Introduction

School grounds are divided up into different functions and have a variety of facilities and are planted in different ways.

The issue with urbanised areas is that most of the species planted originates from other continents. Even when native plants are used they may not be indigenous to the area.

There can be a large number of habitats in the school grounds. The true definition of a habitat is a place where something lives. The major different habitats in the school grounds can mimic some ecosystems:

Garden beds mimic cultivated areas, heathland or grassland depending what is planted in there.
Playing fields mimic grazing land.
Treed area with native trees mimic woodland.
Thickly planted areas with native plants mimic forests.

See what other schools are doing by exploring a case studyhere.

Activity outline

Step 1

Identify the school habitats

Take your students out on a nature walk and give them a map of the school grounds. They will need to:

Identify what kind of habitats are in the school ground.
Formulate a description of the habitats.
Map the habitats.

Review what students learned about ecosystems. An ecosystem includes all of the living components plus any physical components. Physical components include the slope, gullies where it is damp, rocks, rotting logs and soil or surface. Most school habitats can be described by their vegetation. Review how we might separate native and introduced trees, shrubs, grasses and small plants.

Students can start with and modify the school habitat form (Activity sheet) to suit their school ground.

Work out how the class can be best organised to collect the habitat data without doubling up too much.

Step 2

Bring all the work together and sort all the observations into the major habitat types. What criteria separates out the different habitats?

Provide each habitat type with a name that describes the habitat and distinguishes it from all the others.

Step 3

Obtain a map of the school that can be used to mark the location of the school habitats.

The final habitat map will need to be photocopied so keep this in mind when choosing how to shade areas for different habitats. Choose a method for shading areas and design a school map that has a legend for the different habitats and shade (or mark) in the areas.

Make copies for use in the rest of this activity.

Step 4

Collecting data on species diversity.

Students will need to:

Decide how the data will be collected.
Design ways to collect the data.
Design forms to record the data.

Students are not experts in identifying organisms. Their data will be more consistent if groups collect data about the same group of species in the different habitats, rather than collecting all the data for a specific habitat.

Data sets students can record for habitats include:

Soil creatures
Birds
Leaf creatures
Small flying creatures
Funguses and molds
Grasses and small plants
Trees
Shrubs
Plant diseases.

Step 5

Design ways to collect data.

It is important to spend equal lengths of time in each habitat collecting data. Some data collecting, such as birds, should be done when students are not having breaks.

Things that can be recorded can include;

Soil creatures – total number of different species. If your school has a Berlese funnel you could extract animals using it. You could find out what a Berlese funnel looks like and make your own using a two litre drink bottle as a funnel and a desk light.
Birds – You could find out the total number of species and their main behaviours while using the habitat. You may not see some birds, but you will hear them and may distinguish their call. Unless you know your bird species do not worry about separating the native birds from the introduced feral species.
Leaf creatures – look over the leaves and stems for the total number of species of leaf and branch species. Peek under the loose bark, but don’t pull it off. Different kinds of spider webs count as different species as well. If you have a small battery operated vacuum cleaner, use it to vacuum the leaves and branches for 60 seconds. Tap the contents into a white tray and very quickly look in the tray as the flying insects will only remain for a second.
Small flying creatures – each group of insect flies in a different way. Look at each of the habitats for an equal amount of time and count the number of insects that fly. Towards the end, shake some grasses or leaves and see what flies off.
Funguses and molds – fungus and molds are most commonly found in damp areas among leaf litter and on fallen fruit below fruit trees. If the weather has been hot and dry it may not be possible find evidence of them at all. Students might consider doing some sterile agar plates. They need to obtain the plates, find out how to inoculate them and then dispose of them according to the State’s regulations.
Grasses and small plants – in school grounds these plants can usually be categorised as planted indigenous grasses and small plants, planted native grasses and small plants, planted introduced grasses and small plants and weeds that are usually non native plants. Map out similar areas in the different habitats and count the number of species for each category. You may need help in separating out the plants from different categories.
Trees – Besides counting the number of tree species in each area, describe how each species affects the area – shade, leaf litter, affect on the soil and plants underneath it. Try to distinguish between indigenous, native and introduced trees.
Shrubs – Besides counting the number of shrub species in each area describe how each species affects the area – shade, leaf litter, affect on the soil and plants underneath it. Try to distinguish between indigenous, native and introduced shrubs.
Plant diseases – in each location look at the plants and see if they have strange lumps and bumps, spots on the leaves or anything else to indicate it has a disease. If there are fleshy lumps called galls, break a few open and see if you can find any grubs inside.

Step 6

Design record sheets.

Design a record sheet to record the data. The record sheet must clearly show data for each habitat. For some surveys students may need a separate record sheet for each habitat.

Once all the data is collected, it can be pooled onto a single spreadsheet.

Step 7

Collect data.

Before collecting the data confirm that each group will be using a similar timing for gathering data. Agree upon how much time will be spent at each habitat so that the amount of time is equal for each one.

Step 8

Pool data on a spreadsheet.

Not all the data can be pooled. On one axis there will be the habitat and the other axis will be the number of species and all the data on the spreadsheet will be numerical. Where there is data separating indigenous, native and introduced, consider putting this data in separately.

Make the spreadsheet available to the class.

Step 9

Small groups use the spreadsheet and trial different graphs to identify which provides the best format to help to analyse data.

Using the data, students produce a short report. They use their chosen graph or graphs to show differences between the habitats.

Closing

Students provide their views on the biodiversity in their school.

They suggest how their data collection could have been improved if they were to do it a second time.

School Ground Biodiversity Challenge

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