At the end of last term, we went to Hyde Park to take part in a sustainability workshop. When we got to the park, we first ate our lunch and when we had finished we played some football and hot potato. Then we went to our workshop. They asked us what ‘sustainability’ means and they asked if we could see anything sustainable in the building. Then, we had some time to identify the different materials around us. After that, we had a quiz about our own habits and we had to choose if we always, sometimes or never do it (the last one surprised us!).
Next, we were given clipboards and things to find in the outside area. It was a bit like a treasure hunt in pairs. It was a very fun adventure. Some of the things on the clipboards were, bat roosts, a wormery, a newt pond, a brown roof and compost bins. After we had all found everything, Alek (the workshop leader) showed us where each object was. The first thing he showed us was the wormery. It was a black bin, which contained rotten plants, vegetables and soil. There were worms and woodlice, eating the vegetables and soil. Alek told us that the name for animals who ate rotten things are detritivores. This is a category like carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. However, detritivores are often forgotten. It was very interesting and we even held the worms in our hands. After that, we tried to look for a bat roost, but we could not find any.
When we had finished all of that, we did a minibeast hunt. We each got a magnifying pot to put the minibeasts in. Some of us found spiders, centipedes and even slugs. We all really enjoyed it. After that, we had to look in a small place with logs and many bushes, which meant that we found various insects. However, we often had trouble to put the insects into our pots without dropping them. We had to use bits of bark or sticks to drop them inside. When we finished looking at one minibeast, we put it back and looked for a different one.
Then we got our heart-rates up by taking part in a relay race. Each team had a bucket of items and had to run it to the other side of the grass and put it in a boxed based on whether it was compostable, recyclable or for landfill. We were great and got nearly all of them right!
Lastly, we helped ensure that the park was clean and tidy by doing some litter picking. We all had the chance to help and put litter into the correct bins. It was a great afternoon for all!
Written by the Green Team!
