Ashridge Forest A case study of a local ecosystem

1. Ashridge Forest A case study of a local ecosystem • By the end of this lesson you will: • be able to locate Ashridge • understand what you will be doing on the fieldtrip • create a list of things that you will need for the fieldtrip • have carried out a risk assessment

2. Pin Ashridge on the map! Complete the sentences on the first page of your booklet to describe the location of Ashridge in detail.

3. Plan of the day

4. What will we be doing? • You are going to be carrying out six different activities at Ashridge which will enable you to investigate the local ecosystem: • Management (Emily Smith – National Trust Ranger) • Mission Explore (Mrs. Kitchen) • Biology (Miss. Graham) • Independent Investigation (Miss Watson) • English (Ms. Mast-Hughes) • Design and Technology (Miss Doherty)

5. Mission Explore http://www.missionexplore.net/reward/MissionExploreBasicTraining For homework you will need to carry out Mission Explore Basic Training which you can do by logging onto the website above. There are 5 tasks which you will need to complete in order to achieve your Mission Explore Basic Training badge. You don’t need to sign up to Mission Explore to do this homework, but you might want to if you want to log the points you achieve in the activities at Ashridge.

6. Independent investigation • You are going to carry out your own independent investigation at Ashridgeand will need to spend a few minutes now planning what you want to do. • You will need to work in small groups of about 4 – your teacher will put you into these groups. • 2. You need to decide on a key question that you would like to find out about. Remember that you only have 45 minutes to investigate this question and to write up your findings. • 3. Once you have decided upon your key question you need to think about how you are going to find this out. Spend a few minutes planning in your booklets.

7. Independent investigation • If you are stuck, here are some suggestions of questions you might want to ask along with some ways of finding out about them: • Is litter a problem at Ashridge? (Litter count / questionnaire) • Does the woodland have a different microclimate to the car park? (temperature readings / wind speed readings) • How do the National Trust manage Ashridge? (Ranger interview / annotated photographs) • Does Ashridge have a pleasant environment? (Environmental Quality survey / annotated photographs) • How many people visit Ashridge and why do they come? (Pedestrian count / questionnaire)

8. risk assessment Before we embark on any fieldtrip we need to carry out a risk assessment. In the table in your booklet identify as many risks as you can, their severity and likelihood and what you can do to prevent them.

9. Planning for the fieldtrip What information do you need to know? What are you going to make sure you bring?

10. plenary Can you think of… ... thing you must not forget for the fieldtrip 1 2 ... things you are likely to see on the fieldtrip 3 ... things that you might learn on the fieldtrip