JOHNSTON CP Year 5 pupils recently spent the day at Colby Woodland Gardens exploring its freshwater habitats with Samantha Williams and Ginny Spenceley from the Darwin Centre.
They were joined by Alexis Fletcher and Karen Wood from Dragon LNG, who have been the Darwin Centre’s core sponsor since September 2005.
The pupils measured river speed, recorded the weather conditions and completed a field sketch before stepping into the river to carry out kick sampling with Sam from Darwin.
After ensuring their socks were well and truly soggy they used branching keys and picture identification sheets to identify the animals that they had found.
Results were recorded and were used to calculate the biotic index of the river back in the classroom.
Pupils also took part in pond dipping to further develop their identification skills and knowledge of freshwater habitats with Ginny. They learnt about native amphibian species, life cycles and food chains.
The field trip is part of a three-year case study with the Milford Haven cluster of schools, along with Pembroke Dock Community School.
By the end of this academic year all of the year 5 pupils in the cluster will have spent the day learning about freshwater habitats at Colby.
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