This activity looks at the decomposition rate of both natural and man made objects. Students will give their predictions before placing the objects onto a large outdoor timeline. Teaching Structure: Draw a 0 - 1000 year timeline on the playground using chalk. Check students understand what decomposition is. Get students to collect a variety of natural and man made items from your outdoor space (this is also a great way to give your outdoor space a little tidy!). If there is not much rubbish, it’s useful to add the items from the list. Get students to share what they’ve collected and predict how long it will take each item to decompose. If wanted, they can complete their tables while doing this. Once they’ve made their predictions share the correct decomposition rates, get them to complete their table and place their objects in the correct place on the timeline. If you’d rather, you can use our item cards instead of the students collecting their own items. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This biomes visual word search is a great way to reinforce or introduce your ecosystems topic key vocabulary. It’s great for morning work, filling activities, or just as some fun! Your class will learn the key terms in no time with the help of our fun visuals and word search. Key Vocabulary: Biome Climate Deciduous Desert Mediterranean Montane Polardesert Savanna Steppe Taiga Tropical Tundra Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Get your class engaged with your forces and motion topic from the very start with this exciting outdoor science scavenger hunt activity. It’s also a fantastic way to assess what your class already know or have learnt during the forces and motion topic. It’s a hassle free resource with minimum prep, designed to engage students with a wide range of learning styles. This pack contains 10 challenge task cards that cover the following areas: Air resistance Gravity Floating and sinking Friction Magnetism My class had great fun in the outdoors while learning and recapping their skills. A fantastic lesson when the sun in shining! Contents Teacher’s Guide 8 x Differentiated Answer Sheets For The Children To Complete 10 x Challenge Task Cards Top Tip: Laminate your cards so they can be used time and time again! Resources needed for cards: 1 - Leaves 2 - A4 and A3 paper 3 - Sticks 4 - Magnets 5 - Toy car 6 - Bucket of water 7 - Tennis ball & similar sized plastic ball 8 - Football / basketball 9 - Bin bag / similar 10 - Tennis ball & similar sized plastic ball Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a great outdoor activity as part of your living things topic, senses, outdoor art, or just as a fun outdoor activity. It’s a great way to get students exploring your outdoor space and appreciating the nature around them. For this activity students will go on a walk around your outdoor space, recording what they spot along the way using pictures and simple words or sentences. This activity is a great way to get students looking closely at the nature around them, making observations, and recording what they see. If pack contains different observation sheets to suite different needs and focuses. When on the walk you can either let the students choose when they want to draw or get everybody to stop at certain points to fill in their observations. It works really well if you can do two nature walks in contrasting areas so that students can compare their observations and discuss why they see different things in the contrasting environments. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This outdoor STEM challenge gets students working as a team as they explore your forces and motion topic, with a focus on gravity. They will be set the challenge to transport water from a bucket at the top of a hill / set of stairs to the buckets at bottom using only a bucket and length of hose. Once they’ve completed the activity they can fill in the evaluation sheet which gets them to think about the effectiveness of their method as well as how they worked together as a team. Set Up: This activity works best in teams of 3 or 4. For each team you need 3 buckets and a length of clean hose. Find a hill (or set of stairs (however space can be an issue here) and place one bucket full of water at the top and another at the bottom for each team. The students can not touch either of these buckets. Their challenge is to transport the water from the bucket at the top to the bucket at the bottom without touching either of the buckets. They must only use the third bucket and the hose to transport the water. You will see lots of weird and wonderful ways that the students come up with to do this. The idea is for the students to develop a siphon by placing one end of the hose in the water and the other in the empty bucket, sucking until the water reaches the high point in the hose, and then letting gravity do the rest. If by the end of the activity the students have not used this method to transport the water, show it to them and encourage a discussion as to why it works. Resources Needed Per Team: 3 buckets of the same size Hose (1 - 2 meters long) To make things more interesting you could also add more objects they can use that won’t be as effective, such as a sponge. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This activity is all about students exploring the properties of different materials in the outdoors. This lesson can be done anywhere, from the beach to your garden. If access to the outdoors is limited you can easily adapt it to be done inside. For this activity students will find items matching the properties on the sheet and record what they’ve found by either writing or drawing. Encourage students to think carefully about their decisions. What makes something heavy? Would that be heavy for a giant? Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Imagine if insects had a social media platform… well now they do! Your class will think like an insect and create a ‘bugbook’ page for their chosen insect. This is a great cross-curricular activity that will firstly get students looking at the features, habitats, and characteristics of insects in their outdoor space as well as practicing their non-fiction writing and research skills. It’s great when looking at description writing and non-fiction texts. You can also use this as a base to talk about internet safety using the question prompts provided. PSHE, science, and literacy all in one! Teaching Structure: Explain to your students that insects are getting social and love the new bugbook social media site. It’s their job to observe and research a chosen insect and make a bugbook profile for it. Share the example with them as a starting point to showcase the kind of things they may include. Get students to head outside, choose an insect they’d like to create a profile for and spend some time observing it, filling in as much of the research sheet as possible. They can then compete the sheet using the internet to research. Once the research sheet is complete they can create the insect’s profile using the templates provided. **Internet Safety: **Once they’ve completed their profiles, you can use the 10 internet safety question prompts to have a discussion with your class about the importance of being safe online. This could be done in small groups where each station is a different point outdoors. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This STEM activity gets your students looking at the properties of materials as they are challenged to test their survival skills by getting the dirt out of water using only natural materials and a drinks bottle (they need to design and make their own natural filters!). To set up the challenge: - Put students into teams of 2 or 3. - Give them the instructions to read. - Give each group a good-sized plastic bottle with four small holes in the bottom (a hot metal skewer is great for this). - Tell them to go into your outdoor space and make their filters. - Test the filters by pouring muddy water in and seeing how much cleaner the water that comes out is. As well as leaves, sticks, stones etc. in your outdoor space, for this activity it is good for them to have access to both sand and gravel. Once they have completed the activity they can fill in the evaluation sheet which encourages them to think scientifically about what they have done. Extension: You can then move onto looking at real filters and seeing how they work with different liquids – will it separate salt from water? Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Building a bug hotel is great fun for all ages groups, however this pack will encourage students to look more carefully at the different insects their hotel is attracting and the habitats they thrive in. For this project they’ll design a hotel and observe the changes over time. It is a great cross-curricular project if you are looking at data handling, habitats, living things, and even engineering. This pack contains two levels of differentiation. Contents: Teacher Guide Instructions Design Sheets Results Table (before) Bar Graph (before) Results Table (after / during) Bar Graph (after) Conclusion Questions Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

For this activity students with think about the properties of different materials as they figure out whether they float or sink, cutting and sticking the pictures into the correct columns. It’s a great lesson or topic starter for your floating and sinking topic. This pack contains two levels of differentiation. Diff. 1: The activity contains two columns - float and sink. Diff. 2: The activity contains three columns - float, sink, and both. Students are encouraged to think about items which can both float and sink depending on the situation. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This STEM activity is all about the negative effects that plastic pollution in our oceans is having on humans and the environment. Students will be challenged to design and create their very own invention to help save our ocean plastic crisis. Contents: Teacher Guide Invention Example Differentiated Design Sheets Differentiated Final Idea Pan Differentiated Evaluation Questions Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This fun STEM team building activity will get your glass thinking about forces as they build the strongest platform they can off the ground using only sticks and string. Once students have planned, built, tested, and evaluated their platforms they can have a fun competition to see which platform hold the heaviest weight. This activity is great if you are looking at forces in motion, engineering, or simply as a fun team building activity. It is easy to set up as you only need access to our resources, string, and sticks. Teaching Structure: Planning sheet – Students will discuss ideas and complete the planning sheet. Build the platform – Give students 20 – 30 minutes to build their platform. Test the platform – Give students 5 minutes to test their platform. Evaluation sheet – Students will fill in the evaluation sheet, thinking about what went well and what they could do to improve their designs. Give each team 5 minutes to improve their designs. Competition! See which tower can hold the most weight. You could use stones, weights, or anything else you can find. Resources needed: Resource pack Sticks (any size) String Scissors It is useful to go through some basic knots with your class before doing this activity. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

15 visual healthy eating / lifestyle vocabulary cards that are perfect for your topic word wall complete with a title. They’re a great way to help your children learn the key terms needed for this relevant and engaging topic. We have found them especially helpful for children with English as an additional language or spelling difficulties. Each card contains the key word, definition, and visual aid. Contents 15 X Key Vocabulary Cards Display Title Healthy Eating Vocabulary Included Balanced Diet Calories Carbohydrates Diet Exercise Fat Fruit Keeping Healthy Minerals Nutrition Protein Pulse Saturated Fat Vegetables Vitamins Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This animal observation record is designed to be used either outdoors or when looking at live webcams. Students will look closely at both the physical and behavioral characteristics of the animas over a period of 3 or 5 days and record what they see on the observation sheets. It fits in really we if you’re looking at adaptations or camouflage and mimicry. This is also a great science investigation or fun home earning project for students. This resource contains three different levels of challenge. If doing this activity outside it’s important to choose an animal that’ll still be there when they return for the other observations. Good animals to observe outside: Birds with a nest Spiders in webs Ant Nests Animals in ponds Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store Saving The Teachers and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This types of habitats student research booklet is a great project for students to carry out research on all different habitats around the world, creating a page for each where they’ll research each habitat and record their findings as well as drawing a picture in their booklet. It’s perfect as a personal project or extension activity if you’re looking at continents This pack comes with a blank template if they which do cover a habitat not included. To create the booklet, cut each A4 page in half, hole punch the top corner, and use some string or treasury tags to hold them together. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

This is a fun and simple activity to introduce students to the world of sound, getting them to observe the world around them, thinking about the different sounds they can hear and where they’re coming from. Tell the students that they are going to go outside and see how many different things they can hear. Walk around your outdoor space, getting them to draw / write what they can hear on the sheet. Once they have finished, the older ones can complete the question sheet. For younger students you can simply ask these questions throughout the activity to stimulate thought. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also, be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Growing plants is great fun and can lead to loads of teaching opportunities. For this activity students will plant a variety of species and measure their growth rate over time. The students first look at how they can carry out this investigation, completing an investigation plan. After the seeds are planted they’ll measure the height of each plant every week and record their findings on the table. As part of the sheet they’ll need to work out differences in heights. We suggest using 4 - 5 different types of plants, ideally ones with a clear difference in growth rate. How you carry this investigation out depends greatly on the space you have available. You may choose to use separate plant pots or maybe you have a veg patch available. It’s good to discuss the importance of the plants being in the same locations. Why is the sun important for plants? Why is water important? You can go into as much or little detail as needed in these discussions. It can be useful to set up a timetable of who is going to care for the plants each day. If you choose to use fruits or vegetables (highly recommended!) you can then go onto use these as another stimulus for activities. Suggested Plants: Tomato Spinach Baby Carrots Bush Beans Green Onions Summer Squash Beets Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Growing plants is great fun and can lead to loads of teaching opportunities. For this activity students will plant a variety of species and measure their growth rate over time. The students first look at how they can carry out this investigation, completing an investigation plan. After the seeds are planted they’ll measure the height of each plant every week and record their findings on the table. As part of the sheet they’ll need to work out differences in heights. We suggest using 4 - 5 different types of plants, ideally ones with a clear difference in growth rate. How you carry this investigation out depends greatly on the space you have available. You may choose to use separate plant pots or maybe you have a veg patch available. It’s good to discuss the importance of the plants being in the same locations. Why is the sun important for plants? Why is water important? You can go into as much or little detail as needed in these discussions. It can be useful to set up a timetable of who is going to care for the plants each day. If you choose to use fruits or vegetables (highly recommended!) you can then go onto use these as another stimulus for activities. Suggested Plants: Tomato Spinach Baby Carrots Bush Beans Green Onions Summer Squash Beets Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Bird hunts are great fun and easy to do. Print out the sheet for your students to take into your outdoor space and mark off the birds as they find them. It’s great if you can provide binoculars so they can spot the birds from a distance. This resource contains sheets for both American and European birds. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!

Rock pool hunts are great fun and easy to do. Print out the sheet for your students to take down to the beach and mark off the creatures and seaweeds as they find them. It’s great if you can provide a magnifying glass so they can look at all the amazing details of the wildlife they find. Please don’t forget to rate this resource to let us know what you think. Also be sure to visit my store and FOLLOW ME to see my new products and hear about upcoming sales!