Let's Go! Science Trails
An holistic way of looking at science in the world around us using the local environment
OVERVIEW
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Is your school near a housing estate? A busy road? A playground? Or an area of outstanding natural beauty?
Outdoor learning is an important way of contextualising science and allows children to engage with the environment around them; something which cannot always be achieved in a classroom. This full colour, 80 page book has been developed by a group of teachers in the London borough of Haringey who received funding from the PSTT to develop a set of ‘Science Trails’ to make the most of outdoor areas in urban London.
The book includes:
- 29 Full Colour Trails
- Curriculum Grid
- Cross Curricular Links
- Full Scientific Glossary
- Biology, Chemistry & Physics
Each Trail provides support and ideas for outdoor learning, with a set of objectives, resources/equipment needed, health and safety implications and what to do whilst out on the Trail. They are all designed to be easily adaptable to your own school environment and surroundings, and may even inspire you to develop Trails of your own. The teachers in this project have created an invaluable CPD resource with a huge range of ideas and materials to promote outdoor learning from EYFS to KS2, with easy to use Trails which should be shared with as many teachers as possible.
The Trails were designed to be creative and innovative, using technology that would appeal to children to further enhance the trail experience. iPods, digital cameras and data loggers were suggested to improve the children’s experience on a trail and incorporate an ICT and data element to the trails in a meaningful way.
PAGE SAMPLES
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
During the creation of some Trails, teachers involved in the project produced additional supporting resources that were not published in the Let's Go! Science Trails book; some are mentioned in the publication. These materials are freely available to downloaded here. They are listed in the same order as the Science Trails in the book:
CROSS-CURRICULAR LINKS
Although each trail has a particular focus, there is scope to cover many other areas of science. Where possible, links between one area of science and another should be made explicit to the children.
The trails also provide opportunities to link to many other curriculum subjects. The following documents contain ideas on how to link the Science Trails to RE, music, art, drama, geography and history, as well as specific links to English and maths. They are listed in the same order as the Science Trails in the book:
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information about the benefits of outdoor science trails can be found in these papers.
The benefits of outdoor learning on science teaching [3.19MB]
Grimshaw et al., (2019) Journal of Emergent Science, 16, 40-45
Let's go and investigate physics outdoors at Foundation and Key Stage 1 level (4-7 year olds) [1.22MB]
Morgan et al., (2017) Journal of Emergent Science, 13, 31-25
Outdoor learning, science trails and inquiry: an introduction [362.50kB]
McCrory (2017) Journal of Emergent Science 13, 29-30
Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the mountains and the stars up above. Let them look at the beauty of the waters and the trees and flowers on earth. They will then begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education.
David Polis, Environmentalist and Outdoor Educator.
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