#30: Don't fence me in

I love this image by Harry Epworth Allen.

It shows the typical walls that are found in much of the Peak District - both the White and the Dark Peak. This looks like the area around Great and Little Hucklow, which I know well.

Derbyshire Walls, by Harry Epworth Allen (1894-1958), @SheffMuseums. pic.twitter.com/jLg8X2xFPy

— Brian Groom (@GroomB) December 20, 2022

These walls are made by skilful people, and were a massive achievement - the walls run to hundreds if not thousands of miles in length and enclosed land owned by landowners including monasteries / religious areas as well as individuals. 

This article in Great British Life explains how they are an integral part of the British countyside in this part of the country. 

Here's a little extract from the article.

The existence of dry stone walls can be dated as far back as over 3,500bc. 

It is believed that farmers of the Iron and Bronze Ages constructed their agricultural walls with the huge structures arranged by the ethnic chiefs and lords. In Derbyshire alone we have standing walls that go back to Roman times; ancient clearance walls built to mark boundaries and contain livestock; slavers walls built by people who were captured and brought here because they could build walls effectively; and famine walls built by Irish labourers in the 1800s, working either for homesteads or wealthy land owners.

At a glance, the ages and types of dry stone walls are identifiable by their shape, form and location. Enclosure by Act of Parliament was standard in the mid 1700s, although the first Enclosure Act was passed in 1604. 

Walls built in this period are the most common in the countryside, dividing land in straight strips of a rectangular shape and called the enclosures walls, as seen in the countryside near Monyash and Flagg.

The walls are also important for some plant and animal species by providing a sheltered habitat for them to grow.

The idea of borders is also important, and there are some possible contexts here for work around Natural History in terms of identifying just how enclosures in the past have influenced the natural history and biodiversity of today.

#29: King's Series of National Nature Reserves

DEFRA and Natural England are combining to develop a series of new Nature Reserves.

Natural England will leave a lasting public legacy for people and nature by creating of a King’s Series of National Nature Reserves to celebrate the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

As Prince of Wales, His Majesty expressed a deep love and concern for England’s wildlife, natural and rural places, frequently reflecting on his love of walking and its role in promoting a healthy mind and body.

The plans will see the creation of a new ‘King’s Series of National Nature Reserves’, with five major National Nature Reserves named every year for the next five years - 25 in total.

The first - the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve - will be declared by Natural England this summer. 

Over 12 square miles in area, it contains a wonderful variety of sand dunes, saltmarsh, mudflats and freshwater marshes, which support many breeding and wintering birds, natterjack toads, special plants and insects.

The remaining four National Nature Reserves for 2023-2024 will be confirmed at a later date, but are likely to include the Mendip Hills in Somerset, Moccas Park in Herefordshire, Ingleborough in North Yorkshire and Lullington in East Sussex.

It would be good for schools in these areas to connect with these national nature reserves and get involved in the creation of educational resources.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license

Update

The King visited the reserve when it was opened. It featured in a documentary shown on Christmas Day.

#28: National Nature Reserves Week 2023

 

There is a  week to celebrate National Nature Reserves in late May.

From the website:

National Nature Reserves are our most important places for nature, the beating heart of England’s landscapes. From Lindisfarne in Northumberland, to the Lizard in Cornwall. From ferny woodlands and ancient heaths, to glimmering wetlands and wild coasts. 

National Nature Reserves are not only precious, but as colourful and diverse as the wildlife and people who call them home.

These ancient and unique places are wildlife-rich, breath-taking, and play a vital role in securing our country’s amazing wildlife and geology. They are at the centre of landscapes and communities, providing the foundation and inspiration to work towards reducing the impact of climate change and increasing the resilience of our countryside, towns and cities for people and wildlife. They are at the heart of a growing nature recovery network. National Nature Reserves act as outdoor laboratories where learning, science and discovery come together. Time is running out for our wildlife and ancient landscapes. Our reserves are helping us to find the answers to tackle the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss.

From the very first six in 1952, there are now 221 National Nature Reserves in England. 

Almost two thirds of these are managed by Natural England, but also by over 60 different partner organisations including the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, local authorities and many other landowners and conservation bodies. These NNR partners all work together to ensure our most important places for nature thrive, and are protected for people to enjoy.

One useful activity would be to consider where your nearest National Nature Reserve is, and what format it takes.

To find them, you can use an interactive map produced by Natural England, and accessible from this link.

My nearest NNR is Foxley Woods, famous for its bluebells at the right time of year.

This is also an SSSI: a Site of Special Scientific Interest. 

These acronyms will also need to be part of the supporting materials for the new specification and we will be providing a list of them as part of the rsources we will be creating around the blog.

#27: Irish Biodiversity Maps

I was introduced to this website at the Charney Manor Primary Geography Conference in February 2023.

The base maps are varied and of high quality and can be zoomed into. 

Layers include habitats, geology, bat species and others, and can be added very easily to the base map.

Here's a description from the site itself:

Biodiversity Maps is the data portal and mapping system of the National Biodiversity Data Centre. It provides an overview of the state of knowledge on the distribution of Ireland's biodiversity from empirical observations, collected by organisations and individuals, from both the private and public sectors. It serves both as a portal to access biodiversity data published as open data, and as a shop window to display other existing sources of data on Ireland's biodiversity.

The National Biodiversity Data Centre offers the digitisation, management and display services provided by Biodiversity Maps as a shared service to data publishers, so that data from all sources can be compiled, stored and displayed to build up a comprehensive picture of the distribution of species across the island of Ireland and its marine waters. By so doing, Biodiversity Maps serves as the 'go to' source for up to date information on Ireland's biodiversity to be used by interested individuals, landowners, land managers, environmental professionals, researchers and decision-makers. The overall objective of developing Biodiversity Maps is to build the knowledge base on Ireland's biological diversity and to provide an online facility to aid in its conservation.

Datasets are published through Biodiversity Maps in two ways. First, datasets that are licenced as open data under what is termed a Creative Commons - with attribution (CC-BY) licence, are available to download and use by third parties, provided the data publisher is given due attribution when the data are being used. Second, datasets that are licensed as restricted are available to be mapped and queried online, but it is not permitted to download the dataset. Use of the dataset must be obtained from the data publisher, whose contact are provided in the information about the dataset (what we refer to as 'metadata').

The National Biodiversity Data Centre serves as Ireland's Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). GBIF is an intergovernmental organisation that has created an open-data research infrastructure to enable anyone, anywhere access to data about all types of life on Earth. All of the data published as open data on Biodiversity Maps is also published to the GBIF portal, making it freely available for researcher and policy development across the globe. Biodiversity Maps provides an easy mechanism to ensure that biodiversity data from Ireland is available not just for national, but also international research and policy needs.

All of the data mapped on Biodiversity Maps has been verified and validated, so that it can serve as a trustworthy source of high quality data on Ireland's biodiversity. Despite this, it is inevitable that some errors remain, and where these are identified, they are corrected. The National Biodiversity Data Centre welcomes feedback from any user of Biodiversity Maps pointing out any potential error. These can be sent to info@biodiversityireland.ie.

The system has been developed on behalf of the Heritage Council and National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.

#26: Emergence Magazine - Mosses as Ancient Green

Ancient Green is an essay in a recent issue of Emergence magazine. 

It looks at mosses and their persistence throught the millennia, patiently growing over changes in the rocks. They have seen previous changes and they can give us some clues for the future and tell stories of the past.

A few extracts which I particularly liked:

They (mosses) cover the inanimate with the animate. 

Without judgment, they cover our mistakes, with an unconditional acceptance of their responsibility for healing. They’ve grown a bandage over the ground of Chernobyl, over mine waste and sludge ponds. There is a whole genre of photographic images of mosses in abandoned interiors, where dripping water and dim light create moss habitat out of human habitations. Broken windows and collapsing roofs invite a strangely beautiful carpet of bryophytes to upholster old couches and blanket beds of abandoned motels. For me, the most powerful of these scenes is the luminous mosses carpeting the conference room of a derelict Detroit office where the captains of gas-guzzling industry once conspired. The chairs where they plotted short-term exploitation have turned to long-term green.

They will cover the abandoned frack pads with the same tenderness as the bare rubble of a melted glacier. Mosses were the first plants to blanket the Earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are also the last.

#25: WWF Living Planet Report - 70% of animals lost

A report which always makes fairly shocking reading is the Living Planet report from WWF.

This is the latest edition of the report, dating from 2022. There will be at least one more update before the new specification starts to be prepared for first teaching.

A young person's version of the report is also available.

The Young Person's report would be a fantastic resource for the course. It has a global scale look at key ecosystems such as the Amazon, and the world's oceans, and is presented in an easily accessible visual style.

#24: Wildflowers for Primary Schools for the King's Coronation

I've set up a Google Alert for the term 'GCSE Natural History' and it sent me to a recent post from the Department for Education.

They are going to be sending Wildlfower Seeds to Primary Schools around the country.

According to the blog post:

This initiative is inspired by His Majesty the King’s commitment to the environment. Working with the Eden Project’s National Wildflower Centre, over 200,000 seeds packets will be sent to schools.

If planted together, around 40 rugby pitch sized wildflowers meadows would be created. The packets of seeds include native annual wildflower species, like cornflower, corn poppy and corn chamomile.

Planting the seeds will be an opportunity for children to engage with the natural world and learn more about the importance of biodiversity, as well as being a way for them to celebrate a historic national moment.

The Eden Project has produced some educational resources, and guidance on planting the seeds.

There is also a link to the new GCSE in Natural History which I am preparing resources for, and have a dedicated blog.

You can also join over 750 other teachers on our GCSE Natural History Facebook page.

As the post says:

We’re also developing a new Natural History GCSE which will enable young people to explore the world by learning about environmental and sustainability issues, and gain a deeper knowledge of the natural world around them.

This is all part of the development of a National Education Nature Park which is in the making.

#23: The Loch Arkaig Osprey Cams

Operated by the Woodland Trust.

This is one of several web cams which it would be useful to direct students towards so that they can see some wildlife live during the lesson.

This will be active at certain times of year in particular of course, and one might discuss with students the likely times of year when there is more activity generally.

Which other wildlife webcams are you aware of?

#22: OCR Survey - what are your thoughts?

On the GA Facebook page earlier today. A request for some thoughts. Please give your views as it will help shape the final specification and the support.

As it says on the survey's start page:
We have been working hard to prepare for the launch of our new GCSE in Natural History.

We would like to ask you some questions about the support that you would like to see in place ahead of teaching GCSE Natural History. We will be showing you a number of different resources designed to support teachers in delivering this qualification at different stages. We would like you to think about how useful each of these resources is in supporting the delivery of this qualification.

This survey will take you around 10 minutes of your time and you feedback is really appreciated. Your feedback will help to provide the right support package for teachers.

Go to the Survey directly here.

If you choose to complete the survey you will also get some clues as to some of the proposed support package and the thinking around who will teach this.

The support package questionnaire makes several mentions of different support for geography teachers and biology teachers suggesting that they think this may be a qualification taught jointly between those two departments.

#21: Make your own Wardian Case

Via SISI - Alien Detectives

A Wardian Case is a small enclosed ecosystem which can be created within a box or bottle. It can also be called a Terrarium.

This is a small experiment which can be undertaken to see how they work with a small plant inside a plastic bottle. It may be a good plan to create these at the relevant stage in the course, and track the success of the plants within them for a period of time.

It will be interesting to see what practical activities are suggested for students to complete as part of the draft specification to make the connection with the life sciences.

The Wardian case was created to try to keep plant speciments alive on the long journey back from plant hunting trips, or to send specimens long distances on board ships.

The first time they were used was an experiment. It took place in 1829, when the surgeon and amateur naturalist Nathanial Bagshaw Ward accidentally discovered that plants enclosed in airtight glass cases can survive for long periods without watering.

If you look outside of your window many of the plants that you see in the gardens are actually imports from other parts of the world. 

How natural are they really?

Wardian Case (1870 ) Copyright: Economic Botany Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

This Kew Gardens piece looks at the importance of these portable greenhouses.

The new glass cases could be kept on deck allowing the plants to receive sunlight. The specially designed cases also protected plants from salt water, but allowed condensed moisture to reach the plants. With time and testing these cases were further developed to better protect the plants. This included the addition of crossed battens to hold the plants in place on rough crossings, and ventilation holes covered in perforated zinc to keep out rodents.

This Conversation piece looks at the impact of the Wardian case on Australia, which was of course affected by the tyranny of distance.

The cases were also used to break trade monopolies.

The invention also opened new opportunities for plants importing, breaking some of the geographic agricultural monopolies. One of the first and most noticeable cases was a Scottish botanist Robert Fortune’s venture: he smuggled tea plants from China in Wardian cases to start a new plantation in Assam, India, in the 1840s. 

The cases were also used in transportation of cinchona (quinine) plants from South Africa and rubber trees from Brazil.

This Linda Hall piece provides more detail on these cases.

There is potential here to use this as a context for exploring the movement of crops around the world, and how they connect with colonisation and some present day food brands and companies who benefited from the land grabs of the time.

#OTD 1855 a scientific meeting at the @ApothecariesLDN was hosted by Fellow of the @LinneanSociety Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward; he is seen standing next to his vivarium, the original 'Wardian case'. pic.twitter.com/1cruBsIIjE

— Glenn Benson (@talloaksfrom) April 11, 2023

#20: People's Plan for Nature

The People's Plan for Nature is worth a look I think as we get closer to the development of resources.

Great to see the #1 theme in an imagined future is a closer relationship with nature - and an honour to be part of the #PeoplesPlanforNature process. Download the full report here: https://t.co/KSKs28g3x5 pic.twitter.com/dCPeZ8r65o

— Miles Richardson (@findingnature) March 23, 2023

There is a PDF download to the full report - 99 pages.  (PDF download)

This was the number one response from people:

The three most urgent actions the People want to see are:

• To put nature at the centre of decision-making
• Farming subsidy systems to prioritise sustainable and nature-friendly farming
• Greater government accountability through a permanent Assembly for Nature

#19: Natural History Reading List #1 - Sustainability Education - A Classroom Guide

The plan is to feature books on the blog that may end up in a reading list for departmental library of Natural History books for those departments offering the new specification.

These may be current books which may be purchased new, or classics which can perhaps be obtained second hand, or at reduced price. 

There will be some cross-references here to my GeoLibrary blog.

I would imagine that the final draft specification will also include a suggested list of additional reading, which won't be confined to books of course.

Thanks very much to Stephen Scoffham and Steve Rawlinson for giving me a copy of their book in April last year at the GA Conference 2022, and for the generous inscription they wrote inside it too.

There are many contributions in the book from familiar names and plenty to encourage teachers to consider their practice and how it connects with encouraging students to look after the planet and encouraging teachers to look at their lessons through the lens of sustainability. There are overlaps with some aspects of the suggested specification consultation, which will inform the final product that emerges.

As the title suggests this is definitely aimed at informing classroom practice.

It's a book to explore when considering where to strengthen the sustainability element of your school curriculum in whatever phase you work.

There are some familiar names contributing chapters to the book including:

Sharon Witt and Helen Clarke on our Watery Planet; 

Elena Lengthorn on Weather and Climate; 

Paula Owens on Special Places and 

Ben Ballin on our Unequal World.

My copy was a first edition, published by Bloomsbury.

Paperback, 278pp

ISBN: 978-1-350-26207-2

#18: Jo Sale - 'Schools Week' - July 22

A piece in SchoolsWeek by Jo Sale back in July 2022 suggested that we need rather more work than just a new GCSE in Natural History to tackle the need for change.

She said that the curriculum reforms in response to climate change are not enough. Read the piece and see what you think. She also suggests that waiting to 2025 to even start the new courses is also a delay that we do not need if the new qualification is to achieve some of its desired goals over time.

#17: Hedging their bets

More news of mistakes by government recently, this time referring to hedgerow planting as part of the new plans for supporting wildlife in the countryside. 

Hedgerows are an important habitat for a wide range of species, and are really important for biodiversity. Some are hundreds of years old - those in Devon which are an important feature of the landscape are over 800 years old.

There was apparently a typo in the document that was previously published...

CPRE is 'the Countryside Charity' and has a particular focus on hedgerows.

Their hedgerows campaign is calling for #40by50. 

But what does this mean?

From the CPRE website:

The government loves talking about tree planting and peatland restoration, but it seems to have forgotten our hedgerows. 

We’re campaigning for them to commit to a target for planting and restoring thousands of miles of hedgerows across the country.

'We need a 40% increase by 2050 at the latest.'

40: We want to see the hedgerow network increase by 40%. This number was recommended by the independent Climate Change Committee and is equivalent to about 120,000 miles in Britain – half way to the moon!

50: This is the time frame. We need a 40% increase by 2050 at the latest. This requires adding over 4,000 miles of new and restored hedgerows per year, starting now.

For those in need of a definition of hedges, here's a useful one:

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties.

Top image: Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license - a hedge in Norfolk - love your local hedges...

#16: Humans and Nature

 A quote from Georges-Louis Leclerc. One for discussion perhaps.

The Guardian had a very useful supplement aimed at introducing the work that was going on ahead of the Biodiversity COP (they aren't just held over the climate), which took place in December 2022.

The disconnect between people and nature is very real. Perhaps this qualification will be part of a new opportunity to engage people with nature, although we need to remember that students choose particular GCSEs for lots of reasons.

“While use of the word ‘nature’ has flatlined over the past century, use of the the word ‘me’ has quadrupled since 1990.” https://t.co/QF3ytqavsy pic.twitter.com/5nh5yaCV0Y

— Miles Richardson (@findingnature) November 27, 2022

And this from Tony Juniper: 

This is a little out of date now, but I don’t expect things will have changed very much. Number of climate change articles in brown & biodiversity in green. Biodiversity last had the edge at the Rio Earth Summit back in 1992. https://t.co/3kvU6nJEqg pic.twitter.com/hJjl2A3qIQ

— Tony Juniper (@TonyJuniper) November 26, 2022

#15: Natural History Playlist #1: The Cottager's Reply

This is a rather fine piece of music - one of many performed by the folk musician Chris Wood. The song was originally written as a poem by Frank Mansell.

It describes a farmer in the Cotswolds, who has a visitor from London who wants to buy his house, perhaps as a second home. Chris Wood updated the cost of the house from the original of course, which was written by Frank Mansell.

The lyrics are spot on for exploring the deep connections that people develop with a place when their family spends time there over the generations, but even then they are perhaps only temporary visitors when looking at the different temporal scales of geology, soil formation and conservation, changing animal species or the slow changes that take place as a result of geomorphological processes. 

It's also a reminder of how farmers have shaped the landscape of the country over generations of changes - whether it is by clearing stones and then using them to construct walls, or through their decisions on what to plant in particular fields, where to drain marshy areas, plant woodlands, rear game or remove species they fear may spread disease.

In one section, the lyrics describe the links with the local wildlife, which is in some ways independent of the work of humans, but very much influenced by these decisions when they impact on habitat and food and water supply.

And at dusk the badger travels still

Ancestral highways on the hill.

I am as Cotswold bred as these

And I still need these field and trees,

And I need the soil that bore my race

And holds their bones beneath this place.

Cynefin is a related term here.

It is something which I have written about and used with my own students, and which is also part of the work of the GA's Welsh Special Interest Group.

It is also potentially being lost according to this research paper.

I have also made a Spotify playlist for GCSE Natural History, to which I will add other related songs as the blog grows and relevant music reveals itself, or I am reminded of it. There are a few songs already. The Chris Wood version of the Cottager's reply is not available, but there is a version on there by Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith instead.

Visit the Spotify playlist here.

If you have a suggestion for a song that could be added to the list, please feel free to let me know - it's not currently opened for others to add songs, but will be once the specification is out and preparations are a bit further down the line.

#14: New learning resource for Milton Keynes schools

I set up a Google Alert for the term 'GCSE Natural History' when I started this blog. This post follows the arrival of a Google Alert.

This report talks about the creation of a new teaching resource for schools in Milton Keynes which is apparently based around the new GCSE Natural History (even though nobody knows what might be in the final specification).

"The resources will provide a range of information and ideas to inspire lessons and homework to support the new natural history GCSE syllabus" and "co-authored by teachers from Shenley Brook End School, and cover topics like tree identification, balancing lakes, map reading, pollinators and even forest bathing – the popular mindfulness activity."

They have been produced by The Parks Trust in Milton Keynes' Outdoor Learning Team in association with the teachers.

They are attractive materials and can be seen here. They are relevant for other topics, although they would be of particular value for schools in the immediate area of course.

#13: Delays in the draft criteria?

An interesting Tweet on Mary Colwell's Twitter feed earlier today suggesting a little frustration that almost a year after being announced there has been very little in the way of announcements on progress towards a draft set of subject criteria for consultation - another step towards the new GCSE which has to happen if it is to become reality.

Here's the New Scientist video from 10 months ago featuring Bear Grylls, one of the supporters of the new qualification.

#12: GCSE Natural History Supporters

GCSE Natural History Supporters are shown here, taken from the original list. 

An image is also shown below. This is taken from the OCR Hub.

This list may well change as time passes and the specification goes through development with additional organisations being added to the list as they get involved. One would expect some to get involved in the creation of learning resources, whether through their own Education team or by sponsoring the creation of branded material. 

Some of this work may go out to tender and be available for teachers and other organisations to get involved with.

This image is taken from the OCR Hub and the original documentation that was released when the specification was given the approval.

Since then of course, we have cycled through quite a few more Education Secretaries and there has been additional pressure placed on the UK's natural resources.

These are the organisations that could see some benefit of being involved in the new qualification, and who will perhaps be involved in supporting its development in various ways, or think that there would be advantages to young people gaining the knowledge and skills that the new qualification could potentially provide for young people. This could mean a pool of people to draw from to recruit for their future work, and also be advocates for the causes they are leading on.

Representatives have also provided some thoughts in essays here.

They include the Linnean Society - an organisation I will blog about separately - along with many of the names on the list - and also one of the Geographical Association's Strategic Partners: the Field Studies Council.

Some other key names on the list are shown below.

Each of these will be returned to in separate posts.

LEAF Education

RHS: Royal Horticultural Society - they have been involved in a number of education projects

Ocean Conservation Trust - includes some serious work on seagrass meadows which are an important habitat and carbon sink - students are likely to explore the oceans as well as the land

Whole Education

Natural History Museum - there will be a separate post on this location - a perfect field visit for those who can get there

Eden Project - another excellent place to visit, but very remote from most locations in the UK

NBN: National Biodiversity Network

This is a useful website which has some detailed biodiversity data for the UK.

BBC - clearly a large collection of resources.

The Urban Birder - David Lindo

A useful person to follow.

Cambridge Zero

Oxford Museum of Natural History

A splendid place to visit.

Country Trust

NAEE

Ashomolean Museum, Oxford

British Society of Soil Science

Marine Conservation Trust

#11: John Muir Trust Wild Places Survey

The John Muir Trust is wanting to hear of your favourite Wild Places. 

These will probably be places without too much of an imprint of humans. This is going to be an important discussion over deciding content and contexts for the new specification and some possible case studies.

The Trust is in its 40th year. 

Some of their additional materials and activities may also prove relevant when it comes to planning for new specification.

They have a survey on their website home page currently.

You will be asked to locate your favourite local wild place, and then a favourite place in the UK.

There is a chance to win some equipment from Mountain Equipment.

The survey page says:

The wild place survey data will help us develop:

• a register of wild places which will list the most important wild places across the four nations of the United Kingdom based on how they provide freedom for nature to flourish, freedom for people to benefit from being in them and freedom for local communities to benefit from them
• recognised standards that will enable land managers of wild places to manage them sensitively and sustainably.

Ultimately we will set up an independent monitoring unit to assess and report on the condition of wild places across the four nations.

Our aim is to demonstrate the positive impact of exemplary land management on these sites and inspire people and communities to benefit from and advocate for them.