Wednesday, 19 May 2010

MADD5 - Biodiversity

MADD 5 took place on Wed 19th May and was a hugely successful day full of activities. Our theme this year was biodiversity and found us all getting closely involved with nature in various ways.
The sports hall was visited by all classes with a range of activities on offer. Fantastic art work was produced on the floor, using a selection of natural products such as leaves, twigs, flowers, cones etc.

















Some more images.
Other activities included a composting quiz, nest building, bug viewing, a biodiversity fortune teller to make, a picture sort, and a reading corner with books about nature. Suggestions and information were added to a Darwin's Footprints poster also.


The JRSO team were on hand with some games on pedestrian and cycle safety and information on Walk to school week. They also had a lucky dip and some free bookmarks and stickers. Alice, Tom, Robert and Julia were amazing with their support in the hall. Well done and thank you.
A biodiversity theme would not be complete without an outdoor experience and we were lucky to have beautiful weather to enhance the day. Most classes took advantage of the chance to take a nature walk up the Muddisdale path and we are reminded how lucky we are to have such a fantastic outdoor resource on our doorstep. We were also lucky to have Jenny Taylor from Orkney Woodland Trust to join us and lend her expertise in identifying plants and trees.Examination of creatures after a tree shake activity.
Many different species were found along with a variety of creatures, including a large, hairy caterpillar, a strange ladybird and the sound of a cuckoo! It was wonderful to see different age groups of pupils interact with each other and to see the level of engagement and interest shown by all. Definitely an experience worth repeating.
Throughout the week an amazing collection of 'Bionimals' appeared! We had a competition to see what kind of creatures could be created from natural materials and the results were outstanding. We can be reassured that imagination and creativity is alive and well at Glaitness! A huge thanks to all who took part for your time and effort.
Take a look at these - How can we choose winners when they were all so good?


Friday, 14 May 2010

Make a Difference Day 5


MADD 5 is next Wednesday 19th May.
The whole school will be taking part in activities for Biodiversity Day, Walk to School Week and the Kew Gardens Great Plant Hunt. 
This is an important part of being an Eco School, making sure we keep thinking about how we can keep 'Sustaining our World'.
Our actions have an impact on the biodiversity around us in Orkney and also affect biodiversity around the world. 
Through our international links this year we have found out about the  very different environments and eco-systems and biodiversity some of our link schools have around them.