National Trust
Knightshayes lesson plan
Subject:
Workshop title:
Key stage:
Duration:
Science
Let’s Investigate:
habitats
KS1 (yrs. 1-2) and
lower KS2 (Yr3)
1.5 hrs.
Materials list:
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Magnifying glasses x15
Paper booklets x 30
Pencils x 30
tree mats x 6
squirrel costumes (hats and tails) x 6
wet-wipes pack x 1
antibacterial hand foam x 2 pumps
Vocabulary checklist:
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Habitat (a natural environment or home of a
variety of plants and animals)
Micro-habitat (a very small habitat, for example
for woodlice under stones, logs or leaf litter)
Native
Observe
Prey
Predator
Record
Worksheets:
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Habitats booklet
50 things links:
30 hold a scary beast
31 hunt for bugs
36 make a home for a wild
animal
VAK checklist:
Visual – looking closely,
recording finds using
drawings, taking pictures.
Auditory - questioning, pair
work, discussion, open ended
questions.
Kinaesthetic - dressing up and
role-play, using tools and
specialist equipment,
searching out animals, games.
Learning outcomes for 2014:
KS curriculum links 2014:
In this session pupils will:
 use simple and technical scientific vocabulary
and understand its meaning
 make close observations using equipment
 gather and record data to help answer questions
 work co-operatively with others and discuss
their findings
 ask questions about the world around them
 identify and name a variety of common animals
Science
-Animals including humans
-Living things and their habitats
Art
-use a range of drawing
techniques to share ideas and
 identify and name a variety of animals in their
habitats, including micro-habitats
experiences
- record what they observe
through drawing
P.E.
-take part in outdoor and
adventurous activity challenges
both individually and within a
team
-enjoy communicating,
collaborating and competing
with each other
H+S considerations:
Outdoor learning risks See Risk Assessment for further detail.
Workshop outline:
Timings
Introduction:
10mins
Welcome to Knightshayes
Discuss favourite animals
Vocabulary: observe – explain what this is
Vocabulary: habitat – what this means
Vocabulary: native – animals found in Britain
Main session:
15mins
Introduce outdoor session + materials we will use. How to use observation
and recording devices.
Prepare to go outdoors and ground rules for outdoor activities.
Main activity:
Move outside to garden in the wood
Observe animals and note habitats: why they are appropriate
Vocabulary: predator and prey
Discuss predator/prey relationship
25mins
Vocabulary: record
Record observed creatures and habitats into workbook-20mins
Ask to record questions to be discussed later.
Mini plenary:
10mins
Children and adults go back indoors-appropriate way to move around the site
highlighted.
Questions about what they observed/recorded
Vocabulary: micro-habitats. Micro means small and habitat means home.
Examples of micro habitats and why they are appropriate
Activity 2:
15mins
Habitats taken away or being destroyed-example of trees
Questions: what would happen and why?
Game: musical oak trees
– 6 children chosen to be squirrels (dress up)
- 6 oak tree mats as bases
When music plays squirrels need to jump on oak tree base (gradually remove)
Children see how there is overcrowding and eventually that they must leave
to find a new home/habitat
Plenary:
15mins
Importance of protecting animal habitats
Recall vocabulary and definitions
Explain 50 things and give out booklets-tick off three ‘50 things’ they have
completed.
I have given your teacher a pack of things you might want try back at school.
Have a lovely rest of the day.
(1 hour 30m)
Extensions for school: moving towards KS2
1. Science and D+T - Make your own habitats
50 things No.36 - make a home for a wild animal.
Now you know more about animal habitats create a habitat for mini-beasts at school using junk
model materials. Create suitable microhabitats while in the classroom. Add fruit/vegetables to
attract mini-beasts. Leave them outside in place that will not be disturbed. Go back later and
observe what you have found. Record types and quantity of insects using a tally chart.
Discuss why some habitats were better than others. Compare results and evaluate your habitats.
Suggest how they could be improved for the future.
2. Art and D+T
Using your drawn pictures and photos design and then build an insect. Think about textures and
how natural found materials can replicate them. This can be individual projects or a class
collaborative project.
3. Literacy - write in the viewpoint of another.
Write about being a squirrel which is losing its home because the trees are being taken away. This
could be a diary, a poster or an information leaflet using persuasive vocabulary.
4. Literacy and numeracy
Make a picture book with note annotations of your day. Order your sections of the day. Use the
pictures as a visual clue.
5. Numeracy - data handling
Create pictogram of range of habitats found today and animals in that habitat.
Discuss findings and what the pictogram shows you.
6. Food chains
Explore the link between predators prey, moving onto food chains. Introduce vocab of producers
and consumers. Play a food chain game. Using masks of producers and consumers children act out
the food chain. Link back to the sun as a producer for plants and introduce nutrient exchange.
Computer game to reinforce learning: http://www.brainpop.co.uk/games/foodchaingame/