Nicola Davies Learning Resource
Inspiring Learning Outdoors and Through Sustainability
CFE First/Second Levels (Ages 8-11)
Resource created by Linda Murray, classroom teacher at St. Peter’s Primary School
Contents of this resource
Note to teachers – outdoor learning and sustainability / Page 2About Nicola Davies / Page 3
The Leopard’s Tailand related activities / Page 4
Gaia Warriorsand related activities / Page 12
Further Activities / Page 15
Note to teachers – outdoor learning and sustainability
This resource contains cross-curricular activity suggestions to help you explore the topics of Outdoor Learning and Sustainability through books written by Nicola Davies. Adapt and use as you see fit! The resource has been produced to help you get the most out of our online Authors Live event with Nicola, but you can use them at any point to engage pupils with thesetopics. The aim is to provide ideas to inspire you to explore these areas further, or add to your current portfolio.
Outdoor Learning has been under review in recent times as we look deeper into the effectiveness of our teaching and learning. A document produced in March 2016 by the University of Edinburgh, Moray House (bit.ly/OutdoorLearn) has suggested that:
‘well-structured outdoor learning:
- facilitates children’s development in school grounds, local areas and on residential courses,
- supports learning in all aspects of the school curriculum from 3 to 18, provides opportunities for pupils to guide their own learning and develop critical thinking skills in ways elusive in the classroom,
- raises children’s awareness of environmental and sustainability issues, resulting in understanding and promoting an ethic of care for our planet (directly linked with the concept of ‘learning for sustainability’)
- has direct health and wellbeing benefits’
There are many books and websites which can help us to plan for learning outdoors. The following websites are great starting points.
- Outdoor and Woodland Learning Scotland: owlscotland.org/
- Grounds for Learning:
- Woodland Trust Nature Detectives website: bit.ly/WTNatureDetectives
Sustainability is an area of learning which is now the responsibility of all teachers in Scotland and is currently a priority for the Scottish Government. What is sustainability in the school context?
Learning for Sustainability is learning to live within the environmental limits of our planet and to build a just, equitable and peaceful society. It is essential for the well-being of all and is an international priority. (UNESCO, 2013)
We already cover aspects of sustainability in our daily teaching and in the work of our schools; the following link shows a copy of a Wordle which shows the many ways through which we deliver learning for sustainability: bit.ly/GTCSSust
Other useful links include:
learningforsustainabilityscotland.org/
About Nicola Davies
Nicola Davies has always been fascinated by animals and describes her early memories and experiences on her website including when she received her first pair of binoculars. She talks about her first few jobs which began with studying geese in Scotland moving on to hand rearing jackdaws before securing a job watching humpbacked whales. She is a zoologist and children’s author and was also a TV presenter on the Really Wild Show.
Her books help us to see issues in our world such as pollution and climate change and how we might contribute to putting this right. Her fictional series ‘Heroes of the Wild’ provides the reader with short, action packed stories which hold some powerful messages about conservation and the threats to our wildlife. Her non-fiction book Gaia Warriors gives us lots of ideas about how to ‘live differently, change minds AND have fun doing it’.
The Leopard’s Tail
Malik lives with his grandparents in a small village in Armenia, and loves the local landscape and wildlife. He is fascinated by tales of the local mountain and is keen to explore more, especially after one visit which resulted in a leopard sighting.
Malik discovers a plot which initially appears to be a case of poaching but on further investigation is much more. Together with the new girl in school, Malik works to bring down the business that has resorted to wholesale slaughter of the animals on the mountainside to give way for a gold mine proposition.
This book is short, action-packed and a real page turner. It is a very accessible read and may encourage reluctant readers to continue to read to find out what happens next. There are more books in the ‘Heroes of the Wild’ series to check out when you’re done!
Activities
Advertising the Shamovar National Wildlife Refuge LIT 1/2-26a, LIT 1/2-29a
In the epilogue, we find Malik and Larisa all grown up and hosting the opening of their Refuge Centre. There’s a glass and timber visitor centre and the leopards and other animals are thriving. Malik talks about having one big international wilderness reserve as his big dream.
Have your class create posters to advertise the Refuge, either to visit, or to offer donations.
Perhaps your class would like to create adoption applications and certificates for the centre, just as we see in many zoos and wildlife centres. These are great opportunities for short, persuasive writing pieces.
Design the Visitor Centre Building TCH 1/2-15a, TCH 1/2-12a
The only description of the visitor centre for the wildlife refuge is that it is a ‘beautiful little glass and timber building…Larisa’s dad was laying out leaflets about the reserve and pinning up posters to help visitors identify animals and plants.’
Can your class design this building? What style would thy make it and why would there be so much glass? Think about wheelchair access and the fact that the centre is up a steep track so most people would access it by car. Would the centre be an eco-building and if so, what features would it have? Could this be a 3D model?
Abandoned Buildings/SpacesLIT 1/2-10a, LIT 1/2-20a, LIT 1/2-26a
Malik’s grandfather has a job as security guard at the abandoned rubber factory. Abandoned buildings and spaces always fire the imagination.
It is important at the outset to discuss the dangers of being near any local buildings or spaces which are no longer in use, as well as illegal trespassing and its consequences. We need to stress that fictional activities are just that – adventures we might imagine, but should never to be encouraged to take part in, in real life. This should not prevent us taking our classes to spaces with recognised public access e.g. castle ruins. These places can be the impetus for some amazing writing.
There are abandoned or ghost towns all across the world. The Bond movie Skyfallfeatures an abandoned island where the villain imprisons 007. This island truly exists and has a special history of its own as an industrial town owned by Japan. You can find out all about the island here here bit.ly/HashimaIsland.
Use this as a springboard for your pupils to work in small groups to create different environments of their own. Activities you could develop could include
- A ‘location’ for the environment
- A back story for what the area was once used
- A reason for the abandonment
- The environmental impact of the area
- Models, maps and/or artwork
Have your groups present their abandoned places to the class to encourage presentation skills. Could they use electronic visual aids which take them away from PowerPoints – Prezi for example? prezi.com/. You can find plenty of tutorial videos for Prezi on YouTube: bit.ly/PreziLearn
After this, ask pupils to create extended pieces of writing with descriptions or stories of events in their places; characters who lived there; people who discovered the place or atmospheric scene-setting descriptions.
You can find out about some abandoned places in Scotland here: bit.ly/ScotlandAbandonded
First Aid LIT 1/2-26a, LIT 1/2-28a, HWB 1/2-16a, HWB 1/2-17a
Early in the novel Malik is knocked unconscious by a falling boulder. What would your learners do if they came across someone in this state? How much first aid do they know?
Arrange for your class to receive some lessons on treating others. Every school has a designated First Aider; perhaps they could come and teach your class some techniques. The recovery position is simple to learn and it is empowering for children to discover they can roll an adult over if given the correct instruction. How to handle first aid outdoors adds an extra element of skill.
The British Red Cross has a great resource aimed at primary teachers and their classes, and the St John’s ambulance website has some useful information too:
- Red Cross: bit.ly/RedCross1stAid
- St John’s: bit.ly/StJohnInfo
There will be local organisations who would be happy to come in to schools to help with this, which in turn can raise awareness of voluntary organisations in your area and their contribution to your community.
After pupils have learned about first aid, ask them to create instruction booklets or laminated aide-memoires for first aid skills. This could be a useful resource for when you are out and about with your class. Ask pupils tothink about how these instructions could be developed to help those with English as an Additional Language. Could you have family members come in to help write these instructions in other languages? What sort of visual aids could you create?
Ask pupils to make up a class first aid box/rucksack for outdoor adventures. Get them to help to make up the list of contents and draw up a budget. The class could then research prices for the equipment and see how far they could stretch that budget. What would be the essentials? Could they find alternatives (what could they use to stabilise a suspected broken leg or arm if they couldn’t afford to buy splits)? Spend time outdoors dressed appropriately and set up scenarios for your class where they need to use what they have, to improvise: for example, a school sweatshirt can be fashioned into a form of sling.
Ask pupils to produce basic question and answer phrases for your 1 + 2 Languages e.g. questions like, ‘Where is the nearest doctor/hospital?’ or ‘Does anyone have a phone?’and of course the most important one, ‘Help!’ Get them to make cards with phrases such as ‘I am allergic to nuts. Does this item contain any?’ They would be useful to share across your school and parent community for people to take on holiday.
The following link gives information about the essential contents of a basic first aid kit:bit.ly/FirstAidContents
Taking this further, invite your local mountain/RNLI rescue team in to show you their work. The mountain rescue teams will often bring their dogs and show the children how they search out lost people. Leaflets encouraging people to contribute to, or join these groups could be designed and distributed. A series of ‘public information’ videos could be made if you were looking to encourage IT skills.
- Scottish Mountain Rescue -
- RNLI - rnli.org/
Camping OutHWB 1/2-16a, LIT 1/2-26a, LIT 1/2-28a
Malik often spends time out on the mountain overnight. What would your learners take with them and how would they organise their camp? What would they do to keep safe?
They may suggest lighting a small fire to keep animals away or for cooking. If you are confident and can make appropriate risk assessments, you may wish to take to the pen spaces round your school and light your own fires to encourage understanding of safe fire building techniques.
If spaces are not available or you feel less confident, you could have colander fires in the playground. These use little equipment and firewood and are generally very successful. Ensure you have appropriate risk assessments and adult to pupil ratios – I would recommend one adult per fire with a maximum of 6 children at each fire and you as overall supervisor.
You will need an old roasting tin, colander and 2 bricks. Place the roasting tin on a flat piece of ground well away from overhanging trees or shrubbery; put the bricks in the tin and place the colander on top of the bricks; from here on in make a fire as you normally would but all within the colander. Don’s use any accelerants for starting the fire – newspaper and matches will be sufficient.
After this, get pupils to pitch a tent! If you can, find an old-fashioned tent with dollies and loop fasteners rather than zips to pitch as well, so pupils can compare tent evolution. Local Scout or Guide groups may have access to older tents for you to use – not that they all use them now. Leaders may even come in and help. Look to local Facebook and twitter links to find your area’s groups.
(homemade tent)
(pitching a patrol tent)
There are the obvious links here to instructional writing and ‘warning’ posters. You could do the previous First Aid project, which also incorporates instructional writing, and then do this one so you have a good proxy for the learning. There are also great opportunities for parental involvement.
Reluctant readers may be encouraged to read instructions to help them set their fire up before it is lit, and if youcan, prepare picture instructions, as pupils with EAL needs may find accessing the instructions easier this way.
Larisa the Eco Warrior SOC 1/2-08a
Malik has difficulty making friends, but through his passion for wildlife, he ends up befriending Larisa who is new to the village. Larisa was expelled from her previous school for attending a climate change demonstration. She is the perfect friend for him and understands completely what Malik wants to do.
Linking up with Nicola Davies’ book Gaia Warriors, have your class investigate climate change and what we can do to help. Browse through the activities inspired by Gaia Warriors beginning on page 12 of this resource: even if you don’t own the book, many of the activities should still be doable!
Challenge pupils to make displays or create videos to spread the word to others: they could produce videos in different languages or create subtitles in other languages to accompany the English dialogue.
Man’s Best Friend? HWB 1/2-44a/b
Malik is a compassionate boy who always has at least one injured animal or bird to care for. He finds it hard to make friends in school yet has so much caring to give.
Hold a discussion with your class about friendships and how making friends can be easier for some people and tricky for others. Why do they think this might be? There are all sorts of different types of friend: the supportive one; the leader; the follower, etc. Can they identify which type of friend they are? Ask them to make up an anonymous survey as a class and answer it individually to see how everyone feels about friendships – often there is someone feeling lonely or left out without others realising it. Collate the survey’s results and create an action plan to address any issues raised. Review the situation the following term – has anything changed?
This book list gives suggestions for further reading on the ups and downs of friendship: bit.ly/FriendBooks. You could also get pupils to explore friendship by creating short plays depicting different dilemmas faced by friends.
Poachers SCN 1/2-20a, SCN 2-01a
Initially, Malik thinks the men are animal poachers looking for the best skins, but it soon becomes clear this is simply a bonus for the men and the real plan is to destroy all animal life on the mountain.
Ask your class to investigate the issue of poaching. What do the poachers want? What is being done about this? Which animals are under most threat through poaching?
Dodos SCN 2-01a
Zelo’s henchmen show no sense of guilt or compassion:‘Humans are good at killing animals – just think of the dodos!’
What animals are close to extinction in our lifetime? Linking with the previous Poachers activity, research the most endangered species. Present the class findings in a way which engages younger classes, e.g. mini films, or an awareness day/week. Perhaps every class could choose a particular species to investigate. The school may wish to fundraise for a particular project they have researched – this could lead to an entire enterprise project.
Here is a fantastic school resource to get you started which raises awareness of Sumatran Orang-utans:
Preserve the evidence SCN 1/2-01a
Malik and Larisa gather evidence to help with their case to stop the gold mining proposal. They know that persuasion alone will not help sway the government representative. They find scat, take photos of teeth marks on a leopard kill, and even manage to catch the leopard on film using hidden night cameras.