KS1 activities that can be carried out before, during or after a farm visit.
Curriculum area: Animals including Humans and Plants
Activities:
- Sorting: separate animals that you have discussed into herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Can you identify the differences between them? E.g. teeth, powerful claws
- Grouping: sort mixed seeds into different types of seed; plant them, observe and discuss.
- Plant runner bean - use jar and blotting paper until fully sprouted then transplant to growing bag.
- Make observational drawings, measure height, main structures of the plant.
- Investigation: what do plants need to survive? Plant cress/ whole lentils/ runner beans in a variety of conditions - no light, no water, no soil, no heat etc. Record, discuss and evaluate results.
Resources needed:
- A variety of seeds
- Small plastic flower pots or yogurt pots, compost, labels
- Runner bean seeds, jar, blotting paper, growing bag
Curriculum area: Living Things and their Habitats
Activities:
- Collecting leaves from different places on farm or in school environment. Sort by sticking leaves onto paper in sorted groups.
- Survey your locality for different types of habitat, e.g. woodland, ponds, hedgerows. Then look at the animals that would live there; can you find them?
- Animals in their local environment compared with farm animals - make a chart e.g.
FARM |
TOWN |
|
| dog | Y | Y |
| cow | Y | N |
- Match environment to animal, then place or draw onto a farm or town eg
| dog | kennel | farm or town |
| cow | field | farm |
Resources needed:
- Leaves
- Pictures, toy models or name labels of animals and birds
- Worksheet divided into two with picture of farm environment and town environment on either side
Curriculum area: Everyday Materials
Activities:
- Investigation: which of these materials keeps a hot-water bottle warmest/milk coolest: wool/
fleece/acrylic/cotton? - Survey: which materials can they see around the farm?
Resources needed:
- Hot-water bottle or chilled bottle of milk
- Wool/fleece/acrylic/cotton jumpers
Curriculum area: Seasonal Change
Activities:
Keep a weather diary, temperature, precipitation, light levels. Repeat this throughout the year and compare.
Bio Blitz: collect natural materials from around an area and create a collage. What happens as the seasons change? How do they affect the availability of materials? Lead this to a discussion on wild bird migration and leaving seed heads in the winter as a source of food for wildlife.
Resources needed:
Natural items to collage
Booklet to keep a diary
Wool/fleece/acrylic/cotton jumpers