Do Bristol and Bath have more birds than Berlin? More slugs than San Francisco? Or more mini-beasts than Madrid? Help us find out by bringing City Nature Challenge to your school!
Schools around the West of England are being offered free nature-based teaching resources as part of City Nature Challenge. Pupils in Key Stage 1 and 2 can become a wildlife explorer for the day and discover some of the amazing wildlife that lives in their school grounds. (Watch this space for Key Stage 3 equivalents coming soon!) By using the resources alongside the free wildlife recording app iNaturalist, pupils can submit biological records to local and national databases, helping scientists and researchers gain a greater understanding of the region’s biodiversity.
The free teaching resources, specially developed for City Nature Challenge by Sustainable Learning, are available to all schools across the Bristol and Bath region. The pack includes a ‘Guide for observing nature’, information on ‘How to use the iNaturalist app’, and full lesson plans for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classes. Pupils will learn what a naturalist is, and how to use careful observation skills to look closely at living things. Activities include playing ‘Biodiversity Bingo’, and using the iNaturalist app to photograph living things within the school grounds.
City Nature Challenge is a global wildlife recording competition taking place between 27-30 April in 65 countries across five continents. Naturalists, community groups and schools across the Bristol and Bath region are coming together to see how many wildlife records they can make in 4 days. Pupils are invited to take part in the global challenge and to have fun whilst contributing towards a worldwide citizen science programme.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE TEACHING PACK HERE
