Cedars Park Science
Plants and their Habitats
This activity is going to introduce how to identify and sample plants in 2
habitats in Cedars Park; a grassland and woodland.
National Curriculum Links
Science Key Stage 1
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identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their
habitats, including microhabitats
Science Key Stage 2
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Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and
name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including
micro-habitats.
Recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways.
Living things and their habitats
Recording data and results of increasing complexity using
scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter
graphs, bar and line graphs
Equipment
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Clipboards, pencils and paper
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Cedars Park Education Pack map
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Cameras (optional)
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Grassland & woodland worksheets (see below)
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5m string and bamboo canes for creating transect
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Grassland plant identification sheets and woodland plant
identification sheets (see below)
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Tape measure or string and bamboo poles for transect
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Sticky palettes (see background information for how to make)
Timing
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2 hours
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Plants and their Habitats
Activity
Start in either the woodland or grassland area on the map.
This activity will focus on the way that different habitats support
different plant communities. It will compare plants in a grassland and
woodland habitat using a Transect to create a snapshot of these
different plant communities. Children will start to learn that plants are
adapted to suit the different conditions where they live.
Split the children into groups of 4-5 children and if possible one adult
per group.
Explain that they are going to carry out some investigations into plants
and where they live. They will be going to 2 different habitats at Cedars
Park; grassland and woodland.
How many different habitats can they think of? Can they think of
different habitats in Cedars Park?
Go to the grassland area marked on the map (the old pond near the
main car park) Explain that this is a grassland habitat.
Ask what is a grassland habitat? What might they expect to see in a
grassland habitat?
Explain that in this activity they will be identifying and recording the
plants in a grassland habitat. Get them to think about how they could
start to record all the plants in the grassland? Could they count them
all?
Tell them that it would be impossible to count all the plants in a habitat,
so a sample is taken. A tool called a Transect is often used in sampling
plants by ecologists. It marks off an exact area so that the plants in
that area can be identified and counted.
Hold up the Transect. (2 garden canes can be used with a 5 m length of
string tied to each end). Demonstrate how to use the Transect. The aim
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Plants and their Habitats
will be for the line to cut across a variety of plant communities. This can
run across ground and shrub layers. They will look at plants touching
the transect line on both sides but no further away.
Hand out to the groups:
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1 transect
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Pupil worksheet Cedars Park Grassland Transect
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Cedars Park grassland plant identification sheets
When they have created the Transect they will walk along the line and
try to identify the plants from one end to the other using the grassland
identification sheets. Tell them that they are going to try and draw each
different plant along the line and write the name on the Grassland
Transect worksheet.
When pupils have recorded their plants from one end of the Transect to
the other, walk to the woodland habitat marked on the map. Repeat
the Transect in the woodland. Hand out to the same groups:
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Pupil worksheet - Cedars Park Woodland Transect
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Cedars Park woodland plant identification sheets
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Plants and their Habitats
Additional activities which could take place when recording plants along
the Transect:
Plants recorded on a
sticky palette
Collect individual leaves/individual flowers from each plant. Place these
on a sticky palette. This may be more suitable for key stg 1 rather than
drawing the plants. Take leaf prints from larger plants.
Photos of individual plants can also be taken to help with identification
later.
Extension Activity/Follow Up
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Investigate the frequency of the plants found in both the
grassland and woodland habitat. Mark the frequency of each
different plant which they identify. They should decide if a type of
plant is:
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C = Common
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O = Occasional
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R = Rare
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Draw a class frequency chart and tally the number of individual
plants. This information can be turned into a bar chart to show
how commonly each plant occurs on the site.
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Plants can then be compared between the grassland and
woodland habitat. A Venn diagram can be used to show those
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Plants and their Habitats
plants which only occur in each habitat, and those which are
found in both.
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Look at plants which were in flower and those which are only
showing stems and leaves. Investigate flowering times of plants.
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This can be compared between the woodland and grassland.
Are there any differences, find out why this is?
Background information
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Flowering times can be compared between the woodland and
grassland. Woodland plants often finish flowering in spring,
compared to grassland plants which flower in late spring through
to the end of summer. This is because plants need light in order
to flower. Once the leaves are fully out, there is less light hitting
the woodland floor, hence woodland plants often flower before
leaves come out.
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To make the sticky pallets cut out long thin strips of card. Down
the center of the card (lengthways) put a strip of double sided
tape. Pupils will peel this off when they are ready to start placing
leaves/flowers or other parts of a plant to help record and
identify.
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There are many great websites to help with the identification of
native/non-native wild plants, shrubs and trees. Look at the links
below:
http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-flowers/
http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/tree-identification/
http://www.opalexplorenature.org/identification
http://www.shootgardening.co.uk/plant/identify
http://www.greatplanthunt.org/
http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/hunt_leaves
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