#156: Fungi 4 Schools

I imagine that many people will be turning to a legacy website produced by the UK Mycological Society when it comes to learning about fungi. 

It was produced by David Moore and despite the 'old-fashioned' look, still has a wealth of information by following the links.

They have a GCSE age student resource page, which has a series of useful materials.

Explore the World of Fungi.

I discovered some really useful activities.

What's your Favourite Fungus? for example.

There's a Supermarket Challenge activity which I will probably update as well.

#155: The Nature Connection Handbook from Miles Richardson

Teachers preparing for the teacing of the new specification may be interested in a free resource from Miles Richardson.

The Nature Connection Handbook has passed 30,000 downloads. Great to know there's such interest in:

What nature connection is and why it matters ✅
How to grow closer to nature ✅
Nature connection case studies ✅https://t.co/qs5IaHxCJJ pic.twitter.com/Hs6bEN1mHf

— Miles Richardson (@findingnature) April 6, 2023

The resource is a free PDF download. 

#154: Natural History Reading List: #12: Professor Mark Maslin's guide to saving the world

One of the aspects of the blog will be to showcase people whose work should form part of any lesson thinking, or whose books should be on a reading list. The creation of that reading list will also be part of the work I will do, along with others.

Mark Maslin writes regular pieces for newspapers and works for UCL.

He is well worth following on Twitter.

His book here is of particular value as it is very easy to digest. 

It starts with a useful summary of the Earth.

I turned it into a short video for our Year 4 students to start their unit on the Earth. There are chapters on various earth systems which are important to consider when teaching about how the interconnections between nature are easily disrupted.

There is a need for some hopeful messages in the teaching this specification given the deluge of negative stories which seem to be developing every day. These will need to be part of the thinking.

#153: The UK in 100 Seconds

The UK in 100 seconds from Friends of the Earth on Vimeo.

The UK in 100 Seconds was conceived by Daniel Raven Ellison.

It’s difficult to get a picture of what the United Kingdom really looks like. Imaginations and assumptions can distort decisions that affect our lives. We often hear the idea that there is simply no more room in the country. In reality, just six per cent of the UK is built on.

‘The UK in 100 Seconds’ is a provocative and thought provoking film that rearranges the United Kingdom’s land into 32 categories and divides them over 100 seconds. Each second equates to 1% of what the country looks like from the air.

Made by guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison and filmmaker Jack Smith, the film was made by travelling from Tongue in the north of Scotland to the New Forest in the south of England. Each second of the film covers roughly one metre of Raven-Ellison’s walk through moorland and peat bogs, down a runway and over a dump.

Made in collaboration with Friends of the Earth, the film gives an honest reflection of what land looks like and how it is used in the United Kingdom and raises some challenging questions. A major inspiration for Raven-Ellison making the film is the amount of space that is used for feeding livestock and the question – what if we made more space for nature?

More details on the film here.

The narration is by Benjamin Zephaniah.

A second film focussed on the UK's National Parks in 100 Seconds, with narration by Cerys Matthews.

And a third focussed on the Netherlands.

#152: Making Space for Nature

Making Space for Nature is a StoryMap made by ESRI UK.

Goes along with Dan's The UK in 100 Seconds, which had its premiere in London back in 2018. It's also featured on the blog in the next post.

#151: CPRE: the countryside charity

The latest in a series of posts on organisations who provide resources and run projects which may be of interest to those teaching the new GCSE Natural History specification, and may well also make good visiting speakers for schools offering the new specification.

CPRE were previously known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England, but is now known as the countryside charity.

They have had a series of campaigns running for many years on the theme of protecting the countryside and raising awareness of the importance of some of the everyday elements of the countryside which people may not realise are of particular importance. These include campaigns on hedgerows, which are thereatened with removal in many locations.

In addition to their national website and policy work, they also have local groups focussing on specific local issues.

They have just released their latest report: a 2023 study on Local Green Spaces.

#150: Marine Conservation Society

Another post in what will be quite a few as the blog develops; exploring the organisations that you may want to explore when planning resources. The MCS are one of many which we have added to a growing list of relevant organisations which teachers may wish to refer to.

The MCS looks after the oceans and the life within it, and particularly those around the UK's coasts.

Their website has recently had a refresh and is looking rather beautiful.

The Marine Conservation Society website has a wide range of useful resources for those exploring the Natural History within the Oceans surrounding the British Isles.

#149: Thought for the Day

Why knowing the names of plant and animal species is important

"In indigenous ways of knowing, all beings are recognised as non-human persons, and all have their own names. It is a sign of respect to call a being by its name, and a sign of disrespect to ignore it. Words and names are the ways we humans build relationships, not only with each other but also with plants."

from Robin Wall Kimmerer's excellent 'Gathering Moss' (2003)

#148: Natural History Reading List #11: 'The Wood for the Trees'

Richard Fortey has written a few books which deserve to be on the reading list that we are putting together for sharing, and will also be in my growing GCSE Natural History library which I will assemble in my classroom in 2024.

Fortey is a palaentologist who has written a number of books and won a number of awards including the Linnean Medal. They are useful for supporting the teaching of several of the proposed themes, and he is able to bring together a range of themes and disciplines together really well.

I imagine there will also be an 'official' list of recommended and supplementary reading in the final specification. 

Being well read about the wide range of options for a course in natural history is going to be important.

From a review of the book, which gives you a flavour of its contents:

This biography of a beech-and-bluebell wood through diverse moods and changing seasons combines stunning natural history with the ancient history of the countryside to tell the full story of the British landscape.

Guided by his abiding love of nature and a lifetime of scientific expertise, Richard Fortey takes us on a journey through ecosystems and time. The Wood for the Trees is the story of humankind meeting nature, an homage to the mesmerising interactions between flora, fauna and fungi.

Discover the lives of animals and plants; the passage of seasons; visits by fellow enthusiasts; the play of light between branches; the influence of geology; and how woodland has shaped history, architecture, and industry. 

On every page Fortey shows how an intimate study of one small wood can reveal so much about the natural world, and demonstrates his relish for the incomparable pleasures of discovery.

The book was published in 2016, and I have a 2nd hand copy in my growing Natural History library. 

After Christmas, I am going to be creating a series of shelves in my classroom and an area of storage boxes where I file away relevant documents and resources ready for potential discussions with other colleagues.

Here's a review by Rob Cowen.

In 2011, after retiring from his role as senior palaeontologist Fortey purchased four acres of prime beech and bluebell wood. Located in the Chiltern Hills, a mile from his hometown of Henley-on-Thames, Grim’s Dyke Wood was the very patch of wood that 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill walked through and proclaimed woods “the great beauty of this country”.

I will be sharing some sections from this once I've had a chance to fillet it - there are already quite a few post it notes sticking out of the side of the book.

#147: Previous assessments in Natural History

The GCSE in Natural History is a brand new course - one of the first new GCSEs for many years. It takes a lot to get to this stage.

The latest issue of Cambridge Assessment's 'Research Matters' journal explores previous occasions when Natural History has been assessed.

The link will also provide access to further links to see previous issues of the journal.

The journal is published by Cambridge Assessment. This is Issue 36

The article is written by Gillian Cooke.

As is says at the start of the article:

Concern about our natural environment is at an unprecedented level. It permeates through all levels of media as the effects of climate change and fluctuations of biodiversity manifest throughout the world. There is a thirst for knowledge to understand our environment better and the impact of humans on the natural world. But while the introduction of a new GCSE in Natural History by OCR chimes with our times, natural history itself is not a new qualification, as shown from an archive of over 160 years of qualification documentation from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), a predecessor of OCR, which contains a rich resource of natural history type qualifications available to children at all levels and ages.

There is also a useful definition of natural history suggested:

Natural History is variously defined, but commonly described as “a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study”. 

Fuelled by curiosity and, in some cases, imperialistic vanity, wealthy explorers of the early modern period sought to dispel images of fantastical creatures and flora from folklore with accurate scientific observation. So began a trend to collect and display natural history findings, and a rise in the popularity of natural history museums, which was at a peak in Britain between the 1880s and 1900s (Rader & Cain, 2015).

Source:

Rader, K., & Cain, V. (2015). From natural history to science: display and the transformation of American museums of science and nature. Museum and Society, 6(2), 152-171.

#146: Wildlife and Countryside Link

The Wildlife and Countyside Link is a website which draws together a growing number of wildlife organisations. There are 80 organisations at the time of posting... which as you can see is an increase on when I took the original screenshot below...

There is likely to be a focus on wildlife in the new specification, and the work that they do. 

Many of these organisations have also previously expressed support for the GCSE Natural History.

Wildlife and Countryside Link's members are here and there is an overlap with the supporters information on the OCR Hub.

A report is also mentioned on the home page currently as part of a campaign.

New analysis suggests that without major change the Government will miss its landmark pledge to protect 30% of the land and sea for nature.

Three years after the pledge was made (28 September 2020), the charities say Government has made:

1. No progress in protecting more of the land and sea for nature
2. No progress in improving the condition of existing protected sites
3. No progress in policy changes needed to support future improvements

Almost three-quarters of Brits (73%) do not have confidence that the government will meet its commitment to meet 30x30 or its target to stop the decline of wildlife (73%).

The page currently has a header describing the new Nature2030 Campaign.

#145: The Big Seaweed Search

The Natural History Museum has a citizen science project called the Big Seaweed Search running.

Home to a particularly high diversity, the UK is a special place for seaweeds, with over 650 species.

Understanding more about them is critical to protecting marine environments. Seaweed creates habitat where fish, invertebrates, birds, and marine mammals find food and shelter.

We know comparatively little about the abundance and distribution of seaweed species. So it is important to record them and monitor how they change over time.

Your observations will give us a better picture of how seaweeds are affected by:rising sea temperature
the arrival and spread of non-native species of seaweed
ocean acidification (the sea becoming more acidic as a result of absorbing carbon dioxide from the air)

#144: Thought for the Day

 

#143: Art and Natural History

There is an expectation that the way the natural world is represented by artists will form part of the new specification.

This is 'art' in numerous forms - paintings, photography, poetry, music etc.

This is an image from an exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia.

Hopefully those teaching the new specification will keep an eye out for relevant local art to direct students to (or perhaps make for themselves in collaborations with art departments).

It is a collaborative work by Heather Ackroyd and Daniel Harvey and is called 'Beuys' Acorn'

It is a C-type photographic print.

According to the artists, "It traces the germination of an acorn over time and symbolises nature's regeneration and evokes a senses of responsibility towards the natural world".

Image: Alan Parkinson - copyright resides with the artists.

#142: Forest Stripes from WWF

A new update in the list of visualisations which students should be introduced to. I've previously posted about the Biodiversity Stripes.

The Forest Stripes show the decline in forest species.

Been working on a tree report 💚 V lucky to have worked with team Stripes on a beautiful illustration for it. When we lose forests, we lose forest wildlife & the natural forest systems 1.6 Billion people depend on. https://t.co/iRO1IgHl3Z 🌳💚 ➡️https://t.co/4jkbLdtwOS https://t.co/B4TR2fAYBj

— Mary Gagen (@maryhgagen) October 24, 2023

#141: Natural History Podcasts #5: Chris Skinner and High Ash Farm

For some years, I listened to BBC Radio Norfolk on my commute to and from work and used to catch Chris Skinner's farm sections from High Ash Farm. 

He has been broadcasting from the farm for over 40 years apparently. He has sound recording gear with him, and captures the sounds of the wildlife on his farm in Norfolk.

Check out the Facebook page for High Ash Farm as well, which provides a lot of detail and has images and other information.

Chris has started a podcast with Matthew Gudgin, and this deserves a place on our list of Natural History podcasts.

It would be lovely for schools to be paired with farms and to perhaps consider how they might work together for mutual benefit.

#140: Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity

Part of the Natural History Museum is the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity.

It carries out important work.

From the description:

One of the centre's key roles is to support the individuals, schemes and societies that record, monitor and protect the UK's biodiversity.
What you can do in the centre:

• get help identifying specimens you've found with the centre's Identification and Advisory Service
• make use of our visitor space which includes microscopes and photo-stacking equipment for photographing specimens
• access our UK biodiversity reference collections of specimens and the London Natural History Society's library
• if you're a member of a natural history organisation, you can book our workshop space and meeting rooms

Check out the ID Facebook page.

#139: Lydford Gorge: temperate rainforests

A news report from the BBC explores the UK's few temperate rainforests. I have mentioned Guy Shrubsole's book before - a copy is in my Natural History library and will be featured on the blog as well and in the reading lists we are making.

The story looks at Lydford Gorge in Devon, a place I've visited a few times over the years.

A reminder of the need to protect what we have. There are some particularly rare lichens in the woods, including one in Somerset which is the only known location where it is found.

The article says:

Lichens are a particularly unusual class of organisms found in temperate rainforests.

The plant-like living things are made up of fungi growing in association with other life forms, such as algae. There are more than 2,000 species in Britain and Ireland alone, many of which are found in temperate rainforests,

The horsehair lichen Bryoria smithii is known at only two rainforest sites in Britain and Arthonia thoriana, a rare comma lichen, is not known anywhere else in the world other than at Horner Wood in Somerset. 

Temperate rainforests are made up of oak, birch, ash, pine and hazel woodland, but the ash trees are suffering from ash dieback.

#138: Dorling Kindersley's book of all things Natural History

This is a weighty and impressive looking tome from Dorling Kindersley, who always do such a good job of these types of book.

It looks like an essential part of a Natural History library.

Description from the publisher:

A beautiful guide to Earth's wildlife and natural history, including its rocks, minerals, animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms and more!

Already featuring galleries of more than 5,000 species, The Natural History Book has since been updated to include dynamic discoveries such as the olinguito (the "kitty bear" of the Andean cloud forest), and a new species of deep-sea Bolosoma glass sponge photographed by the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, alongside a reorganization of the groups of living things to reflect the latest scientific understanding.

- A full-colour gallery of over 5,000 species
- Over 500 rocks, minerals and fossils featured throughout
- Includes glossary of important natural history terms
- Specially-commissioned photographs showcase wildlife in close-up detail

This treasure-trove of natural history is accompanied with easy-to-read, accessible information and beautifully-striking imagery, making it a riveting reference guide to pass down for generations to come. The only book to offer a complete visual survey of all kingdoms of life, this nature book for adults is the perfect addition to every family bookshelf, as well as an ideal gift for the nature, animal and plant lover in your life! Gardeners, hikers, and visitors to wildlife park and natural history museums alike would also love this niche nature book, which also doubles up as the perfect coffee table book.

Split into 6 core chapters, covering Living Earth, Minerals, Rocks and Fossils, Microscopic Life, Plants, Fungi, and Animals - there truly is something for everyone to explore, love and learn. From granites to grape vines, from microbes to mammals, The Natural History Book is the ultimate celebration of the diversity of the natural world.

#137: BBC Radio programmes: In our Time: 'Plankton' and 1000 more...

In our Time is a long running radio programme which is presented by Melvyn Bragg. 

It has actually passed 1000 episodes, which is remarkable, many of which can be listened to on the BBC Sounds archive.

The programmes can also be downloaded.

Each episode is about 50 minutes long.

This programme explores the importance of plankton, and begins with the amazing fact that "whenever you breathe in, half the oxygen in your lungs comes from plankton".

I wonder what significance the natural history of the oceans will have in the final specification.

We really need them to stick around then...

Description: 

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the tiny drifting organisms in the oceans that sustain the food chain for all the lifeforms in the water and so for the billions of people who, in turn, depend on the seas for their diet. 

In Earth's development, the plant-like ones among them, the phytoplankton, produced so much oxygen through photosynthesis that around half the oxygen we breathe today originated there. And each day as the sun rises, the animal ones, the zooplankton, sink to the depths of the seas to avoid predators in such density that they appear on ship sonars like a new seabed, only to rise again at night in the largest migration of life on this planet.

Melvyn Bragg's guests are:

Carol Robinson, Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of East Anglia

Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Associate Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Plymouth

and Christopher Lowe, Lecturer in Marine Biology at Swansea University


The programme also provided a reading list - some useful books here to add to our own reading list.

Juli Berwald, Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone (Riverhead Books, 2018)

Sir Alister Hardy, The Open Sea: The World of Plankton (first published 1959; Collins New Naturalist Library, 2009)

Richard Kirby, Ocean Drifters: A Secret World Beneath the Waves (Studio Cactus Ltd, 2010)

Robert Kunzig, Mapping the Deep: The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science (Sort Of Books, 2000)

Christian Sardet, Plankton: Wonders of the Drifting World (University of Chicago Press, 2015)

On the main page of the In our Time programme, you can see links to different categories of programmes, and I can see that there would be benefit in 

Helen Scales, The Brilliant Abyss: True Tales of Exploring the Deep Sea, Discovering Hidden Life and Selling the Seabed (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2022)

If this programme doesn't sound like it will be helpful, then there are well over a thousand more to choose from.

Go to the archive to search for other programmes.

We are producing a list of useful programmes from the thousand-plus programmes which have been broadcast. Quite a few of them connect with themes and topics which we are expecting to see in the final. Here's a sample:

#136: David Attenborough on Planet Earth III

Planet Earth III starts on Sunday the 22nd of October, and will be available to view on BBC Sounds.

It's an eight part series, featuring some more emphasis on the impact of people on the natural world.

Details here. Plenty of connections to some of the themes

It features David Attenborough's trademark narration of course, and has him walking through a meadow where Charles Darwin walked while thinking. 

It features long-tailed macaques stealing iPhones from tourists and returning them in exchange for food, for an example of animal adaptations.

There is a podcast to accompany the series for the first time. There was also an attempt to reduce the impact of filming by using local crews for filming.

Attenborough says:

"Children have an instinctive understanding about the way the world operates. By and large, children are better at understanding the natural world, and as adults we should be marking more opportunities for them to do that."

#135: 21st October: Apple Day

Today is Apple Day, which was started by Common Ground in 1990.

I have blogged about Common Ground and their work previously.

The aspiration was to create a calendar custom, an autumn holiday. 

From the start, Apple Day was intended to be both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing, not simply in apples, but in the richness and diversity of landscape, ecology and culture too. 

It has also played a part in raising awareness in the provenance and traceability of food.

It would also make an interesting context for some work exploring the cultural dimension of food and how important this particular fruit is to people in the UK. There used to be far more diversity in the apples that were sold, but we now import fruit instead, despite the abundance of British varieties.

Of the 2,000 culinary and dessert apples, and hundreds more cider varieties, which have been grown in this country, only a few handfuls are widely known and used today.

Image source: Common Ground

This site shows the reasons behind the development of the day by the Common Ground founders.

In 1987, Sue Clifford and Angela King at Common Ground became aware of the sharp decline in traditional orchards in the British Isles since the 1950s whilst conducting research for the Trees, Woods and the Green Man project. They recognised that this decline not only had an ecological impact on the British landscape, but also signified a loss of associated cultural practices. Not only would we lose regional fruit varieties, local distinctiveness, and richness of wildlife, but knowledge of recipes, stories, songs, and skills such as planting, grafting and pruning would also diminish. To raise awareness of this issue, the charity launched its Save Our Orchards and Community Orchards campaigns, which sought to encourage and ‘a-peel’ to people to protect traditional orchards, as well as create new community orchards.

Realising it was ‘crunch’ time for orchards, in 1990, Common Ground introduced a new initiative to further protect and promote the ecological and cultural importance of orchards – a calendar custom which it named Apple Day.

Many UK farmers are grubbing up their orchards due to unprofitability, despite a growth of interest in ciders, particularly fruit-based ones.

From the article linked to above:

Orchards are now a very rare habitat in Britain, replaced by farms and urban development. England and Wales have lost 56% of their orchards since 1900. Traditional orchards have been hit particularly hard with a decline of 81%, equivalent to an area almost the size of the West Midlands.

As habitats they offer huge benefits for carbon sequestration and wildlife, particularly pollinators and birds.

I can see one project in schools which offer the GCSE Natural History to be the planting of at least one fruit tree by those students taking the course, which may not produce fruit in the time they are at school, but will by the time their children start school. This sort of longer term thinking is important.

This Reuters piece explains the economic decisions that farmers have for deciding to uproot orchards.

#134: Village Green Preservation Society

A guide to finding village greens on MAGiC maps. I've blogged about MAGiC maps before.

Village Greens are one of the entries in Common Ground's 'England in Particular' as well. They are an important element of rural life for many, and also a habitat for wildlife.

Many village greens are protected, as they are part of the landscape character of the area.

The Open Spaces Society protects village greens and similar open spaces.

My own village has a small village green which the local pub has appropriated with tables during good weather. There is a notice board and a few wooden posts to put vehicles off driving onto it. Other local villages have more substantial spaces.

Kate Rusby's version of the song was also the theme music for a comedy series called 'Jam and Jerusalem'.

 

I have a green in my village which is quite small, but is a nice protected space, with seats and a village notice board.

A local green might make an easy destination for a visit and bio-blitz... or to put up a sign inviting local wildlife experts to contact the school if they want to help the students identify their particular area of interest.

#133: Professor Peter Higgins: Biogeochemical cycles

It's well worth watching this video which features Professor Peter Higgins. 

He talks about the importance of biogeochemical cycles.

The Natural History GCSE will hopefully explore ideas related to the cycling of nutrients by biological, geological and chemical processes happening within the biotic and abiotic elements of a range of ecosystems.

#132: London Plane

I am fortunate to work in a school whose grounds have some ancient trees. 

The 75-acre campus is home to a wonderful array of trees, including of course the legendary Great London Plane Tree of Ely. 

This, the oldest tree we have, is in the grounds of the Old Palace, Ely.

From the King's Ely website:

Following the ravages of the Civil War, restoration projects in Cambridgeshire included the Bishop’s Palace, and it was following the Palace’s refurbishment in 1674 that the tree was gifted to and planted by the Bishop of Ely at the time, Peter Gunning.

In June 2002 and in celebration of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, The Tree Council designated the Great London Plane Tree of Ely as one of the ‘Top 50 British Trees’ – and it even has its place in national heritage.

In 2012, King’s Ely took over custody of the tree and it is thanks to the expertise and care of the school’s Grounds Team, with support from Barcham Trees, based just south of Ely, that the magnificent specimen continues to flourish as the largest and oldest living example of the London Plane Tree in the UK.
In 2013, King’s Ely launched a project with Barcham Trees to take cuttings from the Plane Tree and to nurture and grow them on as a direct strain of the original UK trees. With the support of East Cambridgeshire District Council’s trees officers, the first cuttings were taken in 2014. To everyone’s relief, the cuttings took hold and the young Plane Trees started to grow under the watchful eye of arborists at Barcham Trees.

In October 2018, one of those young Plane Trees was planted in the Old Palace Gardens – not far from its ‘parent’ – and in November 2018, two of the young Plane Trees were delivered to London’s Kew Gardens and Norfolk’s Sandringham Estate. Other cuttings have been planted at Denston Hall in Suffolk, Parham Hall in Suffolk and at the Arboricultural Association in Gloucestershire.
More details on the tree here.

Here's a Big Big Train track with the same name, describing the Thames and the mudlarks.

Image: Old Palace Grounds at King's Ely - Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

#131: Hockney on seeing....

Every tree is different. Every single one. 

The branches, the forces in it; they are marvellously different. 

You are thrilled. This is the infinity of nature.

David Hockney

David Hockney is a prolific artist and one of the most important living artists.

His recent exhibitions have been particularly impressive.

This is a reminder to look properly when we are out in nature.

I visited the 'tunnel' as it is called on a previous visit up to North Yorkshire.

#130: The Dasgupta Review

"Nature is our home. 

Good economics demands we manage it better."
Professor Partha Dasgupta

The Dasgupta Review was published in 2021.

The Dasgupta Review was an independent, global review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge). 

It is subtitled: The Economics of Biodiversity.

The Review was commissioned in 2019 by HM Treasury and been supported by an Advisory Panel drawn from public policy, science, economics, finance and business.

The Review called for changes in how we think, act and measure economic success to protect and enhance our prosperity and the natural world. 

Grounded in a deep understanding of ecosystem processes and how they are affected by economic activity, the new framework presented by the Review set out how we should account for Nature in economics and decision-making.

There are various video introductions to the report.

This is the longer version of the videom which features a conversation with the lead author and Hetan Shah, who is a former Honorary Vice President of the Geographical Association.

The Report can be downloaded in various formats and languages and also in summary and full forms.

While students may not be expected to have this plonked in front of them, they should certainly be made aware of it, and its key findings.

#129: Lockdowns and our changing relationship with nature

In 2021, the Office for National Statistics released a report following some research on how the lockdowns had impacted on people's relationship with nature.

There are quite a few useful aspects to this report which might be relevant for those teachers who want to provide a slightly more nuanced treatment of the likely themes in any draft specification.

Consider this quote for example:

Nature has been a source of solace for many, as lockdown rules have heightened our appreciation for local parks and green spaces.

During the lockdown, I started to create a collaborative Google document which captured a range of stories on the Pandemic.

This resource is still available for anyone to view here.

I hope that this particular period of history will not be repeated, although it did at least temporarily reduce the amount of carbon emissions that we all created - although the legacy has been 'revenge tourism' and an ever-growing fleet of delivery lorries. We seem to have bought into the habit of letting other people do our shopping for us.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

#128: Putting a value on nature

 A nice context for some creative work and discussions perhaps.

The Royal Mint has announced the release of a new set of coinage, despite the reduced use of coins 
generally.

The coins will enter circulation by the end of the year, marking the new reign of King Charles III and celebrating his love of the natural world.

The new coins of the nation. Representing causes close to His Majesty King Charles III's heart, these are the designs you will start to see on the coins in your change.​

Discover special collectable sets to mark this historic moment: https://t.co/tz1DITakOK pic.twitter.com/8Asr5i7HEO

— The Royal Mint (@RoyalMintUK) October 12, 2023

The tails side of every coin from the 1p to the £2 will feature the country's flora and fauna.

They also feature large numbers, which are apparently designed to help children count with money. 

They are designed to show the importance, and precariousness, of the natural world:

1p: A hazel dormouse, which has seen its population halve since 2007

2p: A red squirrel, which is expected to blend into the colour of the copper coin

5p: An oak tree leaf, signifying its role as a rich habitat for biodiversity in woodland areas and an association with monarchy of the past

10p: The capercaillie - the world's largest grouse - found in a small part of Scotland and threatened with extinction

20p: A puffin

50p: The Atlantic salmon, which is at threat from river pollution and habitat loss

£1: Bees

£2: National flowers - a rose for England, a daffodil for Wales, a thistle for Scotland and a shamrock for Northern Ireland

Image: via Royal Mint Twitter feed.

#127: Forests and Fungi

A very useful documentary.

There are some clips that would be worth using in the classroom.

A forest is a place where thousands of different organisms meet, creating the most complex network of connections that can exist in nature. A forest is a system in which each organism plays a role and has an assigned function. It is worth considering the importance of fungi for the functioning of the forest – the most mysterious group of organisms in this forest puzzle. 

Director: Michał Ogrodowczyk 

Script and commentary: Tomasz Leski, Marcin Pietras 

Year of production: 2020 

Producer: Forest Film Studio, Polish State Forests

#126: Natural History Reading List #10: W.G. Hoskins and 'The Making of the English Landscape'

In his pioneering work The Making of the English Landscape (1955), William George Hoskins (1908-1992) claimed ‘to those who know how to read it aright, the English landscape is the richest historical document we possess’. 

William Hoskins (1908-1992) was born in Exeter, Devon, the son of a baker. He won a scholarship to St Hele’s School and later studied at the University of Exeter. In 1931 he became a lecturer at the University of Leicester, where he founded the Department of English Local History in 1948, which went on to pioneer the study of people in their landscapes. In 1951 he was appointed as Reader in Economic History at Oxford University. He was made a fellow of the British Academy in 1969 and became a CBE in 1971. He wrote and edited many books including The Midland Peasant, Local History in England and Two Thousand Years in Exeter. In 1972 he made a television series for the BBC, based on his best-seller, The Making of the English Landscape. He was also president of the Dartmoor Preservation Association and was elected onto the City Council, to help preserve its historic fabric.

The book demonstrated the profound impact of human activity on the evolution of both rural and urban English Landscapes, introducing a brand-new source of primary information for scholars of various disciplines. 

Over the subsequent decades, Hoskins’ work has had profound impact on the work of historians, geographers, archaeologists, planners and conservationists, transforming their approaches to local, regional and national studies.

My version is the Little Toller Books version with cover photography by Fay Godwin.

From the page here, you can read a new introduction by William Boyd.

This is one of the books that will be in my GCSE Natural History library which is taking shape nicely.

#125: Natural History Reading List #9: 'Home Ground'

Home Ground has an American focus, but would provide a rather fine basis for producing an illustrated glossary of UK specific Natural History terms in the same vein.

I am sure that many of the terms are also relevant to the UK's diverse landscapes.

The book was compiled and edited by the late great Barry Lopez and his partner Debra Gwartney.

Around 100 pages of the book can be read on Google Books here.

The book has definitions of landscape terms - some of which will perhaps be unfamiliar to non-geographers, and not all of which can be found in the UK.

This is a rather wonderful book.
It is a 'dictionary' of features which make up the landscape of the United States.

Many of the landscape terms are illustrated and accompanied by short essays from a range of contributors along with quotes. This is much better than the typical A-Z because of the eclectic nature of the articles and essays and the quality of the writing and illustrations.

Published in America, but available from Amazon.

My copy was published by Trinity University Press in 2006
Hardback, 450pp
ISBN: 1 - 59534 - 024 - 6

Contributors include: Jeffery Renard Allen, Kim Barnes, Conger Beasley, Jr., Franklin Burroughs, Lan Samantha Chang, Michael Collier, Elizabeth Cox, John Daniel, Jan DeBlieu, William deBuys, Gretel Ehrlich, Charles Frazier, Pamela Frierson, Patricia Hampl, Robert Hass, Emily Hiestand, Linda Hogan, Stephen Graham Jones, John Keeble, Barbara Kingsolver, William Kittredge, Jon Krakauer, Gretchen Legler, Arturo Longoria, Bill McKibben, Ellen Meloy, Robert Morgan, Susan Brind Morrow, Antonya Nelson, Robert Michael Pyle, Pattiann Rogers, Scott Russell Sanders, Eva Saulitis, Donna Seaman, Carolyn Servid, Kim Stafford, Mary Swander, Arthur Sze, Mike Tidwell, Luis Alberto Urrea, Luis Verano, D. J. Waldie, Joy Williams, Terry Tempest Williams, and Larry Woiwode.

#124: Marine and Coastal Wildlife Code

In May 2023, the new Marine and Coastal Wildlife Code was launched.

The page is not particularly visual or engaging unlike the images which are used for the Countryside Code, designed by Aardman Animations.

Quite a lot of the advice is also taken from other secondary sources, such as the section on how to recognise that you are perhaps disturbing marine species.

Perhaps there is an activity here for students to create some engaging visuals / identify appropriate images, or even record videos modelling good behaviour for other to follow when they are out on the coast.

Image: Seals on Blakeney Point - Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

#123: The Taiga under threat

The taiga is the boreal forest in the northern Hemisphere.  Students will be introduced to the full range of global biomes one hopes, in addition to studying those they have access to within the UK.

There is a huge area of taiga in Russia, and it is threatened in many ways.

From the video description - made by DW - a German documentary film maker.

The largest boreal forest on Earth and a crucial oxygen source. But its ecosystem is increasingly distressed, due to global warming and exploitation of raw materials.

The forests of Russia produce some 1.3 billion tons of oxygen every year. But Greenpeace Russia warns that millions of hectares are being lost every year to fires and clearing operations. Along with ecologists, climate scientists, an environmental inspector and members of indigenous communities, this documentary runs a health check on the taiga and examines the potential impact on the world’s climate if this vast boreal forest isn’t protected. 

Open-cast mining in the Kuznetsk Basin is inflicting irreparable damage on the natural world, while business booms. 

Whereas Russian mining companies extracted around 260 million tons of coal in the year 2000, two decades later that figure climbed to some 400 million tons. And it’s set to rise even further - to some 590 million tons by 2030. Oil production is also a destructive force in many places. 

In 2020, Russia was the world’s second-largest oil producer with a market share of more than 11 per cent. But facilities are often in very poor condition. Russian environmentalists record some 10,000 cases of oil pollution every year.

#122: Canal and River Trust

The proposal documents for the new Specification list a number of supporting organisations. This is one of a series of posts exploring these organisations and what they might offer for those teachers who are thinking about offering the new specification and qualification in their schools and institutions.

It would also make sense to check out what the options are for your nearest stretch of water. I am fortunate to 

The Canal and River Trust is involved in the management of the nation's waterways.

The website also features a section on invasive species.

Scroll to the bottom and you can see a nice representation of what they believe rivers can look like...

In the Countryside Classroom website - free registration you can also find two very useful downloads which connect with the idea of habitats along rivers and canals.

These are worth looking at for a whole range of natural history related reasons. They are designed for Primary in particular but there is something there to work on.

#121: Creativity required

I trawl through the mentions of GCSE Natural History on Twitter each month to see what people are saying and whether there is any news that is relevant. Back in June there was a mention of poetry, and I have now posted the first Natural History poem on the blog.

This tweet was from David Cooper, who writes about Place. Good to hear poetry being mentioned.

‘Poetry is hope in action’ (Clare Shaw): spent yesterday in & around @bristolmuseum discussing the new GCSE in Natural History & the need for young people to learn to love - a word that was used repeatedly & without apology - through culture & creativity as well as fact. pic.twitter.com/26yRJHkqBH

— David Cooper (@DrDavidCooper) June 18, 2023

I hope that teachers show a deal of creativity when it comes to creating their own school-specific resources.

Poetry is one way to achieve this.

Please share your favourite poems with a Natural History theme by commenting below.

#120: Natural History Poetry #1: 'To Autumn'

Alongside the other sources that students will be exposed to during the GCSE in Natural History courses, poetry will play a part. This variety of cultural sources including art and literature and music is one of the interesting aspects of the course, and the selection of these sources will be interesting, and will I am sure lead to some debate about inclusion and exclusion. 

It will certainly need to be diverse and not just created by old (and possibly dead) white men.

Having said that...

As we enter the season of autumn, here's a classic which is full of natural history references... and written by a dead white man: aged just 25 when he died of tuberculosis in Rome.

To Autumn (1820)

John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness! 

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; 

Conspiring with him how to load and bless 

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; 

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, 

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells 

With a sweet kernel; 

to set budding more, 

And still more, later flowers for the bees, 

Until they think warm days will never cease, 

For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells. 

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? 

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find 

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, 

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; 

Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, 

Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook 

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers; 

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep 

Steady thy laden head across a brook; 

Or by a cider-press, with patient look, 

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? 

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too – 

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, 

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; 

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn 

Among the river sallows, borne aloft 

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; 

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; 

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft 

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; 

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Image: Conkers and autumn leaves, Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license