#402: Norfolk's Deep History Coast

The Norfolk coast is also known as the Deep History Coast, partially as a result of the discovery of the skeleton of a mammoth at West Runton.

This book by John Davies and David Waterhouse looks useful.

Deep History is a term increasingly used in place of the term pre-history; and has been coined to reflect the idea that in general the deeper you delve the older things are!

North Norfolk's Deep History Coast is the 22-mile stretch of coastline between Weybourne and Cart Gap which has revealed the most spectacular finds. Happisburgh is the oldest archaeological site in northern Europe and West Runton yielded the oldest and largest fossilised mammoth skeleton ever found in the UK. 

Visit the website for the Deep History Coast for a range of additional resources which would be useful.

Why not visit Sheringham and the Mo museum.

#401: Climate Action Panel

It's now almost 2 years since I started this blog.

I've just posted the 400th post on the blog, and there is still no sign of the next stage of the process towards adding this qualification as an official additional extra. There needs to be a proper consultation on the draft content of the specification which has been in the making for a while now, and sat on a Minister's desk in the previous government.

Cambridge University Press and Assessment recently hosted a Climate Action Panel event which included Stephen Morgan MP, Minister for Early Education.

The article here describes the event and includes some interesting snippets of information.

Read it to see more...

#400: What's SUP?

Paddle boarding is growing in popularity.

Imagine a field trip where the method of transport is a stand up paddle board?

There is a Paddler's Code to adhere to, to avoid disturbing wildlife.

#399: Natural History Playlist #4: 'Red Tide'

In Samantha's Harvey's Booker Prize winning 'Orbital' in one of many descriptions of the Earth from space, told in the most wonderful descriptive language, she describes the astronauts seeing the impact of humans on the planet.

‘Every swirling neon or red algal bloom in the polluted, warming, overfished Atlantic is crafted in large part by the hand of politics and human choices.'

'Red Tide' is a track from Rush's album 'Presto'. This album came out in 1989, and I bought it on release day of course. The lyrics are fairly clear in their meaning...

I saw the tour for this album as well, complete with giant inflatable rabbits on stage.

Lyrics are by Neil Peart

Music by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

Urgent action is needed:

Too late for debate, too bad to ignore
Quiet rebellion leads to open war
Bring a sea-change to the factory floor
As the red tide covers the shore

Now is the time to turn the tide
Now is the time to fight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night

Now is the time to make the time
While hope is still in sight
Let us not go gently
To the endless winter night

#398: Free e-book on the Climate crisis

Konnie Huq launches free climate crisis ebook for UK primary schools https://t.co/eNXrjBEwEc

— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) November 4, 2024

A free ebook about the climate crisis for every UK primary school has been created.

The ebook, Children for Change, is edited by Huq and features contributions from more than 80 writers, illustrators, environmentalists and young people including Tom Gates author Liz Pichon, The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler and TV presenter Chris Packham. Not all of them are climate experts to be fair.

The book contains stories, poems, illustrations and features about a variety of topics related to the environment including fast fashion, rewilding and measuring our carbon footprint.

The introduction advises children to “start anywhere” in the book. “It’s a chocolate box, essentially”, said Huq.

Edited by broadcaster and author, Konnie Huq, Children For Change is packed with 300 pages of imaginative stories, poems, non-fiction, illustrations, infographics and creative resources - all to inspire children to take climate action. Contributors include Rob Biddulph, Adam Kay, Liz Pichon, A.M. Dassu, Joseph Coelho, Hannah Gold, Axel Scheffler, Emily Gravett, Chris Packham, Mary Portas and Jamie Oliver.

Packed with actions and eco-tips, this ground-breaking ebook helps you to educate children about what they can do to help protect the planet, without generating eco-anxiety. It's a perfect resource for KS2 English, PSHE, science or geography lessons, or primary assemblies, covering a range of topics including sustainability, endangered species and fast fashion. It's also free for you to distribute home - all you need to do is send the link to parents and carers, and they'll be able to download Children For Change too!
 

Given that not every child (or school) can afford to buy books, this is a welcome development.

#397: Fungi: the Web of Life

This is an essential watch. BBC4 is showing Merlin Sheldrake' film on the importance of Fungi. 

It will be on iPlayer shortly after being broadcast. It remains to be seen how long it stays there. The film is narrated by Bjork.

#396: Living England 2022-3 Habitat Map

The new Living England 2022-23 habitat map is now live! Download freely from https://t.co/rR1gT2IaPl (coming soon on Magic). It’s more reliable & user-friendly than ever - providing essential habitat data for natural capital monitoring across England. pic.twitter.com/5PmDIHjeli

— NE Chief Scientist (@NEChiefSci) November 12, 2024

Visit the link, and see the details in the technical report.

 

#395: Hansard Debate

Thanks to Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett via the GCSE Natural History twitter feed for sending a link to this Hansard debate.

Questions were asked about the GCSE Natural History and what progress was being made towards it. Search under Natural History / Geography to find some interesting statements and quotes:

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

We have inherited a disastrous set of values and attitudes towards the environment, with thinking that goes back a long way and which we have adopted into our intellectual tradition. It includes the great chain of
being, which is the concept that human beings are some kind of pinnacle of life, and the idea that the whole complexity of life on earth—the living system that James Lovelock identified as Gaia, which has evolved over billions of years—is there for us as a species, under our control and for our exploitation.

The 21st century has exposed that for the dangerous fallacy it is, with the climate emergency, the nature crisis and the poisoning of our planet with novel entities; six of the nine planetary boundaries have been exceeded. We know that there are other intellectual traditions and other ways of looking at the world, which are attracting attention from our scientists and researchers. For example, I note that, across many African religions, there is the concept of ukama, which states that animals are part of a community with humans; it emphasises mutual dependence, a sense of unity and, at least sometimes, a moral imperative of respect.

Shared via OGL (Open Government License)

#394: Wildlife Trusts blog 'statement' on the GCSE Natural History's stalled progress

The Wildlife Trusts have called on the government to take action to keep the GCSE Natural History on course. 

The Natural History GCSE would bring young people closer to nature through hands-on learning, but delays are holding it back. 📚 🌳

The Wildlife Trusts urge @GOVUK to move forward, empowering students to engage with our natural world!

Read morehttps://t.co/Wm0F6DBO8j

— The Wildlife Trusts (@WildlifeTrusts) November 13, 2024

You can read the blog post from Jen Davis by clicking the link.

 It ends with these words

The Natural History GCSE claims to prioritise nature connection and bringing theory and experiential learning together to support our future leaders. Surely, it’s worth exploring.

Now, a small army of new ministers and advisors – new not only to their roles, but to the legacy left by their predecessors, hold the potential of the GCSE in their hands. 

The next step is for the DfE to release the long overdue public consultation, where you can have your say. What do you want to see in the GCSE? How can we ensure that this becomes a truly accessible way for students to both learn about, and connect with the natural world? 

Without the consultation, this opportunity will simply pass us by. We strongly urge the Government to take the next step and instruct DfE to launch the public consultation, unlocking the GCSE for the next stage of development.

#393: Congratulations to Samantha Harvey

In post #372, I added a mention for Samantha Harvey's book 'Orbital' and added it to the GCSE Natural History booklist.

On Tuesday this week, the book was announced as the winner of the 2024 Booker Prize!

Well done to Samantha. I was hoping that the book would win. I hope that it leads to lots more people experiencing this excellent book.

I am planning a new unit based on the book which I shall be teaching to Year 6 students in January 2025. More to come on this as the project develops.

#392: Booth Museum of Natural History

There are a number of places which offer the potential for field visits linked to the GCSE in Natural History when (if) it finally emerges.

The Booth Museum of Natural History would be one option for those wanting to visit.

The museum has a range of useful galleries which connect with the suggested content from the original draft consultation.

We have added it to a document which features places to visit with a Natural History theme. This is one of the resources we will be sharing once the specification is out in draft and planning for actual teaching becomes a more real prospect than it appears at the moment.

The museum is located in Brighton.

If anyone has been, we'd like to hear your thoughts.

#391: Meet Twiggy

Four new films look at the work of the Environment Agency to develop natural flood management schemes. 

📢 Announcing our four NEW animated films developed with @envagency to spread the word about natural flood management (NFM) 🎉

Meet Twiggy from the film 'Wood you believe it' below and watch the rest of the films here 👇https://t.co/SRl1IBb4kw

(1/4) pic.twitter.com/bXqQnMekTi

— CumbriaWildlifeTrust (@cumbriawildlife) October 28, 2024

We need to slow the flow.

Storms which cause flooding in homes and businesses have increased in Cumbria in the last decade.

Peatlands hold large amount of water and during periods of high rainfall they can both hold back water and also slow the flow of the water coming off the hills.

Damaged peatlands cannot hold the same amounts of water, and areas that contain drains actually speed up the flow. This means that, during high rainfall events, water isn’t held back and released slowly but flows immediately into rivers, increasing the flooding risk downstream.

Blocking drains slows this run-off and keeps floodwater on the fells for longer.

Check out 'Wood you believe it' and follow the link to see the other films.

#390: Canopy

 Canopy is a group of campaigners who are interested in woodland in particular.

It collates the activities of a whole range of organisations that are concerned to protect existing tree cover, and expand the area of woodland.

It seems to have new additions each time I check in...

#389: Humans and nature

The phrase 'more than human' is one I hadn't heard until a few years ago, when I attended a session run by Sharon Witt and Helen Clarke.

More than Human Rights is an interesting concept.

I'm part of the MOTH (More-Than-Human) Rights collective, based out of @nyulaw.
We've just released this book of essays, conversations & collaborations on the subject of MOTH rights & much beyond.
It's free to all as a PDF/Kindle download.
Pls share on.
👉https://t.co/5AqE5K7dba pic.twitter.com/in1JInOLVn

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) July 29, 2024

Check out their work here. 

#388: Riversong

Riversong is here, and free for anyone to use.

Hello: this is 'Riversong', a "broadside ballad" which protests the slow death of rivers in the UK & around the world––& sings for their revival.

'Riversong' is free to print, share, set & sing, speak aloud on a riverbank, post on walls or windows, adapt, translate, perform,… pic.twitter.com/767BzPoUll

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) October 27, 2024

 

#387: NHBS - a place to buy equipment for fieldwork

Any school planning to offer the GCSE Natural History will probably need to purchase a range of equipment for some of the skills and fieldwork elements - if those are retained from the original consultation.

Here's the wording from the original consultation document, which is only advisory and not the final text of course.

Safe use of techniques for monitoring/detecting organisms. For example: Longworth traps, moth traps, camera traps, satellite tags, methods for monitoring reptiles, using photographs, bat detectors, bird ringing, etc. Use of indirect evidence (e.g. signs, tracks, landscape analysis) Use of Identification charts

The NHBS shop offers a range of equipment which would be valuable for fieldwork in the field of Natural History.

They sell books as well...

#386: Meeting Wales' needs

Food and farming have an impact on biodiversity and the importance of farmers as stewards of, and creators of, the British landscape is something that any GCSE in Natural History would have to tackle. The approaches are different in the different UK countries. This item from WWF Cymru from 2022 is a reminder of the impact of farming in other countries... to meet the demand from the UK...

Wales & Global Responsibility - @WWFCymru

An area equivalent to 40% of the @sizeofwales is used overseas to grow commodities imported into Wales, having a catastrophic effect on the world’s forests & critical habitats! #DeforestationFreeNationhttps://t.co/wcEDYwZ2mu pic.twitter.com/DE4QzX8mKM

— Nigel Pugh (@nspugh) January 21, 2022

#385: Blossomise - Simon Armitage

A new addition to my library of Natural History books is the new collection from Simon Armitage. It is a lovely collection with plenty of memorable moments.

#384: The importance of Islands

A piece in the Conversation explores the values of islands as oases of biodiversity and homes to over 20% of Earth's plant species.

#383: Anticipatory History

A cross-posting from my GeoLibrary blog.

This is a book published by uniformbooks. It explores ideas of localness and sense of place. 

Anticipatory history is the present day really, where we explore our landscapes and bring them to life with stories.

Here's a review from the uniformbooks website.

In brief, various authors have been given free rein to elaborate upon a number of critical terms now at work in debates about landscape, ecology, climate change and futurology, ranging from the technical to the poetical, and from the instrumental to the epiphanic. Thus we get wonderful expositions on what is meant by Adaptation, Dream-maps, Entropy, Liminality, Memory, Rewilding, and Presentism, amongst many others—in fact fifty glossaries in all. The initial brief for this research endeavour was “to explore the roles that history and story-telling play in helping us to apprehend and respond to changing landscapes, and to changes to the wildlife and plant populations they support.” The editors rightly caution themselves and their readers against the dangers of instrumentalising the history-writing process, bending a reading of the past to suit the needs of the present and the future.

Not surprisingly forms of land ownership and its management and stewardship loom large. The short essay on ‘Commons’ rehearses Garrett Hardin’s famous essay on ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’, which suggested that self-interest will always ultimately defeat the social aims of things held in common. However, it doesn’t reprise historian E. P. Thompson’s counter-argument that in particular societies at particular times, a ‘moral economy’ is brought in to play to regulate private behaviour. It was also surprising—though perhaps there wasn’t enough room—that the entry on ‘Rewilding’ focused entirely on vegetative succession with no mention of the fearful ‘Beast of Bodmin Moor’, nor of the proposal to re-introduce sea-eagles to the East Anglian shoreline.

Attention also gravitates towards the newer, more problematic landscapes which now require a fuller understanding of how they might be managed in the future: the ‘edgelands’ or ‘drossscapes’ produced by failed urbanisation or de-industrialisation. Are these settings just as valuable and worth conserving as farmed or so-called natural habitat? What was once called the search for authenticity in human existential terms, now applies to concrete and clay. Here the newer discourses of psycho-geography and psycho-biogeography are proving to be invaluable in summoning meaning and history from even the bleakest terrain (on such matters see the excellent entry, ‘Liminal zone’).

There are no settled positions on any of these matters any more, as the entry on ‘Enclosure’ concludes. Once upon a time open common land was hedged in and parcelled up into private lots, which had very bad social consequences. When, a century or so later, the hedgerows were uprooted in the name of industrialised farming, much of the flora and fauna using them as habitat disappeared. Now we are re-instating hedges again. “Perhaps,” the author of this entry concludes, “we might think of enclosure as an example of the human modification of land that slips from its moorings, and accept that each generation makes the enclosure it needs.”

The book contains words, terms and concepts that are completely new to me, including the book’s suggestive title, ‘Anticipatory History’. I had not heard of Rephotography before, nor ‘Shifting baseline syndrome’ let alone ‘Palliative curation’. ‘Presentism’ I knew, but not how to pronounce it—and still don’t. Yet these elucidations are vital resources in the debates ahead about how we handle the transition from the past into the future, and provide a much-needed contribution to the crucial matter of ‘Inter-generational equity’.
A terrific and thought-provoking book.

Ken Worpole