Meadow feast

Activity overview

Run the activity

In this activity, the italic sections marked with the polar bear explain how you can link the children's learning to the Climate Challenge, and support the children to take positive action.

1. Show the three images above and ask everyone to come up with as many similarities and differences as they can. If they get stuck, prompt them to think about:

• appearance
• what they do
• where they might be found

2. Then, everyone needs to decide which one is the odd one out and why. Encourage a reason for every answer and there is no wrong answer!

Background science

When teaching children about the Climate Challenge, it is important that we give them the facts (age appropriately and sensitively). During your discussion, allow time for children to express their thoughts and feelings and have them validated.

These images show three animals in meadows. Meadows are semi-natural grasslands which need little maintenance from farmers. They might be used for grazing or hay production. Different types of meadow are found in different areas of the British Isles, but they have all become rarer because of the demand for land. Fortunately, some farmers and conservation charities work hard to maintain these precious species-rich habitats. The Wildlife Trusts look after hundreds of ancient meadows as nature reserves. 

The first photo shows an Adonis blue butterfly in the chalk meadows of South-East England. The low-nutrient, dry soil encourages the growth of wildflowers such as bird’s-foot trefoil, scabious and rarer plants such as spider orchids. Meanwhile grasses that prefer more nutrient-rich soils and more water, struggle to grow well and so do not take over. The rich variety of plants encourages a huge range of insects and other invertebrates that provide food for birds and other animals.  

The second photo is a goldfinch in field margins (the area next to hedges). Although not technically a meadow, when wide margins are left wild by farmers, they support the growth of plants suited to richer soils, alongside agricultural crops. Many different types of grasses, thistles, and faster-growing plants (such as buttercup and clover that can compete with grasses) provide pollen, nectar and seeds for pollinators, birds and small mammals. Pollinators are needed for the crops too, so hedges with wide field margins are a good example of ‘land sharing’ to benefit people and nature. 

The third photo is of upland which is a vital breeding habitat for birds such as the curlew. The rough grass also provides cover and an abundance of insects for skylarks to feed their young. Habitat loss is the main cause of decline in a range of species such as the curlew and skylark. Intensive use of land by agriculture has reduced the available habitats they depend upon.  

Take it further

After giving children the information they need about Climate Challenge issues, give them time to express how they feel, empathising with them and validating their feelings before taking it further.  

Activities 

If you want to investigate your local area, there are a range of spotter sheets for flowers and minibeasts available from the Woodland Trust. For a more in-depth study, you could use OPAL’s resources and guide to survey the hedges in your local area. You could even take your own pooter with you using these instructions from the RSPB to make it (and/or following the video below). Alternatively, you could investigate a range of local habitats using a pitfall trap. Do you find more invertebrates under hedges compared to other habitats?  

Explore further habitats under threat with other Explorify activities, Odd One Out activities Wet, wet, wet and Thorny issue. Investigate how seeds spread to colonise a new area by designing Seeds. 

Watch 

Watch this film looking at how farmers can maintain hedges and help wildlife, or meet a farmer who explains the benefits of hedges and margins in the NFU’s film. 

Watch this make your own pooter video. 

Discuss with the children what could be done to help and if there is a positive action they can take themselves. Explain that when lots of people carry out small positive changes, it can have a big impact overall.

Positive action

Do your school plants provide for a wide variety of pollinators or are new plants needed? Children could get involved with planting a wildflower area or sapling hedge in school or make wildflower seed bombs. Older primary children would love to make butterfly feeders or bee hotels too. For more ideas on small positive steps to help the planet, read our article on The Climate Challenge.