Curriculum ideas: natural sciences
Secondary
- Inspire pupils to learn about pollination by researching varieties of fruit to grow in their school orchard based on pollination needs and local routes.
- Support pupils to investigate the science of grafting and find out why apple varieties can not be reproduced from pips.
- Get pupils to grow their own mistletoe - to provide a memorable lesson about parasites.
- Make learning applied by asking pupils to design a natural pest control system for their orchard - see our How To guides for inspiration.
- Use your fruit to inspire chemistry lessons. Explore the ‘rusting’ of cut apples. Research patulin, cyanide and other toxins and their effects on humans. Ask pupils why different varieties taste different and suited to different purposes, such as cider making or cooking.
- Study the use of apple pectin as a natural setting agent - and its role in the UK's confectionary, pie and jam-making industries.
- Ask pupils to compare climate and weather across the UK and their effects on fruiting times. Common Ground and the National Trust have developed a national Spring celebration of the Mexican Wave effect of UK fruit tree blossoms as they start in the warmer south and travel north.
Primary
- Planting trees gives an opportunity for children to learn about the many ingredients - light, water, space, nutrients and pollination - needed for healthy growth.
- Inspire children to observe apples ripening by getting them to place stickers on young fruit to create patterns.
- Assign each newcomer to the school with their own fruit tree, giving them responsibility for that tree's care and maintenance. Getting older pupils to share trees encourages the passing on of knowledge and skills and creates a strong personal connection between children and 'their' trees.
Links
International Year of Biodiversity
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity with hundreds of coordinated activities aimed at getting us all outdoors and doing our bit for biodiversity. Get your school involved in one of the many wildlife surveys and nature experiments across the UK. These include the brilliant 'Bee Scene' survey, 'Wildflower Count' and 'Wildest Hide and Seek...'
National Orchard Network
A comprehensive UK-wide resource for finding out about the wildlife that thrives within our orchards, the issues that surround their conservation, and ways that you can get involved
Go International
Read about the lengths farmers in the Himalayas have to go to to ensure pollination of their apple crops
Bee Inspired
Bees are pollinators vital to our food chain. One third of the food we eat would not be available but for bees....and this includes our fruit. Find out more, or download a copy of the Bees in the Curriculum schools pack from the Association of British Beekeepers.
Concrete Jungle
A national schools campaign to create the country's biggest wildlife garden and help to save species in decline. Concrete Jungle aims to create more than 300,000 square metres of wildlife habitats in schools.
Love British Food
For inspiring ideas about how to integrate British food into the curriculum download the Love British Food teachers resource guide.
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