The Greenshank project and the National Curriculum

For schools involved in this exciting project there is the opportunity to understand how we learn about the animals that we share the world with, to study a bird in a local habitat and to follow it to other more distant places, even different countries, and in so doing to learn about other habitats. The Greenshank lifecycle illustrates how animals reproduce, but also the importance of food supply and hence the need to adapt by migrating. The interdependence of plants and animals, and the need to protect habitats is also clear from the Greenshank story. Links with other schools will bring geography to life especially the idea of 'other places' and other cultures. There is plenty of scope for ICT and mathematics; just by using the website and its links for a start, but Ring the Changes worksheets are good mathematical exercises for up to KS4. The data collection from the ringing project will provide data for interpretation at any level including statistics projects for GCSE.

Contact the education team at Chichester Harbour Conservancy for further information.
Email education@conservancy.co.uk or phone 01243 789173.

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Key stage 1 & 2 relevant schemes of work

Science:

• Unit 2B Plants and animals in the local environment.
• Describing local habitats, Animal Reproduction and Growth.
• Unit 4A: Moving and growing.
• Unit 4B Habitats.
• Using keys, finding out about food sources, identifying food chains, protecting habitats, conservation, different habitats.
• Unit 6A Interdependence and adaptation.
• Animals and plants in the local habitat and in a different habitat, interdependence of plants and animals, food chains.
• Unit 5-6H: Enquiry in environmental and technological contexts.
• Unit 6E: Forces in action.
• How birds fly.

Geography

• Unit 5: Where in the world is the Greenshank?
• Unit 7: Weather around the world.
• Unit 18: Connecting ourselves to the world.
• Unit 23: Investigating coasts.
• Unit 24: Passport to the world.
• Unit 25 Geography and numbers.
• Using maps, understanding scales and points of the compass, measuring distances, time zones, population figures for settlements etc.

Citizenship

• Unit 03: Animals and us.
• Understanding the needs of wild animals and human responsibility to share with and care for wildlife. Learning about the relevant organisations that promote animal welfare e.g. RSPB.
• Unit 05: Living in a diverse world.
• What are different places like?
• How are we connected to them?

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Key stage 3 relevant schemes of work

Science

• Unit 7C: Environment and feeding relationships.
• Variations in habitats, including seasonal changes, daily changes e.g.tide, day length. Use of datalogging, or on-line weather monitoring.
• Adaptations such as migration, moulting, beak shapes for feeding.
• Hazards encountered by Greenshanks including predators.
• Unit 7D: Variation and classification.
• Variation within a species - lots of data on individual birds; weight, beak length, etc.
• Unit 8D: Ecological relationships.
• Opportunity to compare two different habitats, using data from different locations along the flight path.

Citizenship

• Unit 5 How the law protects animals - a local to global study
• Unit 10: Debating a global issue - the importance of habitat conservation
• Unit 17: School linking

Geography

• Unit 1: Making connections
• Section 2: How is our place connected to other places?
• Unit 8: Coastal environments.
• Section 5: How are coastal areas used by people? What conflicts of interest occur over the use of coastal areas and how can they be resolved?
• Section 6: How can coastal areas be managed? What are the effects of environmental planning and management on coastal landscapes and the people (and birds) who use them?
• Unit 20: Comparing countries
• Unit 24: Passport to the world

ICT

• Unit 14: Global communication - negotiating and transferring data.

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