FIELD STUDIES COUNCIL
Epping Forest Field Centre
KS2 (Lower) Living Things and their Habitats
Programme description
A new programme which raises awareness of the importance of conserving biodiversity at an early age, enhances
learners' understanding of their local outdoor environment and increases awareness of human impacts which can
change environments and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things. Pupils will identify and name a
variety of plants and animals using identification keys and recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of
ways. They will also be able to construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and
prey and how these may be affected by changing environments.
Activities include: Pond dipping, Classification (sorting and grouping), Identification using classification keys, Food
chain sort cards, bat and moth game: investigating the effect of noise pollution, Visitor impact investigation.
Programme outline
Pre-Course work
Please check the ‘Pre and Post Course Learning’ on our website for the most recent work.
Course Outline: please note that the order of activities is subject to change
Recommended Start:
10:00
Activity
Outcomes
Objectives
Classification Introduction
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Describe the objectives of the day
Set specification linked learning objectives for the course
Students understand that animals can be sorted into groups based on observable
characteristics
Pupils sort a collection of living things into their own groups and justify the groups they
have chosen
Dip correctly, safely and ethically
Find a range of animals that live in the pond and identify that they are different
Pupils sort the animals they have found into groups using the knowledge of grouping
they gained previously
Pupils can describe how animals are suited to their habitats
Pupils can create food chains using 3, 4 or 5 contributors
Pupils can describe the effect if one of the animals was removed
Suggest reasons why visitors come to Epping Forest
Investigate how trampling can affect the environment
Plan a practical investigation and make hypotheses
Collect appropriate data
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Search for minibeasts correctly, safely and ethically
Find a range of animals that live in woodland environments
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Pond Dipping
Pond Classification and
Identification
Food Chain Sort Cards
Introduction to Visitor Impact
Visitor Impact Investigation
Minibeast Hunt
Recommended Finish:
14:00
Epping Forest Field Centre
Epping Forest Field Centre
Paul’s Nursery Road, High Beech, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4AF
Phone: 020 8502 8500 Website: http://www.field-studies-council.org/
Learning Objectives
All Learners will
Most Learners will
Some Learners will
Work scientifically.
Identify some key characteristics that
can be used to group living things.
Identify a number of characteristics that
can be used to create increasing
numbers of groups
Recognise that living things can be
grouped in a variety of ways.
Explore and use classification keys to
help group, identify and name a variety
of living things found.
Describe the effects of a changing
environment on a habitat
Create a food chain using all the key
words
Recognise that environments can change
and that this can sometimes pose
dangers to living things.
Describe the direct human impacts on a
habitat and on one specific animal
Create a food web with multiple
producers, herbivores and carnivores
Describe how all living things within an
ecosystem are dependent on one
another
Construct and interpret a variety of food
chains, identifying producers, predators
and prey.
Key Questions
Key Words
Assessment
What is a classification? How can we sort
living things into groups?
Classification
Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds and
Mammals
Invertebrate, Vertebrate
Flowering plants, Non flowering plants
Human impacts
Predator, Prey
Producer, Herbivore, Carnivore,
Omnivore
Learners will be initially and dynamically
assessed through questioning.
What is a carnivore, herbivore and an
omnivore?
What is a producer, predator and prey?
What positive / negative effects do
humans have on the environment?
What characteristics can be used to
organise living things into groups?
How will a change to an environment
pose dangers to living things?
Describe how an ecosystem is
interdependent
By doing pond investigations are we
harming the wildlife?
What threats do animals face within
their habitats?
Epping Forest Field Centre
Epping Forest Field Centre
Paul’s Nursery Road, High Beech, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4AF
Phone: 020 8502 8500 Website: http://www.field-studies-council.org/
Learners will be provided with
opportunities throughout the course to
assess their own understanding and that
of others in order to facilitate self and
peer review.
Post-Course work
Please check the ‘Pre and Post Course Learning’ on our website for the most recent work.
Curriculum Links
Links to Science Key Stage 2 (lower) Programmes of Study: Living Things and their Habitats and Animals, including
Humans
Epping Forest Field Centre
Epping Forest Field Centre
Paul’s Nursery Road, High Beech, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4AF
Phone: 020 8502 8500 Website: http://www.field-studies-council.org/