Sources & further reading • Books • Official & Government publications • Teaching packs • Information leaflets • Online sources • Useful websites - For teachers and leaders - For children
a joint project
Books Carol Petrash, Earthwise – Environmental crafts and activities with young children, Floris Books (1993) Peter McHoy, How to garden, Lorenz Books (1997) Chris Baines, How to make a wildlife garden, Francis Lincoln (2000 Revised) Josie Briggs, Creating small habitats for wildlife, Guild of Master Craftsmen publications (2000) Susan Berger, Allotment Gardening – An organic guide for beginners, Green Books (2005) Maggi Brown, Growing naturally – A Teacher’s Guide to Organic Gardening, Southgate Publishers Ltd (1996) Dr Tony Smith (Ed.), The British Medical Association Complete Family Health Encyclopaedia, Dorling Kindersley (1990) C.W.H. Havard (Ed.), Black’s Medical Dictionary 36th Edition, A & C Black (Publishers) Limited (1990) J. Hunken, Ecology for all ages, Globe Pequot (1994) Peter A. Please, Children’s Gardening, Horticultural therapy (1991) Alan Smith, Creative Outdoor Work with Young people, Russell House Publishing Ltd, (1994) Jane De’ath and Anne Heaton, Wildlife Watch – Coast, The Wildlife Trusts (revised 2004) Jane De’ath and Anne Heaton, Wildlife Watch – Ocean The Wildlife Trusts (revised 2004) Steve Van Matre and Bruce Johnson, Earthkeepers, IEE (1988) Sue Fitzjohn, Minda Weston and Judy Large, Festivals Together, Hawthorn Press (1993) The Woodcraft Folk, Games, Games, Games I, Oxfam Publishing (1989) Michael Chinery, Garden Creepy Crawlies, Whittet Books (1986) Matthew R. Bennett, Peter Doyle, Jonathon G. Larwood and Colin D. Prosser, Geology on your Doorstep, The Geological Society (1996) Joy Palmer and Philip Neal, The Handbook for Environmental Education, Routledge (1994) Joseph Cornell and Michael Deranja, Journey to the Heart of Nature, Dawn (1995) Mildred Masheder, Let’s Enjoy Nature, Green print (1994) David Barne, Nature Activities, Bug Hunter, Dorling Kindersley (2005) Ben Morgans, Nature Activities, Rock and Fossil Hunter, Dorling Kindersley (2005) Jean Potter, Nature in a Nutshell for Kids, Wiley (1995) Geoff Sample, Nature safari, Collins (2003) Joseph Cornell, Sharing the Joy of Nature, Dawn (1989) Joseph Bharat Cornell, Sharing Nature with Children, Exley (1989) Steve Van Matre, Sunship Earth, IEE (1979) The Wildlife Trusts, Wildlife Watch - Young Voices Mildred Masheder, Windows to Nature, WWFUK (1995) Tony Pearce, Exploring Woodlands, Wheaton Education (1990) LTL, Gill Thomas, Science in the School grounds, Southgate Publishers Ltd (1992) English Heritage Education Team, Using the Evidence of the Historic Environment A Teachers Guide, English Heritage (2004)
Official & Government publications Mark Rickinson, Justin Dillon, Kelly Teamey, Marian Morris, Mee Young Choi, Dawn Sanders, Pauline Benefield, A review of research on outdoor learning, National Foundation for Educational Research and Kings College: Field Studies Council (2004) Department for Education and Skills, Learning outside the classroom Manifesto, DfES Publications (2006) Growing schools, The growing year 2004/2005 calendar, DfES Publications (2004) Real World Learning Partnership, Out-of-Classroom Learning – Practical information and guidance for schools and teachers, RSPB
Teaching packs Steve Van Matre, Earth Walks, Acclimatization Experience Institute Kew Gardens, Green Inheritance London Historic Parks and Gardens Trust, London Park Discovery Project 2000, Project pack WWF Primary, Planning and Evaluation of Environmental Education David Allen, Tilbury Energy and Environmental Centre UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education programme, Environmental Education Series 21, Environmental Education Activities for Primary Schools, UNESCO (1992) London Wildlife Trust, Wild Seasons, Numbers 1 to 30
Information leaflets Royal Horticultural Society, Activities and ideas for gardening clubs, Royal Horticultural Society Advisory Leaflet Royal Horticultural Society, Gardening in school, Royal Horticultural Society Curricular Education Section
Online sources Department for Education and Skills, Growing Schools www.teachernet.gov.uk/growingschools
Garden Organic www.gardenorganic.org.uk
The Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk
Urban Harvest www.urbanharvest.org
Department for Education and Skills, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, The National Curriculum for England, (Published 1999) www.nc.uk.net
RSPB www.rspb.org.uk
www.butterflygarden.co.uk www.butterflygarden.co.uk
British Garden Birds www.garden-birds.co.uk
Health and Safety Executive www.hse.gov.uk
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children www.nspcc.org.uk
The Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk
The Wildlife Trusts www.wildlifetrusts.org
London Wildlife Trust www.wildlondon.org.uk
English Nature www.english-nature.org.uk/science/nature_for_schools
Learning Through Landscapes, LTL www.ltl.org.uk
Forest Education Initiative, FEI www.foresteducation.org/learning_resources.php
The Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk/yourenv
National Association for Environmental Education (UK) www.naee.org.uk
Naturenet www.naturenet.net/education
The Woodland Trust www.woodland-trust.org.uk/summer
Woodcraft Folk www.woodcraft.org.uk
Forestry Commission www.forestry.gov.uk/learning
Useful websites The following websites may be of use when planning lessons, outdoor activities or to find out more about wildlife, gardening or environmental topics, individually or as a class. They have been grouped initially by who they are aimed at. They are then subdivided by general topics. All of these websites have something of merit and are worth a visit. There may be a certain amount of overlap between website contents and their uses. For example you will often be able to find out about wildlife friendly gardening on sites focused on either gardening or wildlife. There is also a degree cross over in who will find them useful as some sites listed in the teachers section will be of use to children in researching topics. For links to information from specialist national organisations have a look the Useful contacts section.
For teachers and leaders Food growing www.teachernet.gov.uk/growingschools Home of the growing schools initiative, packed with useful downloadable resources and information.
Farming, growing and community www.face-online.org.uk Farming And Countryside Education site. Several useful resources for teaching children about farming and growing, including curriculum linked QCA schemes of work. www.soilassociation.org Soil Association site with excellent interactive educational activities teaching children about food including which part of the plant do we eat. Click on educate others - Resources – primary. Useful for teaching topics in Science, Geography, PSHE and Citizenship. www.farmgarden.org.uk FCFCG is the representative body for city farms, community gardens and similar community-led organisations in the UK. Links to local farms and community gardens.
Gardening www.gardenorganic.org.uk Garden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association, the national charity for organic growing. Home of all things related to organic gardening. Has a range of excellent fact sheets (included in this pack) to help you get started, lots of practical information and advice, plus free schools membership with online registration which ensures you receive topical termly newsletters free.
www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/education/children.asp Royal Horticultural Society – fantastic range of resources for schools linked to gardening. Also advisory leaflets and free online membership available which entitles you to free resources and termly updates and activities. General site is indispensable for budding gardeners. www.bbc.co.uk/gardening Informative site that includes a broad ‘how to’ guide, a lively message board and web links to gardenrelated articles in the news. ‘Gardening with children’ section has lots of useful information as well as online ‘pestwatch’ shape matching game.
Plant hunters www.jdhooker.org.uk www.zero35.freeserve.co.uk/robert.htm www.anbg.gov.au/biography/banks.biography.html www.compulink.co.uk/~museumgh/tradescants.htm www.gardenweb.com/cyberplt/people/wilson.html Useful introductions to the history of plant hunters Joseph Dalton Hooker, Robert Fortune, Joseph Banks, John Tradescant and Ernest Henry Wilson.
Ephemeral art www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk A digital catalogue of images of Andy Goldsworthy’s ephermeral, outdoor artwork.
Wildlife and nature FLORA www.british-trees.com Full of information about native British trees including images and links to Nature detectives guides. www.woodland-trust.org.uk/learning The Woodland Trust’s learning area is an excellent resource for teachers and children. Order free trees for your school or youth group under their Tree for All campaign plus resources that link to the QCA schemes of work for years 4 to 6. Also links to Nature Detectives (more details follow). www.nhm.ac.uk/fff Flora finder. Part of the Natural History Museum’s website. It allows you to enter the first part of a postcode to generate a list of the flora traditionally found in that area. There is also a kids only link, packed with fun facts and interactive features including naturecams though much of the information relates to dinosaurs. www.wildflowers.co.uk Although an online shop for wildflowers this site is useful if you want to find flowers to suit a particular location or general information/pictures of wildflowers.
FAUNA www.rspb.org.uk Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. A fantastic website full of practical advice and reliable information. Not just about birds, the site also has useful advice on wildlife generally. Includes a great children’s area with games which educate players about identification and adaptation. www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/facts.shtml The Mammal Society is dedicated to the study and conservation of all British mammals. Good range of fact sheets on British mammals including how to deal with mammal ‘problems’.
GENERAL www.naturedetectives.org.uk Nature detectives is part of the Woodland Trust site. It has wealth of excellent downloadable resources including identification charts. A great source of real statistics for nature monitoring tasks. Register your school to take part in spring and autumn watches, record seasonal changes to feed into national data. Online games for children. Excellent curriculum links to IT, data manipulation, science and PSHE. www.naturenet.net/education Naturenet is a site devoted to nature conservation and countryside management. The education section has lots of links to other useful environmental education websites.
Practical fact sheets www.ehsni.gov.uk/other-index/education/edu-resources/factsheets/fseducation.htm Environment and Heritage Service for Northern Ireland. Contains practical downloadable PDF fact sheets on the following environmentally themed topics. EDU001: Education: Catching Insects EDU002: Education: Setting Up A Butterfly Garden EDU003: Education: Making An Ant Farm EDU004: Education: Making A Wormery EDU005: Education: Pond Dipping EDU006: Education: Making A Pond Life Aquarium EDU007: Education: Rearing Frogs From Frogspawn EDU008: Education: Making A Garden Pond EDU009: Education: Making An Underwater Viewer EDU010: Education: Skulls And Skeletons EDU011: Education: Badger Watching EDU012: Education: Making A Hide EDU013: Education: Animal Tracks EDU014: Education: Bird Watching
EDU015: Education: Feeding Birds EDU016: Education: Artificial Nest Sites EDU017: Education: Feather Collection EDU018: Education: Adopt A Tree EDU019: Education: Pressing Leaves And Wildflowers EDU020: Education: Raising Plants From Mud EDU021: Education: Bark And Leaf Rubbing EDU022: Education: Making Spore Prints EDU023: Education: Measuring The Age Of A Hedge EDU024: Education: Identifying And Studying Bird Pellets EDU025: Education: ‘Food for Free’ Recipes
Energy www.managenergy.net/kidscorner Excellent site covering a range of energy related topics from alternative energy to climate change. Specific site areas for teachers, children aged 7-11 and 11-15. Also searchable database providing links to sites containing resources including lesson plans. www.cat.org.uk/index.tmpl?refer=index&init=1 Centre for Alternative Technology. A source of information on sustainable energy and sustainable products.
Recycling & composting www.recyclenow.com/home_composting The composting section of Recycle now. It has a downloadable teacher’s resource pack and useful information to get you composting at school.
General learning www.acblack.com/globalvillage Excellent site giving ideas for activities and discussions around the book ‘If the world were a village’. Links to KS2/KS3 Geography, Citizenship, RE, Literacy (including speaking and listening and creative writing) and Numeracy. www.lgfl.net/lgfl London Grid for Learning. Excellent resources for teachers including many interactive curriculum linked topics for children. Select via content-content grid then choose topic and key stage. www.show.me.uk/teachers/teachers.html Fantastic resource for teachers teaching a range of curriculum topics. This site gathers re-sources from all over the web in one convenient place. Grouped by theme and key stages.
For children Wildlife and nature www.naturegrid.org.uk Excellent curriculum linked online activities in the ‘Investigate’ section covering topics from deforestation to biodiversity. Also fantastic resources for teachers. www.rspb.org.uk/youth RSPB Kids site. Full of activities and games relating to birds and wildlife. Educational online games may be useful for looking at adaptation and habitats. www.planetarkive.org Colourful interactive website with online games to teach children about life on earth. www.naturedetectives.org.uk Online games and resources relating to recording of seasonal changes in nature. Source of statistics for nature monitoring tasks. Fantastic resources for teachers too. www.wildlifewatch.org.uk The junior branch of the Wildlife Trusts
Energy managenergy.net/kidscorner/en/u11/u11.html Site for children aged 7-11, covering energy related topics, a range of resources to help increase understanding of the impact of every day actions in relation to the environment.
General www.lg.net London Grid For Learning has adult and child related topics and information on all aspects of the curriculum. Computers will need to be set up on particular activities however they are key stage and curriculum linked on a range of topics including plants for food and life cycles.