Life Based Learning
Delivering subject content through nine life themes
Category: Plants, Environment & Nature
Embed sustainability across the curriculum
In the same week that, after a month of devastating floods, the president of South Africa declared that climate change is here and we “can no longer postpone what we need to do”, the UK Department for Education unveiled its Sustainability and Climate Change… Continue Reading “Embed sustainability across the curriculum”
A new natural history GCSE
The UK government plans to introduce an “exciting” new GCSE in natural history by September 2025. Details of the qualification are included in the Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, which was launched this week. The education secretary claims that the UK… Continue Reading “A new natural history GCSE”
A green education for children
‘Now or never’ is the blunt message of UN scientists, referring to the need to take decisive action on greenhouse gas emissions to stave off the worst impacts of climate change in the future. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that global… Continue Reading “A green education for children”
Schools white paper needs to be greener
The UK government has this week unveiled its new schools white paper, the first for six years. It talks of “real action to level up education”. Levelling-up is the current government’s ‘big idea’, of course. There is lots about multi-academy trusts, support for SEND… Continue Reading “Schools white paper needs to be greener”
Fund rather than cut adventure play
Earlier this month Play England published research showing that at least 21 adventure playgrounds have been lost across England – roughly 15% of the total – in the last five years. Many more have suffered severe cuts in funding. Adventure play and adventure playgrounds… Continue Reading “Fund rather than cut adventure play”
A fantastic gateway into the world of nature
A new nature research project called Fruitwatch is mobilising citizen scientists to monitor when fruit trees bloom this spring. The Reading University researchers want to see whether climate change is causing trees to flower earlier than when insect pollinators are most active. If this… Continue Reading “A fantastic gateway into the world of nature”
Learning about sustainable living needs to be at the heart of the curriculum
It hasn’t — for obvious reasons — received the coverage it properly warrants this week, but the UN’s latest assessment of the impact of climate change is deeply disquieting. We should guard against overuse of phrases such as ‘existential threat’, but in this case… Continue Reading “Learning about sustainable living needs to be at the heart of the curriculum”
Schools need more support to eliminate plastics use, say campaigners
Last year we blogged about two sisters who set up Kids Against Plastic, a campaign aiming to bring together people determined to break “plastic habits”, take practical action and lobby for change. Their campaign is still very much alive: they say that more than… Continue Reading “Schools need more support to eliminate plastics use, say campaigners”
A ‘grow our own’ food revolution could have huge educational and other benefits
Newly published research indicates that Britain has the potential to massively increase the amount of homegrown fruit and veg by making better use of overlooked and neglected space in towns and cities. We currently import a large proportion of our food, at considerable environmental… Continue Reading “A ‘grow our own’ food revolution could have huge educational and other benefits”