A fun day was had, packed full of activities at Folly Farm. The pupils learnt all about different habitats, the food chain and how some animals have adapted to become predators.
A strong favourite amongst the many activities was the pond dipping exercise. This involved carefully working around a small pond at the farm, to uncover what creatures lie beneath the pond weed! An array of creatures were discovered including newts, pond snails, dragonfly nymphs, water boat men and water skaters. We even took a closer look at some of them under the microscope and then tried to figure out what eats what!
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| Pond dipping |
Another exciting tasks was the dissection of owl pellets. These are solid clumps of bone and fur that owls cannot digest, so cough up. They are extremely useful in identifying what owls eat. The pupils worked well as a team to investigate the remains within the pellets and found shrew and vole skeletons. We also learnt how the owl has adapted to become a top predator, using his acute eyesight and hearing and deadly claws to catch small mammals. Interesting discoveries were also made during a mini beast hunt in the woods, whereby microhabitats were searched and spiders, ladybirds, caterpillars, fungi and woodlice were found.
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| Finding small skulls in owl pellets |
Hear, in their own words, what children from Easton Primary School learnt from their visit to Folly Farm http://soundcloud.com/avonwildlifetrust/follyfarm1
For more information on learning outdoors at Folly Farm take a look at our website: http://wildschools.org.uk/
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