Habitat Explorers
Searching for life in the Woodland
(KS1)
Self-guided acvies at ZSL London Zoo
Secon 1: Year 2 Students
1.
Includes: pre visit, onsite and post visit acvies, plus an Invertebrate ID Sheet
2.
Naonal Curriculum links: Living things and their habitats, Working Scienfically
3.
Intended learning outcomes: Gain an understanding of the term ‘habitat’,
Correctly idenfy and name living things
Secon 2: High Ability Year 2 Students
1.
Includes: pre visit, onsite and post visit acvies, plus a Micro-habitat
Invertebrate ID Sheet
2.
Naonal Curriculum links: Living things and their habitats, Working Scienfically,
Stascs (Mathemacs)
3.
Intended learning outcomes: Gain an understanding of the term ‘habitat’ and
what a micro-habitat is, Correctly idenfy and name living things, Use senses to
idenfy environmental condions and find and idenfy living things, Begin to
gain an understanding that living things live in habitats they are suited to
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
Location: Woodland Walk (map ref C2 to F2)
National Curriculum links 2014:
Science - Year 2 programme of study
Living things and their habitats
 identify and name a variety of plants and animals in
their habitats
 identify that most things live in habitats to which they
are suited
Working Scientifically
 observation
 recording simple data
Intended learning outcomes:
ZSL London Zoo’s Woodland Walk (Copyright ©ZSL)
Pupils will:
 Gain an understanding of the term ‘habitat’ using the
woodland habitat at ZSL London Zoo
 Correctly identify and name living things in a woodland habitat at ZSL London Zoo using an identification sheet
Woodland Walk activity at ZSL London Zoo
1. Pre-visit activity at school OR before students begin activity in the Zoo visit:
Resources needed:

Pictures of different habitats such as polar, desert, rainforest/jungle, woodland, coral reef, sandy beach, rocky
shore, river, field
Determine pupil prior knowledge about what a habitat is. Present students with pictures of habitats to prompt
observation they represent different kinds of environments. Ask students to identify different features of each
habitat.
Key questions
 How are these pictures similar or different?
 Can you name different things that you can see in the picture?
 Does anybody know what a habitat is?
 Can anybody give an example of a habitat?
Habitat = The natural home of an animal, plant, or other living thing
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
2. Woodland Walk activity at ZSL London Zoo:
Resources needed:




Printed Woodland Walk identification tick list – one per pair (‘1. Invertebrate ID Sheet - KS1 Woodland Walk’
from ZSL website)
Pencils or pens
Clipboards – one per pair if possible
Cameras to take photographs of living things on the Woodland Walk
Expectations of behaviour on Woodland Walk
 Stay together and in your pair
 Stick to the path, but you can move a little bit either side of the path but be careful not to stand on any plants
 If you lift a rock or log to look under it then make sure put it back where you found it
 Walk slowly and take your time to record information and see what you can find
 Everyone waits when they have finished the walk to make sure everyone leaves together
‘What living things can we find on the Woodland Walk?’
1. Go through the behaviour expectations for group in the Woodland Walk.
2. Pupils are divided into pairs and led on a walk along the Woodland Walk. One pupil has the ID tick sheet and
pencil. If possible/appropriate, the other pupil has a camera.
3. If moving slowly enough to record the data, this walk should take 20-30 minutes. As the pair walks along the
path they tick off any living things they see, giving a running tally and notes of where it was found and take a
photo if possible. If they find any extra living things that are not on the ID tick sheet, they can add their own
notes on the reverse side of the sheet. Where safe to do so, please encourage pupils to turn over small rocks,
logs and leaves, but to make sure they put them back where they were.
4. At the end of the walk, adults can ask pupils to share what they have found before collecting the sheets to
talk about back at school.
Extension - There is an extension ID sheet for trees from the Open Air Laboratory (OPAL www.opalexplorenature.org/sites/default/files/7/file/Tree-Health-Survey-Tree-ID-guide-WEB.pdf) if pupils would like
to work in trios with the third student collecting leaves for identification. This could also be used if adults want to
work one on one with particular pupils.
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
3. Post-visit activity at school after ZSL London Zoo:
Resources needed at the school:



Printed out pictures of any photos taken of living things
Poster card – possibly in green, brown, blue and other colours
Glue
Key questions
 What did you find on the Woodland Walk?
 Did you find the same number of each living thing on the walk? Why do you think that is?
 Where did you find each living thing (i.e. flying in the sky, on a tree, on the ground, under a rock)? Do all living
things on the Woodland Walk live in the same place? Why do you think that is?
 What would happen if all the trees were taken out of the Woodland Walk?
 What do the different living things eat? Do any of them eat any other living things?
Pupils can build a collage using their own pictures to represent the living things and where they were found on the
Woodland Walk.
Extension – Ask pupils if they know of any feeding relationships between any of the living things found. This
connection could be marked by a line on the collage to indicate food chains – supporting an early understanding of
this concept.
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
Found it?
How many?
Where?
Found it?
Spider
Woodlouse
Slug
Earthworm
Millipede
Ladybird
Bumblebee
Butterfly
Bird
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2) Invertebrate Identification Sheet
Snail
Ant
Centipede
Fly
Wasp
Squirrel
Dragonfly
How many?
Where?
How many?
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2) Invertebrate Identification Sheet
Found it?
Where?
Found it?
How many?
Where?
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
HIGHER ABILITY ACTIVITY
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
Location: Woodland Walk (map ref C2 to F2)
National Curriculum links (2014):
Science - Year 2 programme of study
Living things and their habitats:
 identify and name a variety of plants and animals
in their habitats
 identify that most things live in habitats to which
they are suited
Working scientifically:
 Observation
 recording simple data
Mathematics - Year 2 programme of study
Statistics:
 interpret and construct simple tables
Intended learning outcomes:
ZSL London Zoo’s Woodland Walk (Copyright ©ZSL)
Pupils will:
 Gain an understanding the term ‘habitat’ using the woodland habitat at ZSL London Zoo
 Gain an understanding of what a micro-habitat is, using micro-habitats in a woodland habitat
 Use senses to identify the environmental conditions in a woodland habitat
 Correctly Identify living things in a woodland habitat at ZSL London Zoo using an identification sheet
 Use senses to find and identify living things in a woodland micro-habitat
 Begin to gain an understanding that living things live in habitats they are suited to
Woodland Walk activity at ZSL London Zoo
1. Pre-visit activity at school OR before students begin activity in the Zoo visit:
Resources needed:

Pictures of different habitats such as polar, desert, rainforest/jungle, woodland, coral reef, sandy beach, rocky
shore, river, field
Determine pupil prior knowledge about what a habitat is. Present students with pictures of habitats to prompt
observation they represent different kinds of environments. Ask students to identify different features of each habitat.
Key questions
 How are these pictures similar or different?
 Can you name different things that you can see in the picture?
 Does anybody know what a habitat is?
 Can anybody give an example of a habitat?
Habitat = The natural home of an animal, plant, or other living thing
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
2. Woodland Walk activity at ZSL London Zoo:
Resources needed:





Identification tick lists printed from ZSL website (‘2. Microhabitat Invertebrate ID sheet - KS1 Woodland Walk
from ZSL Wesite)
Note books or paper to record pupil observations
Pencils or pens
Clipboards – one per pair if possible
Cameras to take photographs of living things and micro-habitats on the Woodland Walk
Expectations of behaviour on Woodland Walk
 Stay together and in your pair
 Stick to the path, but you can move a little bit either side of the path but be careful not to stand on any plants
 If you lift a rock or log to look under it then make sure put it back where you found it
 Walk slowly and take your time to record information and see what you can find
 Everyone waits when they have finished the walk to make sure everyone leaves together
‘What living things can we find on the Woodland Walk and where?’
1. Go through the behaviour expectations for group in the Woodland Walk.
2. Pupils are put in pairs and each is assigned to explore one micro-habitat from:
 Under a log
 Under a rock or stones
 Under leaf litter
 On a tree
 In a patch of long grass
3. Encourage pupils to use all their senses to explore the micro-habitat together.
SMELL: Does it smell nice/not very nice? Can you smell fresh air? Flowers? Damp/wet smell? Soil?
TOUCH: Is it shady and cool/open to the weather? Damp/dry? Rough or smooth?
HEAR: (Encourage pupils to be really quiet) How many different animal noises? Any other noises (e.g. traffic)?
SEE: (Encourage pupils to look very closely and carefully) What things can you see? Anything else?
4. If moving slowly enough to record their data, this walk should take 20-30 minutes. As the pair walks along the
path to find and explore their particular micro-habitat, they tick off any living things they see, giving a running
tally. If they find any extra living things that are not on the ID tick sheet, they can add their own notes on the
reverse side of the sheet. The second pupil can write/draw each observation they make using their senses in a
notebook or on paper. Where safe to do so, please encourage students to turn over small rocks, logs and
leaves, but to make sure they put them back where they were.
5. At the end of the walk, adults can ask students to share what they have found before collecting the sheets to
talk about back at school.
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
3. Post-visit activity at school after ZSL London Zoo:
Resources needed:





Table drawn on the board to record information about ‘senses’ of each micro-habitat
Giant Venn diagram (drawn on board) labelled with the different micro-habitats (OR 3-5 plastic hoops to create
a Venn diagram with – one for each micro-habitat)
Printed out pictures of any photos taken of living things
Poster card – possibly in green, brown, blue
Glue
Key questions
 What did you smell, touch, hear, see in your micro-habitat?
 What did you find in your micro-habitat on the Woodland Walk?
 Why are different plants and animals found in different habitats?
a. What is it like in the micro-habitat?
Ask students to share what micro-habitat they explored and the information recorded about the things they could see,
touch, hear and smell. Record the information in a table such as the one below. Compare what was found in the
different micro-habitats.
Micro-habitat
Smell
Touch
Hear
See
Under a log
Under a rock
or stones
Under leaf
litter
On a tree
Long grass
b. Living things in different micro-habitats
Ask each pair what living things they found in their micro-habitat and ticked off on the identification sheet. Attach the
student pictures of living things to the labelled Venn, moving the picture as needed as each pair gives their findings
(e.g. ant from log section to overlapping log, tree and long grass section).
Ask the students to describe the different conditions and different living things in each habitat. Ask them to offer
suggestions about why they are found in different micro-habitats. If needed, explain to the students that different
living things live in particular environments depending on what suits them – some prefer shady conditions, some prefer
exposure to sunlight, specific food preferences, damp or dry etc.
c. Building a picture of the whole woodland habitat
Students can also build a collage using their own pictures to represent the living things and the micro-habitats where
they were found on the Woodland Walk. By building a complete picture, students can gain an understanding of how a
habitat is composed of different micro-habitats.
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2)
Self-guided activity at ZSL London Zoo
Name: ________________________________________
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2—HIGHER ABILITY)
Microhabitat / Invertebrate Identification Sheet
My microhabitat is: _____________________________
What can you smell?
How does it feel?
What can you hear?
What can you see?... (please turn over to add any other living things you find)
Found it?
Woodlouse
How many?
Found it?
Where?
Spider
Snail
Slug
Earthworm
Ant
How many?
Where?
How many?
A walk in woodland habitat (KS1 – Year 2 HIGHER ABILITY) Microhabitat / Invertebrate Identification Sheet
Found it?
Where?
Found it?
How many?
Where?