Teaching Ecology Newsletter · 2013-04-04 · 2 10 Teaching Ecology Newsletter T E N About the...

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What’s Inside ?

Fieldwork in the school grounds-What the teachers thought, what the students thought and the lessons we learned

Issue 33, Summer/Autumn 2006 www.britishecologicalsociety.org

Teaching Ecology Newsletter

T he August 2006 issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology

includes a paper on the ecological questions of importance to policy makers. The paper was put together fol-lowing a 2 day workshop including policy makers and scientists from organisations such as the aca-demic and research institutions, learned societies, conservation trusts and other non-governmental bodies, professional bodies and government. It’s aim to identify the questions to which policy mak-ers want answers. Starting with a list of over a 1000 questions, the final 100 questions were generated based on the pref-erence of representatives from pol-icy led organisations. The authors point out the overall preference for the generic such as biodiversity rather than the specific

such as specific taxonomic groups, although the paper is quick to state that many specific questions are in-herent in such generic questions

highlighting the need for research-ers to identify the specific elements. This general approach is a conse-quence of the broader issues driv-ing environmental policy and in it-self makes many questions difficult to answer, wherein lies the needs for current research to identify the specific issues and apply such re-

search to the broader generic questions. Questions within the paper were categorized according the type of answer being sought, including in descending order of percentages of the total greater understanding, meas-ures of impact, effectiveness of management interventions, and optimization of impact. Current and future ecologists have a list to guide them as the priori-ties in environmental policy and provide a stimulus for applied eco-logical research and hopefully in-crease the dialogue between scien-tists and policy makers. Students of ecology are provided with a summary of the questions relevant to the UK as they embark

What are the 100 Ecological Questions of high policy relevance in the UK today?

Reference:

WILLIAM J. SUTHERLAND, ET AL, The identification of 100 ecologi-cal questions of high policy relevance in the UK

Journal of Applied Ecology Volume 43, Issue 4, Page 617-627, Aug 2006

http://www.kmike.com/country/uk.htm

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10 Teaching Ecology Newsletter

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About the Teaching Ecology Newsletter (TEN)

The original purpose of TEN was to help ecologists teaching around the country to keep in touch with each other and with what the society was doing in education, and to provide a forum for debate. These remain its functions and we welcome the contributions of any TEN reader, whether they take the form of a very short note, a letter, a book review or a longer article.

Submitting a Contribution

We will accept material in any form but a text file attached to an email is preferable. Illustrations, pictures or clip art are also wel-come. Please make sure there are no copyright problems with anything you submit for inclusion in TEN. Any secondary source material should be properly acknowledged and the author’s permission obtained if necessary. The editor reserves the right to make modifications to material submitted in the interests of overall consistency, although we would normally get back to you in the case of major changes.

Tel: 020 8871 9797

Fax: 020 8871 9779

[email protected]

www.britishecologicalsociety.org

BES Head Office:

Dr Hazel Norman, Executive Secretary

British Ecological Society

26, Blades Court

Deodar Road

Putney

London

SW15 2NU

About the BES

The British Ecological Society is the oldest ecological society in the world and Sir Arthur Tansley was its first president. The BES has a worldwide membership of over 4000 ecologists, produces four internationally respected scientific journals and organizes meetings and symposia at both national and international levels.

The Education, Training and Careers Committee (ETCC) is a formal committee of the British Ecological Society, which administers an educational budget, has a growing number of educational initiatives, and advises the council on matters of educational policy.

You don’t have to be a member of the BES to receive TEN, but we hope you might want to join and play a full part in the Society once you start to get involved

The British Ecological Society is a limited company, registered in England No 1522897 and a registered charity No 281213. Vat registration No 199992863. Infor-mation and advice given to members by, or on behalf of the society, is given on the basis that no liability attaches to the society, its Council Members, or representa-tives in respect thereof. Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the society.

Editor: Karen Devine Chair of ETCC: Dr David Slingsby Education Officer Bri t ish Ecological Society British Ecological Society 26 Blades Court 26 Blades Court Deodar Road Deodar Road London SW15 2NU London SW15 2NU Email: [email protected] Queries and comments? Please feel free to contact me at karen@brit ishecologicalsociety.org

Issue 33

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Teaching Ecology Newsletter 10

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In this Issue...

Editorial 3 The ENDS’ annual salary and Ca-reers Report

4

What motivates students to go to university

5

The North West Project 6 Wetlands 10 Brine shrimps, Ecology and Be-haviour

12

Children's understanding of the Natural World-Ponds

16

Starters and Plenaries, Bats 20

In the Journals 22

Ecology hits the Headlines 23

School Grounds Development 26

Issue 33

Editorial

B ats make a lot of noise. I know this because one flew in my ward-

robe early one warm evening recently and stayed quiet until I was asleep. A few odd squeaks were followed by a persistent racket worthy of the most determined alarm clock, all in response to a curious cat. The cat it turns out in true cat style thinks all small creatures furry and otherwise are an extension of the dinner menu. She was dispatched to sleep elsewhere for the night whilst I pondered on how to get a small and fretful bat out of my bedroom whilst worrying about its cute cud-dling of a quite smelly shoe, incidentally leaving me to question the bat sense of smell.

As it happens once the cat was gone, the window was open and the lights were out, it didn’t take long for the bat to find its way out without any help from me, which was a good thing because while I know a little about bats and the laws protecting them, I wasn’t fully up to date. Thinking about the number of grants applications we have been receiving for Bat boxes this year, which is significant, I have justified some Bat fact finding with the starters and plenary activities in this issue.

The TEN has continued to grow and we are pleased to launch the E-bulletin as of August 2006, hopefully it will be sent out bi-monthly in the first place with a view to a monthly edition when we’ve grown a little more…. It cur-rently goes only to those parties whose email is on the exist-ing database, if you didn’t receive an e-bulletin in August and would like to receive following editions, please drop me a line-([email protected]) and I’ll add your email address to the mailing list. On a related matter, many thanks to all of you who responded to the question-naire that went out with Issue 32 and helped to update the database. There will now be a regular box for anyone wish-ing to update their details (page 20).

With thanks to Dr Lindsay Haddon, Publications Manager, we will now be including a regular section on anything of interest in the BES journals, the front page article comes from the Journal of Applied Ecology and looks at the eco-logical questions facing policy makers.

Karen Devine

The TEN e–bulletin is launched

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878.

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Issue 33

The ENDS’ annual salary and careers sur-vey 2006 has highlighted the challenges of recruiting and retaining staff in the environ-ment sector. A Growing Sector The annual turnover in the environment sec-tor is estimated at £25 billion, with 400,000 employees and still growing, with 46% em-ployers expanding their staffing. It is an em-ployees market where the number of experi-enced environmental/ecological professionals falls well below the demand. In such a competitive market, employees can increase salaries quickly by moving compa-nies every couple of years with a 31% citing salary and benefits as a reason to change jobs. This has led to a need to retain staff which in turn has seen the development of retention packages. Skills Shortages The survey also highlights the quality of can-didates and skills shortages. The top three most sought after skills are in waste manage-ment, pollution prevention and control and general environment management 96% of employees hold at least a first degree, with 58% having a higher degree although the lack of knowledge in specific areas and voca-tional training is adding to the skills shortage and inhibiting graduates in finding employ-

ment. Salaries Despite the suggestion of the sector as an em-ployees market, it is difficult for graduates to break into the market, with average graduate salaries at less then £20,000 and a dearth of opportunities. Many consultancy firms are looking for prior experience and the survey highlights volunteering as an essential piece of advice. The table shows the average salary by age and gender, Males represent 69% of the sur-vey respondents

For many graduates these difficulties, exacer-bated by financial constraints will be contrib-uting factors in their decision to seek jobs in other industries. On the horizon, there is now an increase in the in-house graduate training to plug this leak and approach the skills short-age more proactively. Although the environment sector remains comparatively low paid (with ecology and na-ture conservation as the lowest salaries), sala-ries are increasing ahead of inflation and, those professionals willing to work overseas can increase their salaries by up to £10,000. The good news however is that 83% of the environmental workforce is satisfied in their careers, although a significant proportion do not feel secure, as would be expected in a sec-tor so closely tied to regulation and policy.

The ENDS’ annual salary and careers survey 2006

Age Average salary female-male

20-29 £23,276-23,750

30-39 £30,292-34,395

40-49 £32,500-41,705

50+ £41,500-41,063

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T N E Issue 33

Reported by Open Books Open Minds, www.openbooksopenminds.co.uk/research03.htm In a recent study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, students were found to be less interested in the intellectual content of courses and more interested in the vocational aspects. The report found that the knock on effect on studying habits resulted in a demand for prescriptive, need to know handouts rather than guidance for wider reading. Open Books, Open Minds confirmed these findings with research aimed at both students and lecturers. Students are more likely to view university as the passport to a graduate career with success measured as a 2.1 degree, some students viewed university as the natural progression from post 16 and rite of passage with education for it’s own sake as the prime motivation for a only few students. Text books are viewed more positively than the internet by both students, citing presentation and reliability and lecturers who cite wider reading and concerns over plagiarism as factors in fa-vour of text books. No-one doubts the importance of an appropriate mix of resources and I wonder the damage caused by secondary education and it’s reliance on commercial revision guides for every subject and specification, speaking as a teacher once told by a Y13 student, despite all my advice and attempts to prepare him for university, that he need not take notes since the whole course was no doubt covered by a revision guide. I was however kind enough to let him resit the course the following year.

The Environment sector expects to see more growth over the next few years with the in-crease of environmental legislations and suc-cessful employers will be more innovative in their recruitment and retention packages. If you’re looking for a job? The three top publications reviewed for spe-cialist postings were The ENDS Report, The Guardian and New Scientist (31%). It also emerged that the websites for these and other organisations are also searched frequently. Most recruitment agencies now link with web-sites to post live vacancy details. Useful Sites www.endsdirectory.com

http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/

http://www.newscientistjobs.com/

www.environmentjob.co.uk

www.graduatelink.com/jobs/graduate-

environment-jobs.asp

www.ejscotland.info

www.edie.net

www.iema.net

www.greenenergyjobs.com

www.environmental-expert.com

www.earthworks-jobs.com

What motivates Students to go to university?

Reference: Threw, Liz Skills shortage keeps employers on their toes, Salary and Careers Survey. The ENDS directory 2006. The full report is available online www.endsdirectory.com

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T he aim of the North West Project was to respond to the decline of fieldwork in schools, develop outreach work with teachers and explore opportunities to deliver outdoor learn-ing experiences to Year Nine students compliant with GCSE course specifications.

The project hoped to achieve its aims through demonstration of good practice in fieldwork and providing schools with resources and knowledge specific to their local area or school grounds. Planning took place over a three month period with delivery in schools post SATS examinations in May 2006 The BES and FSC partnership worked with participating schools to develop a day of fieldwork activities, involving teachers in the identification of outdoor learning opportunities, planning and risk assessment. Following the planning stages, delivery took place during the course of a single school day and was attended by a maximum of 33 students in each of the 6 participating schools. Students were chosen by the school according to their own criteria. These included a teaching group whose nor-mal teacher had been absent for a long period of time, two mixed ability groups, a GCSE option group for separate science in biology and two gifted and talented groups. All resources and lesson plans were suitable for the AQA GCSE Core curriculum. Schools opted for fieldwork of a “Look, See, Do-” nature, a more rigorous scientific approach aimed at preparatory GCSE coursework or as a contribution to a Crest Award The day was followed by an inset session for teachers to assess the resources used, consolidate knowledge of Health and Safety with regards to fieldwork, provide advice on professional devel-opment and identify resources for use by the whole year group as Year 10. Each school was assigned two school days for the process, although planning and development of activities took much longer than this highlighting one of the barriers to fieldwork as the prepa-ration time needed. Few schools had class sets of field equipment and as such a second barrier to fieldwork is the availability of suitable equipment. Some schools confirmed that the equipment had existed in the past but had not been replaced when lost or broken.


The Nor th West

Project.

A pilot outreach project to suppor t teachers in the delivery of Biology fieldwork

by Karen Devine

T N E Issue 33

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Environmental Ethics: Each day started with a brief presentation on Ecology and students were asked to define ecology. Although many students understood that ecology was the study of animals, plants and environ-ments, few students linked these together as relationships between plants and animals with the environments in which they live. Most students faced with the idea of fieldwork as a practi-cal activity were unsure how they would proceed since they could not transfer their laboratory skills immediately, and did not sense a need to make observations prior to practical fieldwork. Before being allowed into the field students were asked to discuss the health and safety aspects which by Year 9 most students can quote the list of lab rules and through training in school are quick at identifying the range of hazards they may en-counter, however a final point had been to define envi-ronmental ethics which does not arise in nor- mal science activities for the majority of schools pupils. Answers ranged from a belief in the environment to car- ing about the environment to not hurting animals and plants in the environment. As a question it highlighted the importance of allowing students to sample habitats such as ponds and woodlands for organisms as few students could define envi-ronmental ethics correctly and had not thought about the relevance of how to work scientifically and responsibly in the field. Observing patterns in Nature: As simple as it may sound, observing patterns in nature can be difficult for students to achieve and for many students one of the most difficult parts of the day. Opportunities for observation in school grounds included the distribution of vegetation under Yew and Conifers, distribution of Alga, Moss and Lichen on tree bark, size of Ivy leaves in different areas, diversity of plant spe-cies in mown and wild areas. Students were asked to make their observations and draw conclu-sions with support form teachers Following this activity students were reminded throughout the day that observation was an es-sential part of Ecological fieldwork.


What is Ecology?

http://users.skynet.be/deneyer.mycology

School Grounds Ecology

Annie Duckworth

Karen Devine May 2006

How did we develop the day

The all important Health and Safety Management

Curriculum support and moving on

Using the FSC and BES for further development

Issue 33 T N E

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Issue 33

Ponds: Three schools included in the project had ponds varying from a small courtyard pond that served as a starter activity to a large stream fed pond with nesting Canada Geese. When asked almost 75% of students cited the pond as their favourite activity, linked to sampling for invertebrates, observing invertebrate activity and identifying different species. In the three other schools where no ponds were available, no other single activity was highlighted as effectively. At GCSE ponds are a useful tool for teaching adaptations and respiration and aside from iden-tifying different organisms and their feeding re-lationships. Adaptations for oxygen acquisition was a focus of teaching, demonstrating that out-door activities can be used to teach more than pure ecological concepts and the link between different areas covered in the curriculum. Treebeating: Since the project was delivered in Schools in May, all the schools involved had trees or shrubs available, providing students with an opportu-

nity to sample the invertebrates. Here identifica-tion was more difficult and restricted although students enjoyed making use of pooters and ob-serving invertebrate structure. A Cockchafer inspired a session on adaptations

Students at Woodhey School in Bury prepare the mammal mo-

Students at Loreto Grammar School in Altrincham show the in-vertebrates found in hedges, trees and ornamental shrubs

Very British Weather: The week of the project in it’s in school delivery stage saw rain everyday. Having prepared teachers beforehand with a Plan B, (i.e. they’ll get wet) we took the students out and hoped they didn’t complain too loudly. They didn’t, most were not even aware of the weather conditions and few cited the weather as a factor in their evaluations of the day.

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to re-gard old questions from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science. (Albert Einstein)

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T N E Issue 33

Daniel Waind is an Advanced Skills teacher in Science at Woodhey High School in Bury. For me personally the day highlighted two major things: 1) The need for opportunities for pupils to experience first hand some ecological field work and develop the skills which have suffered as a re-sult of the focus on content rather than context in teach-ing. It is only by doing the work rather than being told or reading about the work will these skills ever be developed. I also feel that the day very successfully promoted an awareness of the environment around them and the need to understand and in turn pro-tect/maintain it for the fu-ture.

and feedback provided for the teachers directly and in-directly involved in the day was such a vital part of in-spiring confidence. As a qualified marine biolo-gist I feel that I have experi-enced a variety of field work activities in many different settings, but in my five years as a teacher I feel that I have lost many of the skills relating to field studies and certainly would not feel con-

fident in leading a field study day like the one planned and delivered by the FSC and BES. I also believe that this feeling would be a fair representation of the majority of teachers, es-pecially new teachers. By taking members of the department through the organisation and helping out rather than leading the delivery of the day I feel that there is a much higher chance of teachers actually in-cluding activities such as these in the lessons; it certainly inspired me.

2) The need to provide the skills and the confidence to the teachers. An area of professional devel-opment that is frequently overlooked and must be ad-dressed. The organisation of the day A cockchafer drops in on the days activi-

ties and delights everyone

Even small ponds keep Students at Poynton High School busy for the morning

Bebington Students get to grips with Lichen density

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T N E Issue 33

Key Stage 3: Science Using Wetlands to teach ways in which the environment can be protected. • What are they?

Wetlands can be described as any area where water is the primary abiotic factor. The water table is near or at the surface of the land or the land is covered by shal-low water either permanently, seasonally or daily such as tidal zones which flood

each day for a period of time. • Where are they? Wetlands cover 6% of the earth’s surface, they can be fresh, brackish or salt depending on their location • Why are they important Wetlands are believed to play a significant role as car-bon and nitrogen sinks as well as methane production. They are home to a large number of endangered species

and are among the worlds most biologically diverse habitats. They are used as feeding grounds, breeding grounds and nurseries for birds and fish. Wetlands can tolerate chemical pollutants although per-sistent or severe pollution will generate consequences such as algal growth Falling water tables through extraction for public water supplies has led to many wetlands drying out. Wetlands have also been reclaimed for forestry and ag-

Living things in their envi-ronment 5) Pupils should be taught:

a. about ways in which living things and the environment can be protected, and the importance of sustainable development

b. that habitats support a diver-sity of plants and animals that are interdependent

c. how some organisms are adapted to survive daily and seasonal changes in their habitats

http://www.nc.uk.net

Wetlands

Keywords Abiotic: A physical aspect in any habitat which affects which plants and animals can liver there, e.g. light, water, temperature. Water table: The upper limit of ground water, above which are found air pockets in rocks and soils, below which is saturated with water. Brackish: Water which contains between 0.5g and 30g of salt per litre—i.e. more than freshwater, and less than sea water

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Issue 33 T N E

These three birds are all found in coastal areas feeding in mud-flats throughout/part of the year. They each have different shaped beaks to cope with extracting food from the mudflats. Shelducks, use their beak like a shovel, scooping their food from shallow waters. Their food is swallowed whole. Shelduck will also feed on grasses Oyster catchers, use their beaks to open molluscs and eat the soft flesh inside. They are the only wader capable of this feat which they are likely to do by stabbing and hammering the shell. Curlews use their beaks to probe for food in shallow waters or for worms when inland.

July 2006: Wallasea Wetlands crea-tion project. Following the loss of two areas of salt marsh and mudflats in the 1990’s, and a European Court of Justice ruling, a new wetland has been created to re-place lost habitats.

Defra, the Envi-ronment Agency, English Nature and RSPB worked together with Harwich Haven Authority

and Wallasea Farms to ensure that environmental, social and business factors balanced with the projects re-mit. This was primarily to compli-ment existing strategies, create a sus-tainable site for displaced bird popula-tions and provide flood/storm de-fences. Work was completed in July this year and an area of 115 hec-tares was flooded when the protective walls were deliberately removed. The project has created a wetland of connected streams, islands, mudflats and marshes in Europe's largest man made marine wetland. The Wallasey wetlands will provide feeding and roosting habitats for birds such as Oystercatchers, Avocets, Lit-tle Terns, Shelduck, and Dunlins as well as fish nurseries for Bass, Mullet and Flatfish.

Useful Websites: www.wwtlearn.org.uk The wildfowl and wetlands trust has developed a range of lesson plans which can be used with students. In school or on site, including role play and investigative work. www.environment-agency.gov.uk provides information on any local water sources they are monitoring as well as general information on wet-lands www.rspb.org.uk the Royal Society for the protection of birds offers an introduction to wetlands and links to various on going projects in conser-vation programmes www.lethsd.ab.ca, although a Canadian site, this offers a good introduc-tion into likely wetland plants and links to other international sites

Shelduck Oyster catcher Curlew

Feeds on invertebrates, small shellfish and snails. It often uses old rabbit burrows for nesting. It is only found in coastal ar-eas

Feeds on Mussels and cockles, if found inland it will feed on worms

Feeds on Shellfish and Shrimp and worms when found in inland. It returns to coastal areas for winter

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Introduction These worksheets were developed to provide teachers with some suitable exercises for their pupils for homework or follow-up suggestions to classroom practical work with brine shrimps. For details regarding the sourcing, setting-up and maintaining populations of shrimps in primary classrooms see Brine Shrimp Ecology: a classroom-based introduction to Ecology by Michael Dockery and Stephen Tomkins, (2000), British Ecological Society, London. The text is now available to download on the British Ecological Society website at http://www.demon.co.uk/bes Authors Joan Boswell and Polly Lee are teachers at St Monica`s RC Primary School, Flixton, Manchester and Dr Michael Dockery is the Education Officer for the Association for the Study of Animal Be-haviour (ASAB).

`Suggested` answers Years 3 – 4 Worksheet A: Let`s learn about shrimps 1. see pupil responses 2. they sense the environment in front of, and around the head of, the shrimps – so they are aware of the presence of other shrimps, physical objects in the tank, etc. 3. plants 4. algae > brine shrimps > flamingoes > eagles 5. tall birds (an adult greater flamingo is 125 - 140 cm tall) with long necks and legs – they are pink/red in colour – feed by sieving shrimps from the water which they take into their mouths whilst their head is upside down in a lake – the excess water is squirted out of their mouth by their tongue Worksheet B: Do brine shrimps swim at the edge or in the centre? 1. see pupil responses 2. 50 brine shrimps 3. ¼ 4. water would be warmer, as it is shallower – the warmer water would also increase algal growth, the food for the shrimps - shrimps would find algae growing on the vegetation at the edge of the lake 5. avocet Years 5 – 6 Worksheet A: Getting into hot water! 1. 11% 2. 25° C 3. in tropical and sub tropical lakes – in salt lakes in desert areas – in lakes in USA, such as Lake Mono and other lakes in Utah, Ari-zona and Nevada

Brine Shrimps: Ecology and Behaviour

Joan Boswell, Polly Lee and Michael Dockery

T N E Issue 33

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Wor

kshe

et A

: Le

t`s le

arn

abou

t shr

imps

H

ere

is a

dra

win

g of

a fe

mal

e sh

rimp.

T

here

are

seve

ral l

ines

show

n on

the

dr

awin

g w

hich

poi

nt to

par

ts o

f the

sh

rimp:

thes

e pa

rts a

re th

e he

ad (H

),

legs

(L),

eyes

(E),

eggs

(Eg)

, gut

(G)

and

ante

nnae

(A).

1

. Put

eac

h of

thes

e le

tters

in th

e co

rrec

t pla

ce.

Hea

d (H

) Le

gs (L

) Ey

es (E

) Eg

gs (E

g)

Gut

(G)

Ant

enna

e (A

) 2

. Wha

t do

you

thin

k th

e sh

rimps

use

thei

r ant

enna

e fo

r?

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…

Look

at t

he ta

nk (o

r bot

tle) o

f shr

imps

in y

our c

lass

room

. You

w

ill se

e so

me

gree

n m

ater

ial i

n th

e w

ater

. Thi

s gre

en m

ater

ial i

s al

gae,

the

food

for t

he sh

rimps

. 3

. Are

alg

ae p

lant

s or a

nim

als?

A

lgae

are

……

……

……

……

……

…

Fla

min

goes

are

bird

s tha

t eat

shrim

ps. E

agle

s eat

flam

ingo

es.

4. P

ut fl

amin

goes

, eag

les,

alga

e an

d br

ine

shrim

ps in

to a

food

ch

ain.

…

.……

…. >

……

….…

> …

…..…

.. >

……

……

…..

5

. Her

e is

a d

raw

ing

of a

flam

ingo

. Col

our t

he d

raw

ing

and

find

out t

wo

fact

s abo

ut fl

amin

goes

. Writ

e th

e tw

o fa

cts b

elow

. 1.

…

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

….

2. …

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

….

Issue 33 T N E

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Issue 33 T N E

Wor

kshe

et B

: Do

brin

e sh

rimps

swim

at t

he e

dge

or in

the

cent

re?

Chi

ldre

n w

ant t

o se

e if

shrim

ps a

re m

ore

likel

y to

be

foun

d sw

imm

ing

in th

e ce

ntre

or a

t the

edg

e of

a c

ircul

ar g

lass

dis

h.

[The

edg

e an

d ce

ntre

are

exa

ctly

the

sam

e si

ze, e

ach

is o

ne h

alf

of th

e ar

ea o

f the

dis

h.] T

he c

hild

ren

put 1

0 sh

rimps

in th

e di

sh

and

give

them

3 m

inut

es to

get

use

d to

the

wat

er. E

very

30

sec-

onds

, for

5 m

inut

es, t

he c

hild

ren

coun

t to

see

how

man

y sh

rimps

are

in th

e ce

ntre

and

how

man

y ar

e at

the

edge

. The

y fin

d th

at 7

5 sh

rimps

wer

e fo

und

at th

e ed

ge a

nd 2

5 in

the

cen-

tre.

The

ir te

ache

r dra

ws a

pie

cha

rt to

show

ho

w m

any

shrim

ps w

ere

in th

e ce

ntre

and

ho

w m

any

wer

e at

the

edge

of t

he d

ish.

1.

Put

C a

nd E

in th

e pi

e ch

art t

o sh

owth

e nu

mbe

r of s

hrim

ps

in th

e ce

ntre

(C)a

nd th

e nu

mbe

r at t

he e

dge

(E).

2. H

ow m

any

mor

e br

ine

shrim

ps w

erea

t the

edg

e th

an th

e ce

ntre

. ……

……

..

3. W

hat f

ract

ion

of th

e sh

rimps

wer

e in

the

cent

re o

f the

dis

h?

Und

erlin

e th

e fr

actio

n.

½ ¼

¾ 1

/3 2

/5

4

. In

the

wild

, brin

e sh

rimps

are

foun

d in

lake

s or p

onds

. Giv

e O

NE

reas

on w

hy sh

rimps

are

mor

e lik

ely

to b

e ne

ar th

e ed

ge

of a

lake

than

the

cent

re.

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…

5. T

his d

raw

ing

show

s a b

ird th

at e

ats b

rine

shrim

ps. U

se

book

s or t

he In

tern

et to

find

out

wha

t bird

it is

. Th

e bi

rd is

an

…

……

……

……

……

Nu

mb

er

of

sh

rim

ps

in

ce

ntr

e

an

d a

t e

dg

e o

f d

ish

15


Issue 33 T N E

Wor

kshe

et B

: Pa

ss th

e sa

lt pl

ease

! In

the

wild

, brin

e sh

rimps

are

foun

d in

saltw

ater

, whi

ch h

as 3

5 g

of sa

lt in

ev

ery

litre

(or 3

.5 %

salt)

. Wha

t hap

pens

to sh

rimps

if w

e pu

t the

m in

wat

er

that

is m

ore

than

3.5

% sa

lt?

Sci

entis

ts m

ake

up tw

o be

aker

s of w

ater

, one

has

6%

of s

alt i

n it

and

the

othe

r has

18%

of s

alt.

One

hun

dred

new

ly h

atch

ed b

rine

shrim

ps a

re p

lace

d in

to e

ach

beak

er a

nd th

en th

e nu

mbe

r of s

hrim

ps th

at a

re a

live

afte

r 7, 1

4 an

d 21

day

s are

cou

nted

. The

scie

ntis

ts d

raw

a g

raph

to sh

ow th

e pe

rcen

t-ag

e of

shrim

ps th

at a

re a

live.

G

raph

show

ing

the

% o

f brin

e sh

rimps

aliv

e in

two

diff

eren

t sal

ty w

ater

. 1

. W

hat %

of s

hrim

ps su

rviv

ed in

6%

salt

afte

r 3 w

eeks

? …

……

…..

%

2. W

hat %

of s

hrim

ps su

rviv

ed in

18%

salt

afte

r 1 w

eek?

……

……

.. %

3

. How

man

y m

ore

surv

ived

at 6

% sa

lt th

an 1

8% sa

lt af

ter:

a) 1

wee

k …

……

……

……

……

% b

) 3 w

eeks

……

……

……

……

.. %

4

. As w

ater

get

s m

ore

salty

, shr

imps

hav

e to

wor

k ha

rder

to p

ump

it ou

t of

thei

r bod

y as

they

feed

. How

doe

s thi

s exp

lain

the

lines

on

the

grap

h?

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

Wor

kshe

et A

: G

ettin

g in

to h

ot w

ater

! A

scie

ntis

t was

inte

rest

ed in

seei

ng w

here

shrim

ps w

ould

pre

fer t

o sw

im in

a

long

tank

of w

ater

. One

end

of t

he ta

nk w

as p

lace

d on

a tr

ay o

f ice

(whi

ch

kept

the

wat

er a

t 5° C

) and

the

othe

r end

was

on

a tra

y of

war

m w

ater

(w

hich

kep

t the

wat

er a

t thi

s end

of t

he ta

nk a

t 35°

C).

The

perc

enta

ges o

f th

e br

ine

shrim

ps th

at w

ere

foun

d at

var

ious

tem

pera

ture

s alo

ng th

e ta

nk

wer

e re

cord

ed a

nd a

re in

the

tabl

e be

low

: a g

raph

was

als

o dr

awn.

T

empe

ratu

re

5°

C

10°

C

15°

C

20°

C

25

° C

30°

C

35°

C

% o

f shr

imps

4

%

1

%

2

%

1

3 %

67

%

13

%

0

%

Figu

re 1

Gra

ph to

show

the

perc

enta

ge o

f brin

e sh

rimps

cho

osin

g to

swim

at

cer

tain

tem

pera

ture

s in

the

long

tank

of s

altw

ater

. 1.

H

ow m

any

mor

e sh

rimps

cho

se to

sw

im a

t 30°

C th

an a

t 15°

C?…

…%

2

. At w

hich

per

cent

age

did

mos

t shr

imps

cho

ose

to sw

im?

……

……

… %

3

. Loo

k at

you

r ans

wer

to q

uest

ion

2. W

here

do

you

thin

k br

ine

shrim

ps

will

be

foun

d in

the

wor

ld?

…

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…

4. S

hrim

ps d

o no

t lik

e to

swim

in v

ery

hot o

r ver

y co

ld w

ater

. So

can

you

give

ON

E re

ason

why

mor

e sh

rimps

cho

se to

swim

at 5

° C th

an a

t 10°

C.

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

…...

% s

wim

min

g a

t c

er

ta

in t

em

pe

ra

tu

re

s

01020

30

40

50

60

70

80

5°

C10

° C

15°

C2

0°

C2

5°

C3

0°

C3

5°

C

Te

mp

er

at

ur

e (

° C

)

% o

f sh

rim

ps s

urvi

ving

020406080100

120

12

3

We

ek

s a

fte

r h

atc

hin

g

% s

urvi

ving

- 6%

sal

t

% s

urvi

ving

- 18

% s

alt

16

T N E


Children’s Understandings of the Natural World- Ponds

By Dr Sue DaleTunnicliffe

It is often heard nowadays that children are out of touch with the natural world. Literature exists about children’s understandings of the natural and physical world. However, relatively little work has been carried out on the understand-ing of children of natural and man made habitats- which is what ponds are, and their structure, flora and fauna and perceived place in the society in which children exist. I am a biologist who special-ized in freshwater biology and I am particularly in-terested in the knowledge the children have of ponds and the extent to which they talk about hu-man influence. As a part of a pilot study for an ESRC funded project about children’s understand-ings of the natural world (see website www.ioe.ac.uk/mst for a section with further refer-ences about Children’s understandings of the natu-ral world) I interviewed, individually, 12 children 6 from each age group of 6, and 10 years. Children of 14 years were included in the full project. Method The children were given a drawing, photo or a word as a probe. The data were collected in the first inter-views, which we conducted, before the children went on their field trip where they were interviewed as a group and subsequently interviewed individu-ally back at school using the word as the probe. The understanding of levels as an important aspect of biological understanding has been developed through work with student teachers (Boulter et al., 2001). In essence, the organism as the central level of understanding and levels above and below based on a nested scale so that the ecosystem comes at the top level, then its constituent communities, then populations which are composed of individual or-ganisms. Below the organism level come organs in systems, which are made of tissues, comprising cells and organelles which are made of atoms and molecules. (See Table 1 for definitions.) .

In the parent project probes were used, including a coloured photograph or black and white line draw-ing or the word pond. The data on ponds are taken from this collected mass of responses from the chil-dren.

Table 1

The levels of organisation in the environment used in the analysis of the transcripts of the pupils’ responses to the probes

Biological levels

Descriptions and examples

Ecosystem, e

Communities interacting with one another and the chemical and physical factors of the non-living environment. E.g. Leaves catch the Sun’s energy and it is used by the leaf to make food; The water cycle

Community, c

Populations of species living and in-teracting in an area at a particular time E.g. Oak tree food web; Groups of animals living together in grass

Population, p

Group of individual organisms of the same species living within a particu-lar area E.g. Red squirrels; Black ants

Organism, o A living (or once living) individual of a species E.g. The oak tree; A dog

Organ system or organ, or

Tissues grouped together into func-tional units which make up systems E.g. The heart; A leaf

Tissue, t A group of physically linked cells or related fluids specialised for a par-ticular function

Cell or organ-elle, cl

Basic unit of structure and function-ing in organisms or a component of its internal structure E.g. Muscle cell; Chloroplast

Molecule or atom, m

Smallest unit of chemical elements or combination of two or more atoms of the same or different chemical ele-ments held together by bonds E.g. Oxygen; Carbon dioxide

Issue 33

17


T N E

Results Levels of organisation Table 2 Responses regarding levels of organizations about ponds

Definitions – Population P = ‘Frogs live in ponds’, Community C = ‘Weeds and plants and frogs live’ ‘ Bugs live with the pondweed” The transcripts were analysed according to the criteria set out above for categories of organisa-tion .Table 2 shows the responses from the chil-dren using this approach. Organisms and organs Upon being cued with the word, 'pond', or draw-ing, the children readily showed they associated the concept ‘pond’ with organisms. Particularly the word’ pond’ elicited ‘ducks’, lily pads’ and ‘frog’. The organisms of a pond are the pre-dominate level of organization which the chil-dren recall and associate with ponds. ‘Ducks live in ponds fishes live in ponds beavers live in ponds’ said a 10-year-old girl who had been shown a photograph. Moreover, the organism as a member of a population of the same organisms and to a lesser extent the name organisms being

part of a community of other organisms were the categories to which the children referred. The same girl who talked about ducks in the quote above, then gave a list of organisms and the activity they did in the pond.

G Uhm, uhm ducks learn how to swim there and so do geese baby geese and ducks catch fish which live in the pond and reeds live in ponds and there's leaves near ponds to get lots of water and flow-ers live in ponds, water lilies

R Have you ever looked at pond water?

G Yes. It’s full of little animals G Yes you get little animals uhm, uhm, uhm, you get moss in it R Algae? Pondweed? G Yes algae’ The experience of seeing a real pond makes an im-pression in some cases. Often the children recall or-ganisms associated with an actual rather than an imaginary or fictitious pond. B Uhm my Dad used to have a pond and my Nan has. Frogs they go there for the summer spring and autumn and they go away for the winter and go down in their burrows and hibernate I think…er….er… R Have you seen any frog ones? B We got one over there at the school we got loads of fish in there damsel flies and dragon flies Some children clearly defined a pond citing both physical features and a typical flora and fauna. R What’s that? B Pond Er R What do you know about a pond? B it’s an area of water where you find ducks and weeds growing in it and they’d be fish in there R Can you tell me a bit more? B It’s got sort of gravely areas around the outside It could have frogs in it if it had lily pads and there are some water insects I can’t think of the name and a pond snail. Can’t remember it I will try. R Where have you seen the water insect B On a science video and we have a pond in our playground and there’s and it looks similar to this

Level Yr 1 n= 20 Yr 5 n = 20 Total n= 40

Ecosys-tem

1 5 6

Commu-nity

9 20 29

Popula-tion

21 31 52

Organism 24 46 70

Organ 0 0 0

Tissue 0 0 0

Cell etc 0 0 0

Molecule 0 0 0

Issue 33

18

T N E


The myth that, if a pond has lily pads, it would thus contain frogs was wide spread. As a fresh water biologist I was particularly inter-ested in which organisms were mentioned by the children. The results are shown in table 3.

The children mentioned the influence of humans. In Year 1, 27 instances of reference and in year 5 there were 39 such comments.

A Year 5 (10 year old) girl was shown a photograph to which she responded as follows: G I could tell it is a pond because of the roundness of shape be-cause ponds are generally quiet small ponds well you can get big ponds but that’s how I think of a pond with rushes on the grass and the pebbles. Uhm people have lots of ponds in their gardens uhm.. R Why do they have ponds? G It’s a water feature and looks very nice with lots of fish in it.. And then a few ripples I think of the fish making those ripples’ B That’s’ where I go fishing sometimes…. R Anything else about ponds? B Urm…. You’re only allowed to fish in certain time, cos, because of the swans come there, to come ponds in the summer Children were aware of how human activity can affect ponds deleteriously. B No, ‘cos sometimes people throw rubbish in the ponds and all the fish and the frogs die Children also saw the pond as an important human recreational object A 6-year-old boy from North London ‘Sometimes I see them in parks I saw a big one A 10-year-old girl commented, “Lakes like this, you are not allowed to fish and there are some-times signs like here (pointed to photo) and it says 'Please do not go fishing’ because sometimes it could harm the ducks. I was watching a program and. one man was fishing because he hurt a duck and he got a hook caught in its wing and hit was it was in real pain” Sometimes the pupils show that they have little under-standing of endemic fauna. “ A pond and its er... ducks live in it and there can be grass com-ing up from the pond, dirty there’s mud in there. Sometimes you can have alligators and crocodiles in them but that’s in other coun-tries. Ducks can go in them in the winter- er... summer..and you can fish some ponds yeah.. That’s it. There’s mostly ponds go in parks” The recreation is not always of the sort that I would deem appropriate! “Err they’ve got some grass and these like just like river you can throw stones”.

“I don’t like people who put rubbish on ponds and shopping trol-

Organ-isms Year 1 Year 5 Total

Ducks 6 6 12 Amphibi-ans (frogs, tadpoles, toads)

14 14 28

Fish 4 11 15 Inverte-brates (e.g. bugs, grasshop-per)

2 11 13

Other birds (e.g. heron)

2 4 6

Other verte-brate--s (e.g. fox)

2 4 6

Lily pads 1 6 7 Pond weed 6 4 10

Grass 10 4 14 Other plants/flowers

2 13 15

Trees 0 4 4 Living things 0 1 1

Birds 8 10 18 Verte-brates 28 39 67

Inverte-brates 2 11 13

Plants 19 31 50

Issue 33

19


T N E

leys”.

Human involvement appears in evidence again, as well as references to activities they have un-dertaken or seen elsewhere such as on television or in school, particularly in school grounds. As on the pre-visit, certain objects elicit an espe-cially high number of comments about organs. In particular, the squirrel leads to lots of mentions of nuts, seeds, twigs and leaves. The pond is again a major source of comments about whole organisms. Issues for conservation biology and science education It is evident from the comments made by chil-dren that a few of the children interviewed had a conservation ethic and felt strongly about the abuse of ponds as a dump for shopping trolleys and rubbish. More often children viewed the ponds they saw with their parents as a backdrop to their recreational activities. However, ponds at school were an important source of first hand biological observations and raise issues of the potential importance of nature areas in schools. Furthermore, many children had experience of human created recreational ponds in gardens and other children in the larger study talked about how a pond is constructed. A few children had an interest in recreational use of ponds such as fishing, or less in line with being a citizen, with throwing stones. However, the folklore and myth of ponds were also evident from the work. Children’s books perpetuate these myths and cartoon films in par-ticular- ponds have lily pads on which frogs sit is the most prevalent myth, which we heard. It would be a very useful project for biology edu-cation to interview children further about ponds and to explore the origin of these mental models with the children and whether they had any ac-tual evidence for this statement. That ducks live on ponds came out strongly from children as

well, again I consider developed from children’s books and films. Ponds have an important part to play in science education of both formal and informal nature. Edu-cators have a role to play in increasing public un-derstanding of the role of ponds and their fauna and flora. English children all learn about the tadpole and it metamorphosis into a frog, which probably accounts for the high incidence of frog being men-tioned in the responses. How an increase in public understanding is to be achieved is another issue but highlighting the occurrence of local ponds by the authorities in charge of them and providing infor-mation for the public is one initial step together with the awareness of warders in public parks of the potential for destructive activities from some sec-tors of the population. The featuring of ponds and their organisms in museum and zoo and aquaria exhibits is another route beginning to be taken. Ponds are a useful and readily available ecosystem to study and to introduce children to biodiversity and conservation biology. We need to take this message to the public and particularly to the educa-tion profession whom I see as key in developing this awareness. References

Boulter,C., Walkington,H., and Buckley,B. (2002) Collaborative model building within problem solving in field based ecology: The case of decay. Submitted to IJSE summer 2002

Issue 33

20

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Issue 33

Starters and Plenaries: Bats

Cat

Owl Bat

Use the three organisms below to play “Odd one Out”. Ask students to list the combinations of pairs and reasons

Primary

Owl: the others are mammals. Owl: the others have fur. Cat: the others fly. Cat: the others are nocturnal. Cat: the others are wild. Owl: the others often found in houses Misconceptions: Bats are birds with feathers

Change of details: Your Name___________________________________________________________________ Change of Address:____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________Post Code__________________________ Change/Addition of Email ______________________________________________________

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Please add my details to the mailing list Please remove my details from the mailing list

21


T N E Issue 33

Good quality information sheets are available on line through the Bat Conservation Trust, www.bats.org.uk /downloads/Helpline/Pipistrelle_Bat.qxd.pdf and Bat Detective: www.batdetective.com There are two families to which all bats belong. The Microchiroptera are small with large ears and the most likely bat to be seen. The Megachiroptera have larger eyes, feed on fruit and are more likely to be found in the Rainforests. More than 1,000 bat species account for almost a half of all mammal species. They are the only mammal capable of sustained flight. Like other mammals they have a pentadactyl limb although their digits are elongated. They are distributed widely and as far North as the Arctic circle. All 17 of the British Bats are Insectivores. Like all bats they rely on echolocation for navigation and hunting. Bats are becoming more common and dependant on man for the creation of roosts and breeding spaces using small spaces in housing crevices. Bats provide a useful tool for teaching a range of GCSE concepts.

Secondary

The Ecology of Bats: True or False

True False

1. The Pipistrelle is the most common bat in the UK _____ _____

2. Bats will get tangled in your hair and you’ll need to go to hospital _____ _____

3. Bats use echolocation to navigate during the day _____ _____

4. Bats and their roosts are protected under UK law _____ _____

5. Bats live in caves _____ _____

6. It is illegal in the UK to damage, destroy or block access to any place that a bat uses for shelter or protection _____ _____

7. Bats do not lay eggs but give birth to live young which feed on their mothers milk _____ _____

8. Bats have a wing which has a adapted from the same basic structure as the human hand and arm _____ _____

9. Bats in the UK feed on blood from humans and animals _____ _____

10. Bats are active throughout the year _____ _____

22

T N E


Issue 33

The Journal of Biological Educa-tion, Volume 40, Number 3, Sum-mer 2006 includes two papers on the preconceptions and understand-

ing of students in Ecology and the importance of out of school experiences to student interest in Biology. Sander et al are the authors of “Towards a better understanding of Ecology” which discusses the confu-sion that arises out of students everyday understanding of scientific concepts and their variance with scien-tific ones. The results demonstrate students consider the terms community and ecosystem to be synonymous with each other, distinguished from each other according to their size. This understanding shows the tendency of students’ perception to visible characteristics and discounts the abiotic components of the ecosystem. Students also tend to associate relationships with ecosystems and communities with spe-cific reference to feeding relationships and concept of preservation of life guarded by the balance of relationships. Students perceive balance in this context to be the norm and a positive, where as present ecological theories assume that imbalance is the norm. While students understand that climate affects species distribution they do not recognise the effect of or-ganisms on the abiotic environment. Uitto et al consolidate much of the previously existing literature in their paper, “Students interest in biol-

In the Journals:

Of interest to TEN readers will be the following Papers from the Journal of Ecology: Ecosystem science and human–environment interactions in the Hawaiian archipelago PETER VI-TOUSEK, Vol 94 p510 The Park Grass Experiment 1856–2006: its contribution to ecology JONATHAN SILVERTOWN, PAUL POULTON, EDWARD JOHNSTON, GRANT EDWARDS, MATTHEW HEARD, PAMELA M. BISS, Vol 94 p801 The oldest ecological experiment founded to answer agricultural experiments has recently shown how plant species richness , biomass and pH are related and has demonstrated the evolution of adaptation. And from the Journal of applied Ecology Does pond quality limit frogs Rana arvalis and Rana temporaria in agricultural landscapes? A field experiment JON LOMAN and BJÖRN LARDNER, Vol43 p690 An extension to any pond study for gifted and talented students, this paper investigates water quality in farmland as a possible factor in frog populations. The summary provides a useful starting point for stu-dents to consider alternative investigations.

Abstracts for all papers can be accessed through http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

23


T N E Issue 33

A City of the Future? New scientist, Ecopolis 17 June 2006. 17 June 2006 issue of New Scientist

covered the future role of cities in development of a sustainable way of life. With the UN population prediction that next year will see more people living in cities than rural areas, resolution of the environmental problems due to city living are essential. In a world where many cities have been designed and built on an assumption of unlimited resources and around cars rather than people, the greening of cities is based on two key principles; recycle as much as possible and cut car use to a minimum with emphasis placed on increasing public transport and redesigning cities to integrate residential and commercial areas to reduce transport, in this way cities can expand around multiple centres and this strategy is al-ready being adopted in such cities as Mexico City. With a choice of existing eco-projects to take inspiration from China is about embark on the creation of a purpose built eco-city. Dongtan, 20 minutes from Shanghai will take shape as a low rise development surrounded by forest, organic farms, lakes and golf courses. It promises to be a zero pollution, car free, renewable-energy powered, sewage recycling city which will coincidentally protect millions of birds visiting the local wetlands. Climate Many governments are emitting far more methane carbon dioxide and Nitrous oxides than they declare according to the New Scientist (24th June). Under Kyoto agreements, emissions are calculated by adding up estimates from indi-vidual sources. Evidence is now being gathered that these estimates are low, especially for methane and the UK may be among the worst. Having conducted a separate study Peter Bergamashi of the European Commission Joint Research Centre (Italy) told New Scientist that the UK appears to be badly under reporting methane bubbling out of landfill sites. His findings have been backed up by Euan Nesbit of Royal Holloway University of London. Irina Marinov reports in Nature 22nd June on the importance of the southern ocean in removing carbon dioxide from

Ecology hits the Headlines

Higher Education? Bright Ideas? Come along to the education stand at the:

Annual Meeting, Oxford

5-7th September

and share your thoughts with us.

In Brief: Aliens are invading Antarctica, the North Atlantic Spider crab has arrived on the continent via ships ballast as well as other invertebrates, microbes and grasses New Scientist 1 July Rates of extinction in bird species are up to 4 times higher than previously estimated. New Scientist 8 July Kristin France reports on the effect of migration and immigration on the sta-bility of ecosystems. Although earlier studies indicate that greater biodiver-sity leads to greater stability, France found that this is not always the case. Results should help conservationists working with increasingly fragmented habitats. Nature 29 June This years drought has seen algal blooms increase across the nation with more than a 100 instances already reported with added issues caused by increased flows of seawater upstream rivers and concentrated effects of agricultural pollutants. Guardian 10 August The Independent reports on a National Trust invention nicknamed the bat flap designed especially for the lesser horseshoe bat which unlike other bats needs to be able to fly directly into its roost.

24

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Issue 33

Pdf file supplied

25


T N E Issue 33

ImageBank Photographic Competition 2006

A chance to win £500, and an opportunity for your images to be included in ImageBank.

ImageBank is an online collection of Bioscience images provided by the Centre for Bioscience free and copyright cleared for use in learning and teaching. All major Bioscience subject areas are covered and there are images of representatives of most taxonomic groups. From algae to elephants, from laboratory equip-ment to agricultural techniques – all these and much more are available for you to download from Image-Bank. We now have almost 5000 Bioscience images, in ImageBank, with new images being added all the time. We recognise the importance of our collection being up-to-date and covering a wide range of topics, so we are running a photographic competition which reflects current themes in Bioscience. All images entered for the competition will be considered for inclusion in ImageBank, so why not enter our competition and help us enhance our image collection? The theme of the ImageBank 2006 Photographic Competition is: Bioscience in Action.

We are asking entrants to the competition for high quality images which illustrate an aspect of Bioscience in which they are involved. The images may be of laboratory or field work; they may show methods or proc-esses used for collection of data; or the relationship between an organism and its habitat. Or you can create an image showing aspects of learning and teaching Bioscience. In fact you can enter any image which you consider captures the excitement and interest of Bioscience in Action. We are offering some seriously tempting prizes – a first prize of £500, and second and third prizes of £200 and £100, so it’s well worth having a go. In addition all images entered in the Competition will be considered for inclusion in ImageBank, so this is an opportunity to share your images with the Bioscience community. The competition is open to anyone with an interest in Bioscience. You can find further details about the com-petition, the Competition rules, and an entry form on the ImageBank web site at: http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/imagebank/ So why not take this opportunity to share your interest in Bioscience with others, and perhaps win one of our prizes? For further details please contact us at: ImageBank Centre for Bioscience The Higher Education Academy Room 8.49n Worsley Building University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT Tel: 0113 343 3001 Fax: 0113343 5894

Dr

Brian W

ilson

© B

rian

Wils

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Issue 33

Harrowgate Hill Primary School has proudly held the ‘Eco-Schools’ green flag since 1999, though ecological work has been going on here for many years. One of our most successful and lo-cally ‘famous’ projects has been a harvest mouse breeding project. This area is about at the northern edge of the harvest mouse’s range, though there is a small population around Edinburgh. Being so small – they weigh about as much as a 20p coin - they find it difficult to maintain their body temperature in northerly loca-tions. Along with other satellite breeders, we have worked closely with Stockton Borough Council to breed and release harvest mice into the area. We have now released hundreds of mice into a number of local reserves, and the project has also exported mice to Manchester and Cheshire. Our children are always very en-thusiastic about the programme, and I feel that

they have gained a great deal from being involved with it. We recently moved into a new building, and so, the grounds around the school are still very raw. However, we take this as an opportunity to ‘paint on a blank canvas’ and are working hard to make the school as ecologically friendly

as possible. We are lucky in the fact that our school bor-ders a large park and cemetery, and is not too far from the urban/rural fringe of the town. We have many ideas for the improvements we’d like to see. Our first project will be to in-

stall new bird, bat and insect boxes around the school’s ‘wild area’. We intend to install boxes for small and large hole nesters, open-fronted nesters, wedge nests for tree creepers, and also some larger boxes for such birds such as kestrel, tawny and little owl. Bat boxes will be fixed to trees, in appropriate positions, to provide roosting for winter and summer. A hedgehog box, red and blue mason bee and bumblebee boxes are all awaiting instal-

lation. We also intend to make ladybird hibernators from brashings. Bending thin branches into loops and tying them with wire will create spi-der loops. I am hoping to persuade the

groundsmen to build an artificial fox earth for me, as we have a pair of foxes using our land. We’ll plant bramble over it, to provide lie-up cover. It would be wonderful if they chose to breed in our grounds. (Note: I know foxes are supposed to carry certain diseases, but they’ve used our ground for over 20 years, and we’ve had no problems so far.) I plan to acquire either an HP C20 or C30 or a Konica QM100 camera, attach a PIR burglar alarm sensor, and try to get nocturnal shots of our foxes, as they come and go. (Note: The local badger group, of which I am chairman, has suc-cessfully used these with badgers and foxes.) A large pond, with pond-dipping platform is in the process of being built, with an ac-companying dragonfly scrape. Plants we hope to include could be: Aquatic; white, yellow or fringed water lily, broad-leaved pond weed, amphibious bistort, water crowfoot, frogbit, water soldier, water starwort, hornwort, water milfoil, curly pondweed. Emergent (15/60cm deep); flowering rush, bog bean, greater spearwort, bur reed, lesser reed-mace. (Avoid greater reedmace and floating

Harrowgate Hil l Primary School, Dar lington.

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sweetgrass.) Marginals; (<15cm deep) water plantain, yellow iris, water mint, water forget-me-not, marsh mari-gold, brooklime, lesser spearwort, water violet. Marsh plants; marsh marigold, fritillary, bugle, water avens, yellow loosestrife, bird’s eye prim rose, hemp agrimony, meadowsweet, common valerian, ragged robin, creeping jenny, purple loosestrife, devil’s bit scabious, meadow butter-cup, marsh woundwort, grass of Parnassus and lady’s smock. Around this, we intend to build a log pile, to provide food and shelter for invertebrates, (and, of course, food for birds, etc!), and a stone pile to provide shelter for small mam-mals. Tree trunks could also be placed around the school, to rot down. We plan to plant a spring/summer wildflower meadow, with such plants as cornfield annuals, etc. The ‘wild area’ being a large area of wood-land/grassland ecotone, will be planted up with woodland flowers, to include such plants as: Shade; woodruff, green hellebore, lungwort, ram-sons, water avens, wood avens, wild angelica, wood sorrel, wood spurge, oxlip, sweet violet. lily of the valley, snowdrop, wood anemone, prim-rose, wild daffodil, bluebell, nettle-leaved bell-flower, bugle, sheep’s bit scabious, red campion, betony, hedge woundwort, wood cranesbill, aqui-legia. Partial light/dappled shade; yellow archangel, wild arum, herb Robert, greater stitchwort, com-mon dog violet, perforate St. John’s wort, tufted vetch, hedge bedstraw, ground ivy, white dead-nettle, lesser celandine, sweet cicely, rough cher-vil, germander speedwell, bugle, wild strawberry, Solomon’s seal, wood anemone, primrose, wild daffodil, bluebell, nettle-leaved bellflower, devil’s bit scabious, hedgerow cranesbill, betony, hedge woundwort, red campion, foxglove. I am lucky in having practical help from Dur-ham Wildlife Trust, who come into school to run our Wildlife Club. The club members are strain-ing at the leash to get started planting and erect-

ing! Further projects are planned for the future. Funding for these projects comes from a number of sources. We collect money from par-ents at events such as Christmas Concerts*. We also raise money by recycling clothing through the ‘Bags2School’ scheme. We get around £2 per tonne of any old clothes the children can bring in. We also recycle mobile phones through ‘Fones4Schools’ (http://www.fones4schools.co.uk/). They will also, from time to time, take recycled printer cartridges, for which they’ll pay £1 per car-tridge, regardless of make. By G Temby

Harrowgate Hill Primary school was awarded an ecologi-cal education grant for the further development of their school grounds in March 2006.

© Jonathan Cheah Weng Kwong

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