Primary

Primary Discovery Sessions (1 per visit)  
These can be built into your visit and last between 45 and 90 minutes and are lead by the education officer. Please be aware that some of the sessions are only available at certain times of the year:

Habitats

There are many different habitats to study at Plantasia. These can be studied in isolation or can be combined to give a comparative study.

• Woodlands  -  Find out which animals make the woodland their home. Search for creepy crawlies and look for signs of mammals and birds. Discover the plants that live there. Discuss why these are found in a woodlands. Suitable for all age groups. QCA - science units 2B, 2C 4B, 5B 6A
• Grasslands - Find out who lives in the grassy areas. Search  for creepy crawlies and look for signs of mammals and birds. Discover the plants that live there. Answer questions such as why do they live there? Do they live anywhere else? Suitable for all age groups. QCA - science units 2B, 2C 4B, 5B 6
• Freshwater - Using pond nets discover the animals that live in water. Discuss the results and think about if any can live out of the water. Look at the plants and discover how they are different to land plants. Suitable for all age groups. QCA - science units 2B, 2C 4B, 5B 6A

Minibeasts

These sessions will look at the creepy crawlies that can be found at Plantasia, the sessions if required can be extended to include topics such as camouflage, adaptations and similarities and    lifecycles.

•   Aquatic Minibeasts  - Find out what strange and marvellous creatures live beneath the water? Use pond nets, magnifiers and identification charts to find out. Suitable for all age groups. QCA - Science units 2B, 2C 4B, 5B, 6A
• Terrestrial Minibeasts  - Armed with bug pots, pooters, sweep nets and beating mats hunt for the amazing creatures that make their homes in the leaf litter, under logs and in the trees. Suitable for all age groups. QCA - science units 2B, 2C 4B

Plants

Sessions that will help your students understand the amazing world of plants. These sessions are adaptable and can be altered to suit your required topic.

• General Plant Walk - A short walk around part of the site looking at some of the plants that can be found here at Plantasia.  Can be used as introduction to plants. Suitable for KS1.
• Trees - Become a tree detective and try to find out as much as possible about these amazing plants. Activities will include leaf and bark rubbings, measuring age and height, parts of a tree and their functions, what are trees used for? Who lives on a tree? Activities will change according to Key Stage and season. Suitable for all age groups. QCA science units 1B, 2B, 2C, 3B , Numeracy KS2
• Grasslands - Using quadrats or hoops take a good look at the plants that are found within a grassland area. Activities include parts of a flower and their functions, scavenger hunts, and plant surveys. Activities will change according to Key Stage and season. Suitable for all age groups. QCA science units 1B, 2B, 2C, 3B, 5/, 6H, 5B, 6A
• Seeds - Using magnifiers take a close look at the world of seeds. Try to answer questions such as, why are they different shapes and colours, how do they move about, and why are there so many? Activities will change according to Key Stage and season. Suitable for all age groups. QCA science units 1B, 2B, 2C, 3B, 5C 6H, 5B, 6A
• Pollination and Fertilisation - Take a plant to pieces looking closely at the male and female parts and discuss their functions. Learn how seeds are formed and how they are dispersed. Key Stage 2. QCA science units 5B

Food Chains  

• Munchline Monitors - Your pupils will discover why foods are important. They will become trainee munchline monitors as they search the wild walk for evidence of food chains. They will then make their own food chains from the evidence they have collected. Suitable for all KS2. QCA – Science 4B

  Art, Sensory & Music

• Natures Materials. - Explore the site looking for natural materials to create a collage, finish it off with a natural twig frame. Suitable for all age groups. QCA –Art 1B, 2B
• Sensory Stroll - Activities that will test your senses and make you interact with the environment. Activities include smelly cocktails, mirror walk, and texture cards. Activities will change according the season. More suited to Key Stage 1. QCA science units 1A, 2B,
• Listening Walk - A listening walk is conducted through the site and sound maps are created at several sites. These sound maps are then discussed by the children and they are given a variety of musical instruments and natural objects and asked to recreate their walk. The walk is then transferred onto a giant piece of paper. Suitable for all age groups . QCA –science units 1F music year 9

Numeracy

• Pirate Petes Treasure - Visit the mazes and follow the clues to work out where on Dobbies Island Pirate Pete has hidden his treasure. Maths topics covered include plotting co-ordinates, symmetry, ratio, and percentage. Suitable for KS2 . QCA – Supports Numeracy Strategy

Can’t see what you’re looking for?
Don’t worry. Not everything is included in this programme, if you have a topic that you would like to cover or an idea in mind please call 01827 713438 to discuss further options.