#323: A casualty of the early election?

Earlier today, this diagram was shared on Twitter, which looks from the formatting to be a panel from a recent copy of the i newspaper.

It shows the Government policies that were announced, but never came to fruition because of the early call for a General Election. 

Some of these were not the result of the 4th of July call, but the civil servants who would have been working on preparing all the documentation for the consultation that is needed in order for the next stage of the qualification's development ahead of a possible 2025 start will no longer be working due to purdah. This means that the relevant steps to progress have not been taken. 

Is it the end for the qualification? 

Will the new Government continue to develop the project? 

It's unlikely to be earlier than 2026 before it will be taught for the first time?

We'll find out more after the Election I guess....

Update - a Tweet from Mary Colwell...

Thanks Jules - so despairing about the last delay to the GCSE in Natural History - it now hangs in the balance and relies on Labour pushing it through. But will they? https://t.co/kbEvfXTYhl

— Mary Colwell (@curlewcalls) June 3, 2024

#322: Where the wild things are...

An excellent piece in today's Guardian explores the importance of gardens and parks to Britain's wildlife.

The piece explores the "shifting baseline" and the quiet disappearance of animals we used to take for granted, such as hedgehogs. I also remember a fox family that used to live in the grounds of the derelict church opposite the GA headquarters in Solly Street, Sheffield. They are now a huge block of student accommodation, and the foxes are nowhere to be seen.

We cry habitat loss, but it’s theft, really – no one is so careless as to lose their home. We call it progress, but how dare we? How many people, throughout the planning process, will have thought of or cared about hedgehogs? Or considered any of the other residents, both human and wild? The management company would have conducted an ecology survey, no doubt. But, as is often the case, it was probably done in winter, when the hedgehogs were hibernating. Did any residents other than Choel and me know there were hedgehogs on that estate? Did anyone care? The council paved over the gardens to save money on maintenance. The trees and park were lost because the car parks that replaced them can be a source of income. The residents placed there by the council would not necessarily have known or thought about those habitats, making them so much easier to destroy.

#321: Charles Waterton: Naturalist

One of the features of the new specification will presumably be to introduce students to people who were pioneers in the field. I've already mentioned quite a few of these people on the blog, such as White, Von Humboldt, Darwin etc. 

When I was a little more peripatetic in my work, travelling around the country, I spent several days working at the Waterton Hall Hotel on the edge of Wakefield. It also featured recently on one of the many programmes involving people buying and selling antiques on a road trip.

Charles Waterton was born in Wakefield in 1782.

He is described on his Wikipedia page here.

When David Attenborough opened an exhibit at Wakefield's museum he said of Waterton that he was:

"one of the first people anywhere to recognise, not only that the natural world was of great importance, but that it needed protection as humanity made more and more demands on it”

Waterton Hall Hotel is in Wakefield, and is well worth a visit.

In March 2024, the Guardian reported that the estate was going to be receiving Grade II heritage listing status to protect it as it was regarded as "the world's first nature reserve".

The estate owner was known for climbing trees into his 80s, padding around his land barefoot, talking to visitors while standing on his head and, during dinner parties, pretending to be a dog who would bite the legs of guests.

Yet his contemporaries often thought him eccentric for the way he managed his estate, such as his decisions to ban shooting on his land and to invite members of the public to visit it for free. Asylum patients were welcomed as part of their treatment.

“He isn’t that well know today, but when he was alive he was quite widely known for his explorations and scientific expeditions,” said Sarah Charlesworth, Historic England’s listing team leader in northern England.

“He was a fascinating man, ahead of his time. He created what is in effect the first nature reserve in the world to protect native wildlife. He deserves to be better known.”

Image of hotel: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

The estate was protected by a wall which Waterton built at great expense. He has family links with slavery, which are explored here - on the Friends of Waterton's Wall website.

#320: A history of Whaling

A useful history of whaling, which may be of interest.

This article discusses the history of whaling from prehistoric times up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986. 

Whaling has been an important subsistence and economic activity in multiple regions throughout human history. Commercial whaling dramatically reduced in importance during the 19th century due to the development of alternatives to whale oil for lighting, and the collapse in whale populations. Nevertheless, some nations continue to hunt whales even today. 

Early history Humans have engaged in whaling since prehistoric times. Early depictions of whaling at the Neolithic Bangudae site in Korea, unearthed by researchers from Kyungpook National University, may date back to 6000 BCE. The University of Alaska Fairbanks has described evidence for whaling at least as early as circa 1000 BCE. 

The oldest known method of catching cetaceans is dolphin drive hunting, in which a number of small boats are positioned between the animal and the open sea and the animals are herded towards shore in an attempt to beach them. This method is still used for smaller species such as pilot whales, beluga whales, porpoises and narwhals, as described in A Pattern of Islands, a memoir published by British administrator Arthur Grimble in 1952. Another early method used a drogue such as a wooden drum or an inflated sealskin tied to an arrow or a harpoon. Once the missile had been shot into a whale's body, the buoyancy and drag from the drogue would eventually cause the whale to tire, allowing it to be approached and killed. Cultures that practiced whaling with drogues included the Ainu, Inuit, Native Americans, and the Basque people of the Bay of Biscay. 

Most nations have now stopped whaling, with a few exceptions.

#319: Thought for the Day

“Man is the most insane species. 

He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. 

Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.”

Hubert Reeves

#318: LEAP - our diet and the environment

LEAP was involved in the creation of the Meat the Future exhibition at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 2022.

The LEAP project (Livestock, Environment and People) at Oxford University studies the health, environmental, social and economic impacts of meat and dairy production and consumption.

The LEAP website includes an excellent image... Check the tabs to see more. 

The proposed specification was originally down to include something on the impact of our dietary choices on the environment e.g. meat eating has a high carbon footprint.

Image copyright: LEAP 

#317: Wisteria hysteria

April is the time for Wisteria to bloom. This was meant to be posted in April but didn't quite get there in time.

As with many of the plants we see in urban areas - wisteria is often found draping the fronts of houses and other buildings in cities, it is an introduced species...

Wowzer Wisteria Walk With Woofer pic.twitter.com/ayTRLu13UW

— Alastair Owens (@AlastairHackney) April 21, 2024

This blog explains how it got to the UK.

The work of plant collectors and the trade in plant speciments will hopefully be something referred to in the draft specification...

#316: Climate Change and Natural History

Many museum collections are being revisited to see what they can tell us about the past, and also what they previously neglected to tell us. Collections and their use will be part of the new draft specification, and visits to suitable places are likely to be an important part of the preparation that teachers do for their teaching.

This article looks at the work being done at the Natural History Museum to explore evidence of past climate change.

They have a huge collection, and much work needs to be done to revisit it and reinterpret some of the collections.

#315: Festival of Nature - particularly for those in the West of England

This is coming up on the 1st of June.

There is a wealth of different events taking place.

It is described as "the UK's largest free celebration of the natural world".

Organised by the Natural History Consortium.

#314: Countryfile Wild Britain

The BBC's long-running Countryfile programme has a Wild Britain campaign. 

This is aimed at the general public and to try to capture acts of kindness towards the wildlife of the country.

We are one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, and whilst we may have some amazing wildlife in this country it’s sadly in crisis: more than 40% of UK species populations have declined since the 1970s and a quarter of British mammals are at risk of extinction.

Wildlife needs you more than ever before. We want you to become a nature champion and choose an action to give wildlife a boost whether that’s making a bog garden to feeding the birds, creating hedgehog homes or mini beast hotels, everyone can help in their own way, no matter what size of space you have. Whatever you choose to do, please add your action to BBC Countryfile Wild Britain map.

#313: Lichens and Gravestones

Following a previous post from April.

This Guardian article describes a Church of England project.

It is a Citizen Science project.

The article includes the following really useful information:

Graves are a haven for lichen, with more than 700 of the 2,000 British species having been recorded in English churchyards and cemeteries so far. According to surveys by the church, many sites have well more than 100 species on the stonework, trees and in the grassland.

This summer, the church is running a nature count in burial grounds across the country. 

Between the 8th and the 16th of June, they are asking people to visit their local graveyard, record which species they find and send them in.

A lichen is a complex life form, made up of a stable symbiotic association between a fungus and algae or cyanobacteria. They are very important as habitat for small invertebrates, and they stabilise soil pH as well as carrying out water and nutrient capture and cycling. They play a crucial role in the environment but many of their preferred habitats, including ancient trees, are under threat.

In order to take part:

To submit records during the week, the easiest way is to use a free app called iNaturalist and join the Beautiful Burial Grounds project. This doesn't appear to be ready quite yet.

The app enables you to take a photo and it helps with identification.

I've got this app myself.

See the previous project outcomes.

A useful guide to Lichens has been produced and can be downloaded as a PDF.

Top image: Gravestones in Lexham Churchyard, Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license.

#312: Stamp Issue: Mary Anning

Stamps are often given designs which connect with Natural History, as well as historical figures,  A recent issue featured Mary Anning. She will be featured in a forthcoming post as young people deserve to learn about her pioneering work in an area which is likely to feature in the specification.

What other stamp issues have a Natural History theme?

I've previously used stamp design as a creative task. A blank outline of a stamp (although I need to find one with the King rather than the late Queen is a useful template for creative design work.

#311: The i Newspaper - nature in crisis

The front page of yesterday's i newspaper had a large feature on the crisis facing British nature and the lack of political action.

UK species have declined by 19 per cent on average since the 1970s, with one in six species currently at risk of extinction, a landmark report published last year by the Government in collaboration with non-governmental organisations found.

Today's paper has a feature with Chris Packham to follow up the story.

#310: A small 'update' (or mention at least)

I regularly search through a number of media to see if there are any relevant details on the development of the new specification and the need to have another round of consultations on content and assessment models.

Earlier today there was a bit of a mention during a meeting of an all-party Parliamentary group on the Environment...

.@CarolineLucas asked for an update on the consultation for the new Natural History GCSE, which is due to start in Sept 2025.

This is in write round, taking longer than planned, and the 2025 start may be challenging. pic.twitter.com/mIgbDiwzTX

— All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Environment (@EnvironmentAPPG) May 15, 2024

#309: Data Skills course at the RGS-IBG

A new RGS course in association with the Field Studies Council may be of interest. 

We've been exploring the various skills that teachers who are going to be teaching the new specification. Handling natural history may well be involved there.

Do you want to improve your delivery of data skills? If so, we have got a new event for you.

Join our upcoming joint CPD with @fieldstudiesc looking at improving your skills, knowledge and confidence in teaching data analysis and statistics. https://t.co/eEFHEvZmZb pic.twitter.com/5WSkm68y3q

— RGS-IBG Schools (@RGS_IBGschools) May 3, 2024

Image: Questionnaire, Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license.

#308: Word of the Day: Depauperate

One aspect of preparing for the new course will be to learn a whole range of new natural history vocabulary.

This may come from a whole range of sources, including an approved textbook which is no doubt taking shape somewhere.

Others may include lectures. A recent GA Tyne and Wear Branch poster featured the word depauperate in the details of a lecture on ecosystems. I'd never heard of it before..

Turns out it will probably be quite useful when describing some urban environments.

#307: David Attenborough Day

"It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living."

I think it would be a suitable idea to call the 8th of May - Sir David Attenborough Day.

It's his birthday and he turned 98 today. Many Happy Returns Sir!

I had the privilege of meeting him at the RGS some years ago. He has inspired so many people to consider the natural world and its beauty and to take steps to protect it where possible.

Image credit / copyright: Ian Salvage

#306: Changing our plastic habits

I have a Google Alert set up for the phrase 'GCSE Natural History'

The qualification will need to make reference to threats to the landscape.

The Manufacturer is a journal for industry.

This article makes reference to one of the suggested content sections in the consultation - whether it makes it to the draft specification is unknown at the moment.

Julian Hoffman's 'Irreplaceable' touches on the plastic threat when he visits the beach in the chapter entitled 'A world within water'.

He describes the discovery of the plastic nurdles which make up a part of any handful of beach sand in most of the world.

A useful quote to use in any use - remove the word plastic, and see whether people can work out what the missing word is...

"For all its unquestionable usefulness for the human race, a convenience that's turned out to be irressistible to us, plastic places an unearthly burden on the rest of the living world."

#305: The Laboratory with Leaves

A documentary on Fenland - part of a series of films.

#304: MerlinID for bird identification

Merlin ID is a rather good new free smartphone app which is ideal for anyone who wants to know what birds they are listening to. Download the app to begin with.

When you are out on a walk, choose SOUND ID and press the green button.

Merlin identifies bird sounds using breakthroughs in machine learning technology to recognize species based on spectrograms—visual representations of sounds. For Merlin to learn to recognize a species by sound, we use audio recordings from the Macaulay Library that include a variety of sounds for each species to “train” Merlin.

Your smartphone's microphone will be used to record sounds in real time, and as the software identifies a match with a bird that is singing, it will appear on the screen, and you can compare the suggestion with what you are hearing.

Here's what it picked up on a walk I took yesterday's evening. 

As the bird's name popped up I heard it's call as separate from the others, which helped me potentially learn it in the future.

Each sound file can be uploaded to help Merlin ID 'learn'.

As the main website says:

Sound ID is currently available for 1,000+ species. You can view a list of all species covered by Sound ID here. Sound ID will be expanded in the future to include species worldwide, but to do that, our team needs a minimum of 150 sound recordings for each species to train Merlin to recognize their sounds. You can help us add new species to Merlin by recording the birds in your area and uploading them with your eBird checklists.

This will be a wonderful app for those who are planning to investigate bird habitats and particular species.

It's currently FREE but I wonder whether there are plans to start charging over time as the app gets more accurate.

#303: National Hedgerow Week 2024

I'm looking forward to reading the new book: 'Hedgelands'.

We are now in National Hedgerow Week as it stands.

Great to see an article on why hedgerows are important in the Big Issue! Don't forget National Hedgerow Week starts next week, get ready! #NHW #NationalHedgerowWeek24 🌳 💚 pic.twitter.com/MCleiuQWY4

— The Tree Council (@TheTreeCouncil) April 29, 2024

The article in The Big Issue is important to catch up with. Why not buy your own copy of the latest issue. 

I try to pick one up from vendors in Ely or Norwich.

There's a great opening to that piece which sums up why hedgerows are important.

The traditional British hedge is the greatest edge habitat on earth. It is a green food bank, a windbreak, a stock fence, a flood defence system, an immense storage unit for excess carbon dioxide and an incomparable haven for wildlife. According to the RSPB, “hedges may support up to 80% of our woodland birds, 50% of our mammals and 30% of our butterflies”.

A hedge provides singing posts for birds, a crucial navigational aid for bats, and a cross-country route for any number of small mammals, safely hidden from predators. Hedgerow shrubs and trees, bathed in sunshine, will also produce far more fruit that in a woodland. You won’t find many juicy blackberries in the heart of a dark oak forest, no matter how many brambles might be trying to grow there. The most generous kind of hedge should include shrubs, trees and bushes, coppiced and/or cut and laid, forming a row.

It's #NationalHedgerowWeek!
Tell us @Hedgelink_UK how you'll be celebrating hedgerows this week! Share your favourite hedge photos with #myfavehedge and spread the word just how great hedges are! pic.twitter.com/m9IwZ1dxPk

— Hedgelink (@Hedgelink_UK) May 6, 2024

I feel very lucky to have access to fields and hedgerows within two minutes walk of my home. They are full of bird life and plants 

#302: Natural History Reading List #18: 'Gathering Moss'

Robin Wall Kimmerer's book on moss is excellent and very readable. 

The author uses some excellent analogies and examples to explain why mosses are so important. This may well be the best book I've read so far in my reading.

Here's Robin Kimmerer on grass:

And on moss:

The book is now available free to listen to for those who have a Spotify Premium account. There are now hundreds of books available to listen to, and I will perhaps aim to create a list of these for those who have access to Audible ultimately.

#301: Festival of Farmland Biodiversity

This is taking place in Ireland.

In May, the festival of #farmlandbiodiversity celebrates native hedgerows that crisscross Ireland's landscape.

To take part: share photos of hedgerows, use the hashtag above, and tag @BioDataCentre.

Check out https://t.co/hJpknO2H5E for resources such as this lovely graphic! pic.twitter.com/DifT7sFXYn

— Hedgerows Ireland (@hedgerows_ie) May 2, 2024

A lovely image for those exploring Hedgerows...

 

#300: Talking Natural History

The 300th post on this blog has an update on the progress on the specification.

Earlier this week I spent an interesting day in Cambridge discussing the GCSE Natural History as a member of OCR's Consultative Forum. This is a group of people who share an interest in the new specification and the subject itself, and are drawn from a whole range of backgrounds. We were given a little window on what has happening to prepare the new subject for first teaching...

There were some familiar faces as well as some new friends to meet. We had some good conversations on our table.

We had an update on the context within which the new specification will be appearing - this was similar to the OCR Geography Forum meeting that I'd attended the month before. 

Time is tight to complete all the required steps for accreditation in time to start teaching the specification in 2025, and it may slip into 2026 - the timeline is very compressed from now on.

We couldn't be told too much about the specification as the content was embargoed ahead of a consultation which will hopefully take place this month.... or be opened this month. 

We saw a few likely sections presented as broad headings, which suggest a slight change in emphasis from the original conception of the course, and were also asked to choose which of the potential example habitats which students might be shown that we liked. I can't share any of this at the moment.

When the consultation does finally appear, we will of course be all over it here. We will be recommending to people with any sort of interest in teaching the course that they respond if they want to have any influence on what is (and isn't) included. More on that as it comes...

We were given a flavour of what might be involved, and also discussed some options for an assessment model. This will be crucial to uptake as the subject will need to find its way into crowded option blocks, and the timing for inclusion in these, and allowing for teaching time is tight. I referred to my previous experience with the OCR Pilot GCSE Geography, and the use of different types of assessment as well, including the possibility of a Pre-release booklet.

Image: A La Ronde, Devon - Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license

#299: Turns out nature IS worth something

Last Thursday's Guardian newspaper (this is the best paper for these sorts of stories) has an article on a new report by the Green Finance Institute which warns that further breakdown in the UK’s natural environment could lead to a 12% loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the 2030s.

It explains how our government's current disregard for nature is going to have drastic consequences.

The full report and related documents are here.

I will unpick this report a little more once we find out how this links with the proposed specifications. I hope something on the real value of nature is included.

#298: 'Homecoming'- out in November '24

One useful practice for those wanting to engage with nature is to keep a journal. I'm not a fan of the verb 'to journal', but 'journalling' as an activity is akin to the scrap books I used to create, or the diaries I used to write capturing what I had for tea and other valuable information to the Mass Observation project.

Melissa Harrison, who has written a number of books which have been mentioned here on this blog has been busy putting together a resource which sounds like it might be of value to explore with young people. 

It is a diary and almanac combined.

🌱 NEWS! 🌱 In November @wnbooks will publish HOMECOMING: A GUIDED JOURNAL TO LEAD YOU BACK TO NATURE. It's for you, your kids, your parents, friends and everyone you love; it's as close as I can get to inviting you on 12 relaxed walks with me. Pre-order: https://t.co/owNdVIPonv pic.twitter.com/3Udh6KZHFQ

— Melissa Harrison (@M_Z_Harrison) April 30, 2024

Description:

A year-long course in noticing designed to plug you back into the rhythm of the seasons.

Begin in any month and continue round to the start.

Follow the stories, small and large, unfolding all around you - whether you live in the heart of a city or deepest countryside.

Connect to nature, boost your wellbeing and find your way in the living world.

Establish your own rituals, high points and habits to carry you through the year.

Homecoming includes a monthly bird-by-ear as well as rewarding and inspiring activities from meteor spotting to marking each equinox, citizen science to caring for your nearby wild.