Look back at your biodiversity audit from earlier in this project. Which living things did you find, and which spots felt richest?
Today we dig deeper: why does that variety matter, what is going wrong for pollinators in Ireland, and how could our grounds help?
With a partner, talk for one minute: what did our audit show about living things in our grounds, and why might that matter?
Be ready to share one idea with the class.
Your audit already showed variety in our grounds. Scientists call that biodiversity: the different living things in a place.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen so plants can make seeds and fruit. Bees, hoverflies and butterflies do this job.
A food web shows who eats whom, and how living things in a habitat depend on each other.
People who study living things work in a field called Biology. Ecologists use evidence the way we used our audit. You only need the name for now.
Think quietly, or whisper one idea to your partner: if fewer pollinators visited our grounds, what might change in a food web here? We will meet the evidence next.
In your group, read Cards B and C together (pollinators in Ireland and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan). For each, agree one important fact, one link to your audit, and one idea for helping our grounds.
Then choose one more card from A, D or E. From that card, star one strong line and write one audit link only (no full three-note set). Use any leftover minutes to rank your facts and agree which starred fact the class should remember.
Using living things from your audit, sketch a simple food web of our school grounds on plain paper. Start with the sun and at least two plants, then add animals that eat plants and animals that eat other animals. Draw arrows to show the direction energy flows (from the food toward the eater).
Keep this sketch. You will use it when you record on your Investigation Journal page.
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