become curious about. They are then supported to choose the most suitable enquiry type to investigate their question and complete an investigation before reporting back their findings.</p> <p>The investigations take place within your school grounds in an area which will come to be known as ‘Paradise Pastures’. It’s likely that the children will already be familiar with the place, however, this series of lessons invites them to take another look at that place and explore it with a fresh focus.</p>

<p><strong>A pair of KS2 science lessons inspired by Eden’s Rainforest Biome. These lessons encourage students to research a variety of unfamiliar rainforest organisms before discussing and grouping them based on their characteristics.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Tropical rainforests support the greatest diversity of living organisms on Earth. In this activity your pupils begin by discussing the conditions in a tropical rainforest and researching the characteristics of plants and animals that make it their home. They are then tasked with summarising and sharing the most important information with their classmates and then grouping the organisms as they see fit.</p> <p>Finally, they are presented with some new information and are given the opportunity to reassess their current groupings during a round of ‘classification bingo’.</p> <p>Several of the activities in these lessons are designed to promote group discussion and exploratory talk. Research has shown that thinking is encouraged when pupils talk about science and that this can lead to better reasoning and scientific understanding.</p> <p><strong>Outcomes and curriculum links</strong><br /> These lessons enable students to:</p> <ul> <li>Describe various observable characteristics of different living organisms and name them.</li> <li>Discuss and categorise living organisms into broad groups based on physical characteristics.</li> <li>Justify their classification decisions.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>This lesson plan is ideal for an outdoor-based autumn maths class, as it gets pupils using leaves to measure and calculate.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>This simple set of activities inspired by the humble leaf reinforces our mantra that outdoor learning is easy, cheap and doesn’t need tonnes of planning.</p> <p><strong>Skills and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Estimate and measure leaves in a number of ways</li> <li>Learn different techniques to measure a complex shape</li> <li>Think about fair tests and be asked to organise and display their data</li> </ul>

<p><strong>A lesson plan inviting students to understand the links they have with the natural world, and to present their work creatively using video.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>The Eden Project is all about connecting people with the natural world; our plant collection includes plants for food, medicine and materials.</p> <p>This lesson is designed to help students to appreciate the links they have with the natural world through everyday objects and then to present their understanding creatively as a TV report, potentially using video.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Investigate a particular plant to find out the product that we can get from it.</li> <li>Develop an awareness of the value plants have to us.</li> <li>Work together to create a film/report to educate their peers</li> </ul>

<p><strong>The purpose of this lesson is to support young people to be able to respond confidently to the climate emergency and in a way that makes sense to them.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>We share our thinking about the ways in which everyone can choose to respond to the current situation - whether they see themselves as Doers, Shoppers, Learners, Shouters or all of the above.</p> <p><strong>Outcomes and Curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Explain the causes of climate change and the need to take action.</li> <li>Discuss ways in which they can respond confidently to the climate emergency</li> <li>Describe ways in which we can join together to demand that governments act decisively and quickly to address the climate emergency.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>A science lesson challenging students to think more creatively about plants’ evolutionary adaptation.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>The rainforest is one of the most extreme and challenging ecosystems on the planet. Yet plants have evolved adaptations which enable them not only to overcome the challenges, but to thrive here! This lesson challenges students to think more deeply and creatively about challenges that organisms face in their habitats and their adaptations – moving them far beyond the standard fare of polar bears, rabbits and foxes.</p> <p><strong>Objectives and curriculum links</strong><br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Begin to develop an understanding of the rainforest ecosystem.</li> <li>Describe the challenges faced by plants living in the rainforest.</li> <li>Explain how various adaptations help the plants thrive in this extreme ecosystem.</li> </ul>

<p><strong>A outdoor lesson plan in which primary school pupils imagine the world without any light, drawing inspiration from the natural world.</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.edenproject.com/learn/schools/teaching-resources</a></p> <p>Children are asked to imagine the world without any light. Drawing from nature for ideas and inspiration, they design ‘stick people’ with special features and powers to live in a world of darkness. The lesson is best done in a woodland or other natural environment, with an optional extension back in the classroom.</p> <p>Objectives and curriculum links<br /> This lesson enables students to:</p> <ul> <li>Explore how nocturnal animals are adapted to live in their dark environment.</li> <li>Consider how humans, in the absence of light, may use their other senses to navigate and understand the world.</li> <li>Demonstrate their learning in their design and creation of a Darkness Dweller.</li> </ul>