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Primary SESE Bog Field
Studies
Class Level and Curriculum Links
The materials presented in this module
are aimed at Senior Classes in primary schools. Bogs provide
an accessible, local topic for delivering many elements of the
SESE (Social, Environmental and Scientific Education) curriculum.
SESE Science:
Strand: Living Things
Strand Unit: Plant and Animal Life
* Observe, identify and examine the animals and plants that live
in local habitats and environments.
* Identify the inter-relationships and interdependence between
plants and animals found in a habitat.
* Develop an increasing awareness of plants and animals from
wider environments.
* Observe and explore some ways in which plant and animal behaviour
is influenced by, or adapted to, environmental conditions.
* Construct and use simple keys to identify locally occurring
species of plants and animals.
SESE Science:
Strand: Environmental Awareness and Care
Strand Unit: Environmental Awareness
* Identify positive aspects of natural and built environments
through observation, discussion and recording.
* Explore some examples of the inter-relationship of living and
non-living aspects of local and other environments.
Scientific Skills Development: Observing, recording, investigating,
planning, designing, analysing, making and interpreting.
SESE Geography:
Strand: Environmental Awareness and Care
Strand Unit: Environmental Awareness
* Explore some examples of the inter-relationship of climate,
natural features, flora, fauna and human life in Ireland.
Geographical Skills Development: Investigating and experimenting,
collecting information form maps, books and the internet, recording
and communicating.
Upon completion of this module, teachers may choose to follow
it with a number of activities that would help deliver the cross
curricular Strand Unit: Caring for the Environment. Please link
to the Geography module for further ideas such as investigating
peat soil and growing properties, composting, and a gardening
audit. Links to the English module and the Along Came Man debate
will also assist in delivering content objectives of this cross-curricular
theme.
A Day on the Bog
A place where plants and animals live is called a habitat. This is where they grow, feed and breed. Each species has its own habitat, and if the habitat is destroyed the species will often die too. The community of plants and animals that live together in a particular habitat, together with the environment in which they live, constitute an ecosystem, and a bog is an excellent example of an easy-to-study ecosystem. You will be planning a nature expedition to the wild bog in your locality that is closest to your school. Part of your activities will be to see what plants and animals are found in bogs, how these plants and animals live together, the kinds of conditions or environment the plants and animals live in (i.e. the effects of soil properties and climate), and the ways they adapt to these conditions in order to survive. What is a bog like? Who lives there? What's happening in a bog? Who uses the bog? What is a bog made of? How far is it to the nearest wild bog? These are just some of the things your class should try to find out on the visit to a wild bog. Students will need activity sheets, finding out books and some pencils to keep a record of what they do and find on the day on the bog. Ideas are given for activities to be undertaken in class or on the journey to the bog. On the bog itself ideas are given for activities in four action areas. In advance of the field studies students should be encouraged to make the bog plant and pool bug identification dials given in the resources section of this web site and perhaps undertake a short research project to find out all they can about bogs. A questionnaire and booklets about the plants, animals and birds found in bogs given in the resources section of this web site could be useful in guiding reserach activity. You can link to this section at the top of this page. Follow up activities are suggested in each action area to be completed in class after the field trip to the bog.
The journey to the bog
Things to do on and/or before the bus journey to the bog might
be to examine a map or air photograph showing the location of
the area being visited in relation to the school and recording
the following:
Find out and record the distance from the school to the bog.
Time the journey and the direction travelled.
Record the names of all the towns passed through, rivers crossed,
lakes, mountains, hills seen etc.
Describe the changes that take place between the city or town
and the country.
How is land used around the country?
Make a list of habitats that are seen on the journey.
Action area 1 - bog explorer
(see also related materials
in the English and Art Modules)
You will need:
* pencil and notebook
* camera
* hand lens or magnifying glass
What to do:
Make notes of everything you discover on the bog.
Jump up and down on the bog. How does it feel? Write down words
to describe your feelings.
What smells do you get on the bog?
Listen for sounds? What do you hear? How many different sounds
can you hear?
Listen for bird songs. How many do you hear?
Feel a patch of bog moss. How does it feel to the touch?
Feel a patch of lichen. How does it feel to the touch?
Write down 10 words that come to mind when you are on the bog.
What colours can you find on the bog? How many colours can you
see in the bog? Can you reach 50?
Take pictures or make sketches of what interests you in the bog.
How many shapes can you see? Look at leaves, bushes, flowers
and mosses.
What animals are there on the bog? Where do they live on the
bog?
If you find an animal ask yourself why is it that colour? Is
it a warning or camouflage? It's appearance can tell you about
its life cycle - like wings for flying, or webbed feet for swimming.
Can you find a drama happening, such as:
* a spider trapping a fly in its web
* a kestrel plummeting down on an
* unsuspecting animal
* a caterpillar munching a plant leaf
* a pond skater tugging a fly along the
* surface of a bog pool
* a sundew trapping an ant or tiny insect on its sticky leaves
Record the details of your finds in your notebook.
Back in class:
Pupils should be asked to write a descriptive account of their
day on the bog, making use of the words they collected during
the project.
Pupils should make a check list of animals found on the bog you
visited. Individual projects on habits and/or life cycles of
species which pupils are particularly interested in could also
be undertaken. Bog animal and bird booklets given in the resources
section of this website which you can link to at the top of this
page contain information which might be useful for this activity.
Action area 2A - bog plant
detective
To find out what plants live on the bog you will need to spend
some time examining a small area of the bog very closely. Use
the bog watch flower dial to help you.
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You will need: * Pencil and notebook * Collecting bag and labels * A half meter square frame or quadrat * Hand lens or magnifying glass * Bogwatch flower dial (please link to the resources section of this web site above) |
What to do:
1. Lay the square frame or quadrat down on the surface of the bog.
2. Use the bogwatch flower dial to identify the plants you find in the quadrat or square frame. Make a list or diagram of the quadrat in your finding-out book such as the one below. Make drawings of plants you cannot identify.
3. Look at a dry area of bog and at a wet area of bog. What differences do you find?
4. How many plants can you find?
5. Back in class, make a check list of plants found on the bog you visited. Organise a class discussion on the reasons why certain species were not found. A bog plant booklet included in the resources section of this website which you can link to at the top of this page contains information which might be useful for this activity.
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Action area 2B - investigating
where plants grow on the bog
Once you have been on the bog
for a while you will begin to notice that although it looks flat
from a distance, it is really bumpy up close. When you walk you
go up and down, and up and down with each step. The whole surface
of the bog is made up of lumps or bumps called hummocks, and
holes or hollows. The hollows sometimes contain water, so they
make small pools. What are your thoughts and feelings as you
walk on the bog. Write them down. Looking closely at the different
plants growing on the hummocks and in the pools can help you
to understand what environmental conditions they like. Some like
their "feet" or roots wet and they are found in the
hollows or pools, others hate this and they mostly grow on the
drier hummocks. This investigation will help you to find out
where plants prefer to grow on the bog.
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You will need: * Two bamboo rods * A piece of string at least 1m long * Bogwatch flower dial * Notebook and pencil |
What to do:
1. Tie each end of the piece of string to a bamboo rod.
2. Stick one of the bamboo rods into the top of a hummock and the other into the soft moss in a bog pool.
3. Make a drawing of the shape of the hummock and pool in your note book using the piece of string to guide you along one line. Take special note of where you can see water on the line.
4. Use the bogwatch flower dial to help you identify all the bog plants that touch the string.
5. Make a drawing of each plant you identify on the diagram. Fill in the plant names on the diagram.
6. Where do these plants like to grow - is it on the dry hummock, in the wet hollow or in between?
Heathers, Lichens, Bog Cotton, Sundew, Bog Moss and Bog Asphodel
7. A class discussion on this activity could be used to help students discover how the plants they found are specially adapted to living in the bog environment where the ground is so wet. A bog plant booklet included in the resources section of this website which you can link to at the top of this page contains information which might be useful for this activity.
Action area 3A - peat or
turf bank investigation
Find a spot where the bog has
been cut so that you can see layers in the peat.
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You will need: * Pencil and notebook * Labels * Meter stick * Trowel for sampling * Hand lens or magnifying glass |
What to do:
1. Measure the height of the turf bank in centimeters.
2. How many different layers you can see in the peat bank? Measure the depth of each layer with the meter stick. Make a diagram like the one below in your notebook and fill in the different layers in the peat bank.
3. Use a trowel to take samples of peat in each layer you identify. Observe and record every detail you can: colour; dead plant remains; wetness; texture; smell; etc.
4. Try to account for what you find.
5. What grows on the top of the peat bank?
6. The bog grows by 1mm each year. Work out the age of the layers in the bog and a time scale or calendar for the peat bank. Mark important dates on your calendar such as local history events, archaeological finds and historic buildings.
7. Teachers may like to follow up on this activity by making a model of a bog in a bottle. Please link to the resources section of this website above for details of this project.
Action area 3B - Bog moss
- the bog builder
Your teacher will demonstrate
how bog moss holds a lot of water by squeezing it. Look at a
single Bog Moss plant from a moss lawn at the edge of a pool,
and answer the following questions:
1. Make a drawing of a single bog moss plant.
2. Which parts of the bog moss plant are alive and which are
dead?
3. What colour is each part?
4. Can you tell how bog moss grows?
5. What do you think happens to the dead parts of bog moss with
time?
Action area 4 - Investigating
a bog pool
To find out about the small
creatures or mini-beasts that live in bog pools you will need
to make a collection using a pond net. Use the pond net to catch
the bugs and then identify them with the bog watch pool bug dial.
You will need:
* A shallow plastic white tray or basin
* A pond net
* 3 jam jars with lids and string tied around their necks
* Plastic spoon
* Sorting tray
* Hand lens or magnifying glass or magnifying bug box
* Bogwatch pool bug dial
* Notebook and pen
* Thermometer
What to do:
1. Observe the surface of the pool and record what you see.
2. Observe just below the surface as far as light allows, and
record what you see.
3. Fill white basin with water.
4. Dip the net into the pond to catch creatures from (a) the
surface- whirligig beetle, water skater, water measurer, raft
spider and floating plants, (b) pool vegetation and open water
- scorpion, mosquito larva, mosquito pupa, water beetles, great
diving beetle, water boatmen, caddisfly larva, submerged plants,
and (c) pool bottom - bloodworm.
5. These activities should be undertaken by the teacher if necessary.
6. Turn net inside out and wash into white tray or basin. Allow
to settle and watch for movement. Use a plastic spoon and the
sorting trays to separate out the different bugs found for identification
7. Use the jam jars and bug boxes to examine an animal in detail
close up. A magnifying glass will greatly add to what you see.
8. Use the bogwatch pool bug dial to identify the creatures you
find. Make a table in your finding out book like the one below.
9. Make a list of the plants in the pool also. Use the bogwatch
flower dial to help you identify them.
10. Take photographs or make drawings of specimens in the white
sorting trays as a reminder of your findings.
11. When finished return all animals to the pool.
12. Use the information to make food chains for the bog pool.
Ask the questions who eats who to help you. Mobiles could be
made to illustrate this concept. The food chains can be linked
together to make a food web.
13. Measure the temperature of the water in the bog pool. Discuss
how light and temperature, two non-living parts of the habitat,
influence life in the bog pool.
14. Explore the life cycles of insects such as dragonflies and
frogs that spend periods in water and on land.
