Year 3 children became Environmental Heroes as part of a school trip to Furzton Lake with The Parks Trust this week.

As part of the trip, the children learned about habitats and different animals that live in them. They also took part in three different activities to help with their learning.

First, they participated in a Recycling Race. Using litter pickers, the children worked in three teams to race from one hoop to the other using litter pickers to carry rubbish.

They were asked their thoughts about how long it takes various plastic and metal packaging takes to disintegrate if dropped in the environment.

The children and adults were shocked by the 200–300-year life span of metal cans. This activity opened their eyes to the severity of dropping litter or throwing it out of car windows and the impact this has on local animals.

Next came the Bird Watch. The children were given a checklist of different birds to spot around the lake and park.

In pairs, they walked around the park and ticked off when they saw each bird. They were even lucky enough to see a couple of nesting swans!

The children were very excited by this activity and they even found out that Furzton Lake is an environment where many otters live.

The final activity involved Habitat Making. The children were given information cards about different insects that listed what they like to eat and nest in.

They were then able to find materials around the park and add these to their own habitat pots.

The children enjoyed working together to design different habitats using loose sticks, dead leaves and hogweed.

Everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable experience and some were kind enough to share about the trip, saying:

“It was fun because we found oyster shells from the lake that the otters like to eat.”

 

“I learned that metal cans can take 200-300 years to decompose.”

 

“If everyone in the UK picked up one piece of litter from rivers and canals then they would be a lot cleaner.”

 

“I liked when we created habitats for the insects because it felt like we were protecting the environment.”