Garden Beasts and Where to Find Them

Lower Key Stage 2; year 3 and 4

Discover which animals make Hillier Gardens their home as you journey around our different habitats. Find out what they eat and what might eat them!

Learning Outcomes

Year 3 pupils will be able to:

  • identify that all animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat.

Year 4 pupils will be able to:

  • recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
  • explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
  • recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things
  • construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators, and prey.
Activities

A day’s programme does not necessarily include all the listed activities and can be adapted to suit individual needs and requirements. Normally we fit in four to five activities during your visit.

Activities Description and learning objectives
Estate Agents What species might we find in the Gardens? Build a home for an animal, thinking carefully about their habitat.
Bird’s Breakfast Collect and identify a variety of fruits and seeds suitable for a bird’s breakfast.
Eat your Greens! Look at different plant parts to spot your favourite vegetables in our little garden. See our compost bins in action.
Minibeast Hunt Search under logs or the meadows to find a whole variety of species. Can you find similarities and differences to sort and identify them using a pictures or a key? (Sweep nets available on dry days from June-October.)
Pond dipping Explore our small, raised ponds to see which creatures live on and below the surface of the water. Use a pictures and keys to name what you’ve found. Who are the predators?
Photosynthesis game Toss and catch as you learn about simple gas exchange and the interdependence of animals and plants. Think about how climate change will affect your habitat.
Habitat Survival Game Work as a team to debate habitat management. Will activities help or harm it? Is change always good?

Prefer a day with some cross-curricular activities? Take a look at our other Year 3 programmes and we’ll plan the day accordingly.

Suggested pre-visit activities
  • Research which species you could find in a British garden, fresh water, and woodland habitat
  • Investigate diets for these different animals
  • Investigate the typical food chains within these habitats
  • Think of a clever way to remember what a PRODUCER, PREY or PREDATOR is.
Suggested post-visit activities
  • Plan a healthy feast for friends, thinking about what you could grow to get all the food groups we need. What would you need to plant to grow a vegetarian pizza?
  • Think about the different habitats that animals are suited to live in and how they are getting the right nutrients for what they need.
  • Construct your own key to identify minibeasts found around your school grounds.
  • Identify different species as producer, prey, or predator. How can you tell?
  • Which minibeasts and animals would you like to visit your school grounds? What will you have to grow to get the right food chain going?
  • Analyse your school grounds – what could be causing issues for wildlife in your area? Together, come up with ideas for a solution.
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