I have had a really lovely day with Year 3 from St Andrews school, Evesham. The children were very enthusiastic! Their topic today was plants and eating well. After the health and safety talk we looked at a mini wheat field and learnt that the green wheat plant dies, once it has produced its seeds and then turns a golden yellow. 

We started the farm walk looking at the very large pile of silage in the farm yard. Many of the children thought the silage smelt, I explained that as the pickling process continues it will become even smellier! We then looked at the colour of the grass plants in the recently silaged field. We then took a walk along the tram lines in the wheat field. Some of the children said that they felt that they were on an adventure, as they had never walked in a wheat field (along the tramlines!) before. We watched the seed heads blowing in the wind. 

As we made our way through the calf field, the children were very good at standing still and quietly so the calves were confident enough to walk up to the children. Fly Dog kept trying to round the calves up. We then went to the pond area. The children learnt that we dug a large hole in the ground when they were babies and since then we have let nature grow the plants in the pond. The pond dipping was great fun. The children found alot of dragon fly nymphs and baby newts in the water. They also found two insects (see photos) that have yet to be identified. On our way back for lunch we had a brief look at the ‘buffer zone’ which is a great example of natural succession. 

After lunch, the children had the opportunity to look at dragon fly nymphs whose skin had split allowing the dragon fly out. They also ground some wheat to make flour. They loved the play wood and demonstrated lots of imagination. 

Tags: Plants