KS3 Active Science: Fieldwork, curriculum and skill-building

This gives just one example of what a course looks like at our centres. We will adapt the activities to your outcomes, student needs, location and conditions on the day.

Day 1

Midday arrival

• Welcome and outline the challenges ahead
• Tour of Centre
• Allocate kit eg waterproofs

Afternoon

Teambuilding

Depending on the outcomes you want to achieve, we will use a range of techniques and fun activities to focus on the skills required for teambuilding including effective communication, self-confidence and problem-solving.

Activities could include a team water transport challenge, a problem-solving minesweeper game and line-sorting tasks.

The teamwork skills, support and collaboration built in this session is carried forward to support effective fieldwork during the course.

Evening

Night walk

Take a guided journey around the centre grounds to connect to nature through contact with nocturnal wildlife. By observing the night sky (depending on weather conditions) students may learn about the stars, and also understand the impact of light pollution. Students will also engage with reflective exercises to develop a better understanding of how to manage their own wellbeing.

Day 2

Morning and Afternoon

Depending on your location, you will explore a local environment, habitat or ecosystem, eg rocky shore, freshwater or woodland. After a scene setting introduction, students will collect data using sampling techniques relevant to the ecosystems and hypotheses. Measurements of biotic and abiotic factors and their interactions will be made as well as developing identification and classification skills.

Throughout the study, our tutors will highlight the links to wider sustainability and how science works in the real world. To underpin the learning and promote positive wellbeing, we encourage and embed the 5 pathways to nature connection.   Whatever the weather and location, this day can develop student resilience, increase their ability to plan for an outdoor day, change their perspective and develop their team-building skills.

Evening

Depending on your preferred outcomes we can develop wider science links with a sustainability activity, take students out for a fun, social activity such as orienteering in teams using a map, or let them sit back and reflect on their day with a campfire.

Day 3

Morning

You can use the final morning to develop a deeper understanding of the findings of our investigation, build further subject links, learn about the environment with a practical conservation task or build personal and team skills with bushcraft and survival techniques.

Examples include habitat creation, planting for wildlife, water sustainability, fire-lighting and shelter-building, micro-climates and sustainability and pollinator surveys.

Depart after lunch

To ensure safe and quality learning experiences for students, the timetable may alter depending on weather conditions and local factors at centres.

Students will take part in fieldwork activities that foster scientific attitudes, increase experimental and investigative skills and allow contextual, real world learning about the environment and its ecology. Outdoor learning and experience promote creative and critical thinking as well as improving nature connection, teamwork and resilience and links to sustainability.

Develop skills

• Communication | Resilience | Independent thinking | Leadership
• Numeracy | Literacy | Investigative skills | Observation

Enhance Knowledge'

• Ask questions.
• Apply knowledge in the real world and make links.
• Make sense of new places and understand our place and role within this.

Enjoy'

• Have fun | Make friendships | Connect with nature