#202: Worms are important

Worms aren't important are they?

One might imagine so, but some of the early naturalists including Gilbert White and Charles Darwin understood the vital importance of them for soil health and other factors, including the incorporation of organic material into the soil, aeration and other benefits.

Earthworms are described by the Natural History Museum as heroes.

Check out details of the former NHM project called Earthworm Watch. This was a Citizen Science project.

Data collection is now closed, but the results can be viewed.

Hopefully one result of studying the GCSE Natural History will be cohorts of students who appreciate the small things a little more. This is not always about the bigger aspects of Natural History but the smaller elements that contribute to the whole.

My Geographical Association Presidential theme was Everyday Geographies, and this is another example of where small everyday actions can make a large cumulative difference. I'm thinking of developing some support around the idea of "everyday natural history".

“The team found that earthworms are responsible for nearly 7% of global grain harvests, such as rice, wheat, and corn. …In sub-Saharan Africa, where many soils are depleted in nutrients and fertilizer is scarce, earthworms boost grain production by 10%.” https://t.co/hWwt2VHGqi

— David Wallace-Wells (@dwallacewells) December 19, 2023

#109: Natural History Podcasts #4: Curlew Calls

.@curlewcalls is one of the guests in the latest episode of the @Ashdown_Forest podcast, with wildlife guide Tom Forward and podcast producer Eka Morgan.

They discusses Curlews (of course), wild cats, and the Natural History GCSE.

Listen here: https://t.co/2BUjhLctAo pic.twitter.com/Ob2wD43Uto

— Curlew Action (@CurlewAction) October 1, 2023

With few official updates on progress, hearing from Mary Colwell in this podcast is important. She talks about the campaign - 11 years long so far - to develop the GCSE in Natural History. There was the involvement of Tony Juniper from the beginning, and later Caroline Lucas of the Green Party.

Listen here on Apple podcasts. You need to listen from 18' 50" in particular to hear Mary speaking.

Ashdown Forest was the original Hundred Acre Wood from Winnie the Pooh.

She talks about the importance of observing, recording and monitoring local wildlife and understanding its relationship with national and global wildlife. It involves getting involved with nature. Mary hopes it will be a 'catalyst' for producing more naturalists in the future...

She references Gilbert White and the presenter references Gerald Durrell.

She also mentions the importance of localism and rootedness and drawing on the local voices. This means that every school will need to have a focus on teaching about their own local area, and the idea of localism.

An activity on developing this within students will obviously be needed.

She also explains that the development subject criteria has been delayed which means that it is likely that the new specification will arrive for first teaching from 2026.

#53: Natural History Reading List #2: A Natural History of Selborne

Updated November 15th 2023

"Gilbert White’s book, more than any other, has shaped our everyday view of the relations between humans and nature."

Richard Mabey, Naturalist & biographer of Gilbert White

Gilbert White's book is a landmark text which students of the GCSE in Natural History are likely to be introduced to in some way. It was a great inspiration for other writers who are at the heart of natural history as well, including Charles Darwin.

His house is open as a museum.

Gilbert White was the curate of the Parish of Selborne in Hampshire and lived there for 40 years. He started his work with his Garden Kalendar in 1751. He and his brother cut a path, called the Zigzag, into the hill behind the house where Gilbert lived, leading up onto the Common.

White is widely regarded as the father of ecology, and is a globally significant natural scientist. He was responsible for a number of major discoveries in the world of natural history

White is famous because of his method. 

In an age without cameras and tape recorders he correctly identified the willow wrens as separate species by their songs and by minute differences in their plumage. He did this through observation, what he called ‘observing narrowly’, and then carefully recording what he saw. 

Whereas other natural historians of the 18th century received information from all over the country, White closely observed nature in one patch of country, as modern natural historians do. He would receive specimens from local boys, or from his brother John, which he would examine. His scientific fame rests on his minute observation of all nature in his garden, on his walks and his rides in the countryside.

Some text amended from the museum website.

Simon Barnes, in The Times 1st June 2013 wrote: 

‘The book is about taking small things and understanding their place across the immensities of space and time. He was able to take a small localised matter and see its eternal significance. He saw his little chunk of Hampshire as a single living entity".

The book takes the form of a seriesof letters to Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, and was published in 1789 near the end of his life. 

Gilbert White also referred to the "rude magnificence" of nature.

Updated July 28th 2023

A nice piece in 'The Guardian' explored more of Gilbert White's legacy and how some the 'rude magnificence' has been restored.

It also gave me an idea to put together a GCSE Natural History Quiz as part of the resources that we will be creating around the specification.

One question would be to name Gilbert White's pet tortoise.

The article also goes into the skill of "watching narrowly" and the conservation work being carried out on the estate.

The book has never been out of print since publication.

The Linnean Society offered a session in November 2023, and a link to watch the YouTube recording was provided...