#458: Hitching a ride

A story in the news recently about the rise in species which are finding their way into the UK, not through illegal trade and smuggling but by hitching a ride in plants.

This was also featured on a recent issue of Countryfile.

The rise of invasive species is an area which may or may not form part of the final specification.

This article suggests the problems.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license

#457: World Rainforest Day

Happy World Rainforest Day! Join @aprilwindle from the British Lichen Society to explore one of Devon’s finest temperate rainforests and the #lichens found there. Full video can be found on YouTube: https://t.co/wjWigtrrqd. #worldrainforestday #worldrainforestday2025 pic.twitter.com/Hv6mxqZfBc

— The British Lichen Society (@BLSlichens) June 22, 2025

Here's the video:

Happy World Rainforest Day! #Lichens are an important feature of these wonderful habitats. From loop lichens, to yellow speckle-belly’s to the red eyed shingle lichen & everything in between - they add so much beauty to our rainforests! #worldrainforestday2025 #worldrainforestday pic.twitter.com/Q5CTzpTQIy

— The British Lichen Society (@BLSlichens) June 22, 2025

#456: Earth in 100 Seconds

Earth in 100 Seconds is a short film made by Daniel Raven Ellison - with each second revealing 1% of land and how we are using it.

After the premiere last night, the film is now available.

From the film's script:

"What are we using planet Earth for? 

Let’s go for a walk to find out.

 Each second of our walk reveals 1% of land and how we’re using it. 

We spend our first 10 seconds walking across a frozen land of ice. 

The next 11 in desert, barren and rocky lands. 

14 more seconds of our walk is through ecosystems we minimally use including only 8 seconds of intact forests. 

All other land is directly exploited by people. 

So that makes just 35% of the Earth's land area is 'natural' - we could debate that.

Just 1% of land is built on 

Crops cover 11% of land, nearly half of these are fed to livestock 

For 20 seconds, we’re in the woods again These forests are managed for their timber and play a vital role in regulating our climate, air and water Some are great for wildlife, while much are not.

We’ve prioritised over a third of land for producing meat, dairy and animal products.

14 seconds of our walk is on less used wilder grasslands and rangelands As well as cows, sheep and goats, wild animals could graze here Some livestock is managed carefully so other species can flourish, much is not 

Our final 19 seconds is through pastures that we mostly use for rearing cows.

Cows now have a collective mass that’s nearly 10 times greater than all wild mammals combined At a time of climate crisis And when a million species are at risk of extinction Why not rethink this mix of lands we have and how we use them I need more trees please I think more nature would be greater So what if we made more space, for nature?" 

Dan explains why he made the film:

This is an important little film. It tells the story of how we're using and (mis)using the planet.. all through a humble walk. Earth is vast and complex, making it difficult to fully comprehend its scale, understand how we’re using it, or organise efforts to manage it more effectively. 

Thoughtful land use is vital for the survival of humans and countless other species, as well as for creating fair and equitable futures. Access to better data and insights about how we interact with land is crucial - whether it’s choosing what to eat or deciding who to support at the ballot box. 

This film draws on data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land. While the report does an excellent job of presenting the facts, its charts and graphs often fail to connect with people on a human level. 

Earth in 100 Seconds transforms this data into a relatable journey, using a simple walk to evoke a sense of story, place, and scale. 

In just a couple of minutes, it allows viewers not only to see what the data means but also to feel its impact - by sitting through it. 

We desperately need to have better relationships with the rest of life on our planet and the land, climate, resources and systems we all depend on - ones that are kinder, healthier and more harmonious. 

I hope this short film sparks meaningful conversations that help make that happen more of the time.

#455: Stand with the farmers

70% of UK land is farmed.

If we want nature to recover, this is where it happens.

Farmers like @herdyshepherd1 are already doing it – farming with wildlife, not against it. But without proper funding, we risk losing it all.@RachelReevesMP: increase funding, grow our future. pic.twitter.com/jJvbUHPXfH

— RSPB (@Natures_Voice) May 30, 2025

#454: Longshaw Estate - new home of BBC's 'Springwatch'

The location for the BBC's Springwatch / Autumnwatch programmes has often been in places I know well, and even very close to home.

From Pensthorpe near Fakenham to Minsmere, and particularly Ken Hill in Snettisham (where I lived for 12 years)...

And now they've moved to an area of Derbyshire which I visited regularly for decades when I was younger, for walks, climbing, pubs and generally getting out of the city and into the countryside at weekends. The new venue is the Longshaw Estate, which is close to Grindleford (with its famous cafe and where my parents actually had their honeymoon), and Hathersage, and Fox House (where I was first served alcohol in a pub... but that's another story.) Burbage Brook - a classic location for fieldwork for schools from Sheffield - runs through it - through Padley Gorge, and Stanage Edge is not too far away, or several of the other edges where I used to climb. Heading for Hathersage you will pass Froggy Rock and then Surprise View - always things we looked out for when heading there as a child... half a century and more ago...

The estate is managed by the National Trust.

Map source

The programme started yesterday and is on iPlayer.

Multicams can be watched through the day....

e.g.here's a Short Eared Owl I just saw live... complete with distant traffic noise and a plane going over... the sounds of us impinging on the sounds of nature...

#453: The 'English' Oak

 

The Common or ‘English’ Oak (Quercus Robur) is the national tree of Germany. And obviously England

But also Poland, Romania, Belarus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia & Moldova pic.twitter.com/VcYFglCaz5

— The English Oak Project (@TheKentAcorn) May 26, 2025

#452: New BSSS Podcast

Thanks to Steve Brace for the tipoff to a new podcast from the British Society of Soil Science.

Soil Matters, a platform dedicated to bridging the gap between cutting-edge scientific research and real-world application.

Each episode will feature leading experts, researchers, and practitioners discussing the latest findings, innovations, and challenges in soil science. From exploring soil’s role in climate change mitigation to sustainable agriculture and biodiversity, Soil Matters aims to engage listeners with accessible, thought-provoking content that highlights the importance of soil in shaping our planet’s future. Whether you’re a researcher, policymaker, or simply curious about the ground beneath your feet, this podcast offers something for everyone passionate about soil science.

#451: Countryside Classroom - new 'A' level resources

The Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and LEAF Education have teamed up to bring a suite of curriculum linked resources for KS3 – KS5 students, aged 11-18. The resources bring real world context to students learning, linking back to food production and farming. The resources are designed to be used by teachers in school to aid with curriculum links, real life examples and interlinking with pre-existing subject matter and farmers delivering farm visits.

A new 'A' level resource is now available. There are links to GCSE here.

#450: Mary Colwell on the progress towards GCSE Natural History

This is a visual representation of a thread that Mary Colwell recently posted on X (which I try to avoid linking to). She has started to realise what those of us involved in previous curriculum innovation know tends to happen when they come across the desks of those who shape it so that it will fulfil OFQUAL's thinking about what makes them examinable on a large scale. 

The OCR Pilot GCSE Geography was the most innovative examination I ever came across, and had the chance to change things in the longer term. The people developing it were able to keep a great deal of the original conception of the course, but it was cancelled after the original pilot period came to an end. I'm glad I had the chance to teach it at the end of the first half of my teaching career and that my students had the chance to experience it.

When the first thoughts on the new specification and the results of the consultation came out there was a lot of excitement about the potential of the new GCSE Natural History specification: focus on fieldwork, creative aspects including art, photography and literature and training in field practice, as well as a multi-disciplinary approach to wildlife and landscape. 

During the time since it was first announced (see the early posts on the blog for more on this period) the exciting elements have undoubtedly been diluted by the various stages such things go through.

This is what Mary had to say earlier today, providing a few insights into what is emerging from the various stages of development so far which she has perhaps been made aware of - and a long way from the wide-ranging content on the 450 posts on this blog so far, which cover all aspects of natural history.

I haven't seen the original piece, but you can see the first page here.

Two days fieldwork is no more than you get from GCSE Geography - this could easily be more but that is what is examinable. There's no problem (as such) with schools offering more, but if it's not examined or really embedded in the specification's structure it will not happen.

Noticing is really important.

The statement above is a key aspect of the development of the new specification.

Fingers crossed that the next time I go to a GCSE Natural History Forum meeting, we are shown something a little more developed, rigorous and ambitious.

#449: Do plants know math?

Or maths....

A new book explores some of the spiral sequences that are connected with natural forms.

From the book's blurb:

Charles Darwin was driven to distraction by plant spirals, growing so exasperated that he once begged a friend to explain the mystery “if you wish to save me from a miserable death.” 

The legendary naturalist was hardly alone in feeling tormented by these patterns. Plant spirals captured the gaze of Leonardo da Vinci and became Alan Turing’s final obsession. 

This book tells the stories of the physicists, mathematicians, and biologists who found themselves magnetically drawn to Fibonacci spirals in plants, seeking an answer to why these beautiful and seductive patterns occur in botanical forms as diverse as pine cones, cabbages, and sunflowers. Do Plants Know Math? takes you down through the centuries to explore how great minds have been captivated and mystified by Fibonacci patterns in nature. It presents a powerful new geometrical solution, little known outside of scientific circles, that sheds light on why regular and irregular spiral patterns occur. 

Along the way, the book discusses related plant geometries such as fractals and the fascinating way that leaves are folded inside of buds. Your neurons will crackle as you begin to see the connections. This book will inspire you to look at botanical patterns—and the natural world itself—with new eyes. 

Featuring hundreds of gorgeous color images, Do Plants Know Math? includes a dozen creative hands-on activities and even spiral-plant recipes, encouraging readers to explore and celebrate these beguiling patterns for themselves.

Looks good!

#448: Tom Gauld cartoon

I've added a few mentions of Tom Gauld here previously. Along with Ben Jennings, I love his style and wit...

A recent New Scientist cartoon shared on Instagram was excellent and also connected with an important element of any GCSE Natural History: the classification of organisms, and Fungi in particular....

Image copyright: Tom Gauld

#447: CLA blog on the GCSE Natural History

The latest blog post about the newly resurrected GCSE Natural History is on the website of the CLA and is written by Claire Wright.

It references a few research reports on the value of engaging with nature.

This includes a 2018 survey from the University of Derby.

#446: Doggerland

Doggerland is the name given to an area which is now submerged beneath the North Sea. 

The higher sections of the land are known as Dogger Bank: a fishing ground.

The National Geographic has explored the area.

At the end of the last ice age, Britain formed the northwest corner of an icy continent. Warming climate exposed a vast continental shelf for humans to inhabit. Further warming and rising seas gradually flooded low-lying lands. Some 8,200 years ago, a catastrophic release of water from a North American glacial lake and a tsunami from a submarine landslide off Norway inundated whatever remained of Doggerland.

There have been many items dredged up by trawlers from this area, or found on beaches along North Sea coasts. Doggerland was home to Mesolithic peoples.

Origin of the name:

Doggerland was named by University of Exeter archaeologist Bryony Coles in the 1990s after the Dogger Bank, a stretch of seabed in the North Sea in turn named after the 17th century “Dogger” fishing boats that sailed there

From Archaeology.Org.

The floor of the North Sea is now recognized as the largest well-preserved prehistoric archaeological landscape in the world. It would have been a paradise for the bands of hunter-gatherers who followed the retreating ice sheets into the region to settle there. They, however, were not Doggerland’s first inhabitants. Millennia prior to their arrival, the North Sea basin had belonged to Neanderthals, who lived there for hundreds of thousands of years. During the last Ice Age, between roughly 125,000 and 15,000 years ago, Doggerland was part of the cold and dry mammoth steppe. Because vast quantities of water were trapped in glacial ice sheets, the North Sea was around 450 feet lower than it is today. It was a mostly treeless, grassy plain that attracted mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses as well as herds of reindeer, horses, and aurochs.

This would be a potential case study for the proposed theme on landscape change.

#445: National History Reading List #23: 'Oak and Ash and Thorn'

Another book that would be good to add to the developing reading list of books for those who are developing curriculum resources for the new GCSE Natural History.

It is a book about the ancient woodlands, as well as the more recent forests of Britain. 

It is written by Peter Fiennes, and focusses on some of the species that have been around for the longest. It would sit nicely with some of the other tree related books I have mentioned before on the blog.

There are plenty of possible locations for field visits here too - and I hope that young people explore woodlands as part of their teaching.

The image shows a useful chapter on the importance of trees in cities. Regular readers will know of the the vital part that trees play in ensuring lower temperatures, and the link with the London National Park City campaign.

#444: Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Biodiversity supports ecosystem services that we need for:

🍎food

💧clean water

🏠shelter

And much more.

The Global Biodiversity Framework #KMGBF is the world’s masterplan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

➡️https://t.co/LIVf44SQmq pic.twitter.com/1omyBC9Dhe

— UN Biodiversity (@UNBiodiversity) April 23, 2025

#443: Some knowledge updates needed...

From today's i newspaper...

#442: "Freakosystems"

A piece on the BBC Futures website talks about the impact of people on a Hawaiian island which has produced a very unusual ecosystem.

O'ahu's lowland forests are now almost entirely devoid of the plants and animals that grew here for millions of years before the arrival of humans. Settlers brought extinctions by cutting down trees to make farms and introducing voracious predators and disease-carrying animals. Today, these tropical forests are a tapestry of non-native species introduced from every corner of the planet: Brazilian peppertree, Indonesian cinnamon and roseleaf bramble from the Himalayas and Australia. Most of the animals, including all the birds that Tarwater mentioned earlier, are also alien.

Update

Another example....

These are ‘freaksosystems’, or Frankenstein ecosystems. For the most part, people who work in landscape design and management have the feeling that they know better than nature. They love nothing more than to create a ‘freakosystem’ of their own designing (I love this term 😂). https://t.co/fjPczCuVm0

— Ben Goldsmith (@BenGoldsmith) April 28, 2025

#441: British Ecological Society Summer School - applications now open

 Thanks to Matt from the British Ecological Society for the message he added to my GCSE Natural History blog.

The British Ecological Society are supporters of the Natural History GCSE and want to be ready to support with the teaching of this qualification. I'm a former teacher myself and now work on their education policy/project work.
We are running our free teacher training again this year. The programme includes a trip to Knepp rewilding project. Anyone who teaches ecology and biodiversity as part of their curriculum should apply. I think it will be helpful if you're preparing to teach this GCSE if we can get it over the line!

The Summer School runs from the 18th-19th of July so would make a good start to the year for many.

Application deadline: Wed 30 April 2025, 12:00 BST (midday)
Online session: Wed 09 July 2025, 16:00-17:00 BST
In-person days: Fri 18 – Sat 19 July 2025
Location: Juniper Hall, Old London Road, Mickleham, RH5 6DA

Applications are now open for the 2025 Teacher Training Summer School!

FREE of charge.

If you are a secondary teacher or FE lecturer who teaches ecology as a part of your curriculum, join us in Surrey for an ecology-packed CPD programme that will help you overcome recognised barriers to teaching ecology. This application is open to all – you do not need to be a BES member to apply.

While attending the Teacher Training Summer School you will:

• Engage with industry professionals running workshops on a range of ecological skills
• Network with other educators from a variety of schools and colleges
• Learn strategies to overcome barriers you may experience teaching ecology
• Explore how ecology can be taught using a wide range of learning theories: inclusive learning, interdisciplinary learning, strengthening maths and English skills
• Receive a free bundle of equipment to be used to teach ecology
• Learn more about field work skills through attending a day trip to the Knepp Rewilding Project

#440: CUPA blog

A post on the Cambridge University Press and Assessment blog by Jack Cutforth explores the promise of the new GCSE Natural History.

The GCSE in Natural History is intended to give all students – wherever they live – the time, skills, and knowledge to appreciate nature, as well as develop important practical skills in data analysis and observation. It is designed so it can be delivered as effectively in city centres as it can in the countryside. Students will develop a rigorous understanding of the natural world: from their own local wildlife, environment and ecosystem to critical global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity and sustainability.

Jill Duffy, Chief Executive of OCR, said: 

“Natural History is for everyone. OCR’s Natural History GCSE will give young people the skills to understand and protect the nature on their doorstep and beyond, whether they live in urban, suburban, or rural environments. We will continue to offer ideas and help shape this vital new qualification. Through the partnerships we’ve formed with teachers and students, we are well prepared to deliver this exciting new GCSE.”

#439: Don't forget the Facebook group

From yesterday's Guardian newspaper which I picked up...

Now that we have finally have some news on the GCSE Natural History, you may want to join the Facebook group that we set up nearly three years ago. It has just reached 800 members with a flurry of new members in the last few days.

There are a few Chats on there which are aimed at collecting some ideas for the sort of support that teachers might need.