Green-Schools Stay Home - Biodiversity

Green-Schools Stay Home – Biodiversity

We’re really excited to show you some cool stuff you can do at home to keep helping the environment. In this page, we have put Biodiversity-themed videos, quizzes, experiments, ideas and more activities that students can enjoy doing at home. Below you can find weeks full of activities, shares and ideas for students in the age categories of Junior Primary (Infants – 2nd class), Senior Primary (3rd – 6th class) and Secondary School (1st – 6th year). The activities will help students learn about the value of biodiversity and Irish wildlife; and how we can help conserve and protect it. The activities have been split into weekly activities. You can start doing them at anytime. Please tell us how you get on with any photos or videos or put them on social media with the hashtag #GreenSchoolsStayHome. Enjoy!

Sample Week A

Monday Activity – Up-cycled Plant Pots

Age Group: Primary Junior and Senior, Secondary

Green-Schools Officer Robert Nelson has made a step-by-step guide on how to make your own seedling plant pots. All you need is a scissors, loo roll tubes and a marker. It’s very easy and can be completed by young children. Give loo roll tubes a second use and save money on buying new plant pots to sow your seeds in.

Tuesday Activity- Bug Hotel

Age Group: Primary Junior and Senior

Green-Schools Officer Rebecca takes you through a step-by-step guide on how to make your very own miniature DIY Bug Hotel. All you need is a scissors, string and three plastic bottles and to go foraging for dried autumn debris. It’s very easy and can be completed by young children with the help of an adult or older child.

Earth Day Activity – Nature Diary

Age Group: Primary Junior and Senior

To celebrate Earth Day we were saving this special nature idea activity to share with students. Have a look at our nature storytelling diary extract for inspiration. Download the diary template, or design your own, and enter the observations you make into the calendar day. Based on what you see or find, maybe there is an activity on the Biodiversity Stay Home project page which you can do to complete the diary activity.

Thursday Activity – Framed Bug Hotel

Age Group: Secondary

Green-Schools Officer Rebecca takes you through a step-by-step guide on how to make your very own framed Bug Hotel. All you need is a scissors, string, three plastic bottles, scrap wood, a tack hammer and tacks and to go foraging for dried autumn debris. It’s fairly easy, and can be completed by students of secondary level or primary-aged students with the help of an adult.

Friday Share – Make a Bird Feeder Necklace with LEAF

Age Group: All

Activities this week have been focused on attracting wildlife into the garden or to the balcony/windowsill. Below are six species found in Ireland, but can you guess which of these are native Irish species? Answers are behind the flip-box!

Chaffinch

Native to Ireland 🏆 The most common finch in Ireland – found in woodland, parks and gardens.

Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Native to Ireland 🏆 A very common butterfly found in gardens, woodlands and hedgerows.

Blackbird

Native to Ireland 🏆 Originally a woodland bird, but is commonly seen in parks and gardens

Pine Marten

Native to Ireland 🏆 The pine marten is a rare mammal in Ireland and is a protected species

Hedgehog

Native to Ireland 🏆 The only hedgehog found in Ireland is the Western European hedgehog

Grey squirrel

Non-Native The grey squirrel is in fact, native to eastern North America

Sample Week B

Tuesday Activity- Origami Frogs

Age Group: Primary Senior and Secondary

Celebrate Save The Frogs Day with Green-Schools Travel Officer Allison by making origami jumping frogs and learning about Ireland’s only frog species, the Common Frog. Save the Frogs Day aims to raise awareness about these wonderful amphibians and everything they do for us. For more information on the Common Frog, check out the below link.

Wednesday Activity – Nettle Fertiliser

Age Group: Secondary

This nettle plant feed has such a simple method and creates a great concentrated tomato-feed. Keep feeding nettles into a jar half filled with water, add more water as needed. The smell of the rotting nettles is mighty and its advised to wear a mask or scarf over your mouth and nose. The nettles rot to create a concentrated sludge. Mix with water in a 5:1 ratio and include every few weeks when feeding your crops.

Friday Share – How do Trees Stay Safe and Healthy?

Age Group: Senior Primary Secondary

Did you know that plants have lots of hidden talents? They may look like friendly but they have lots of amazing ways to defend themselves when they are in danger. They can send each other warning messages and even fight back when under attack from swarms of insects or germs. Watch this video to learn more.

How trees defend themselves

Sample Week C

Monday Activity – Build a Bird’s Nest

Age Group: Primary

Ever wondered how birds are able to build their own nests just using their beaks and feet? See how difficult it is for you with your hands! Can you build one good enough to keep an egg safe??

Build a Nest

Tuesday Activity- Spud Breakout!

Age Group: Primary Senior and Secondary

Try this fun experiment, designed by Kew Gardens for our Great Plant Hunt Project, to discover more about what plants need to help them grow and end up with some cool potato art!

Make a Spud-box

Wednesday Activity – Origami Bees for World Bee Day

Age Group: Secondary

We are all a-buzz about World Bee Day this May 20th. Make an origami bee with Green-Schools Officer Allison and learn some cool facts about our flying pals.

Thursday Activity – Have you got your Bee Facts Straight?

Age Group: Primary and Secondary

Can you tell a honeybee from a bumblebee? Are you Queen Bee or do you need to do some more bumble-work to get full marks? Take our quiz and find out, by clicking on the button below.

Bee Quiz

Friday Activity – Bioblitz! for International Biodiversity Day

Age Group: Primary

Celebrate International Biodiversity Day, May 22nd with us by taking part in a Bioblitz! Race around your garden or local area and count how many living things you can find! Make sure you share your findings with us on social media!

Sample Week D

Tuesday Activity – Learn About the Wonderful World of Bees

Age Group: Primary

Learn about the wonderful world of bees! Explore the garden with Travel Officer Jess and then get your creativity flowing by creating a bee and honeycomb out of recycled toilet paper tube rolls. Afterwards, test your bee knowledge with a bee vocabulary word-search. This activity will have you buzzing from start to finish! Click on the word-sheet for a larger printable PDF. Need to check the answers? Reveal the answers by clicking the green button.

What's all the buss about bees?

Tuesday Activity- Top Trumps Nature Quiz!

Age Group: Primary

Learn about some of the special abilities Irish wildlife has! What is the fastest animal? Who can release a bad smell to defend itself?? Test your knowledge and find out some fun facts in our “Top Trumps Nature Quiz! Click the image below to get started.

Quiz

Wednesday Activity – Lets get growing!

Age Group: Primary

Learn how to help the wildlife in your garden with this fun booklet from author Juanita Browne. The book, is illustrated by Barry Reynolds and is funded by the Department for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with the support of National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Council. With such sunny weather, there is no better time to grow your own plants a food from seed to harvest. Watch the video clip to see how these little guys just love to grow!

Gardening for biodiversity

Thursday Activity – Leaf Hedgehog

Age Group: Primary

Time to get crafty with this leafy little fellow! Watch the video and share your creations with us on social media @greenschoolsire

Friday Share – Happy World Environment Day

Age Group: Primary

As well as the Gardening for Biodiversity book from Wednesdays activity, The Gardening for Biodiversity Colouring Book, designed by Barry Reynolds, also has some great pictures for you to colour in while you learn about the wildlife all around you! You can order a hard copy of both booklets from your Local Authority Heritage Office.

Gardening Colouring Book