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Use the bark of trees to help you find out the types of tree that are around you. Use questions like:
Bark can also be a habitat for other life. This life could indicate what your surroundings are like e.g. the amount of light, pollution and/or moisture. The flowers of a woodland can be an important indicator of:
The fruit of trees are an important food source for the animals living in the wood. The fruits can also help us to identify which trees can be found around us. Can you match the seed in the table to the tree:
Press the squirrel to view an interactive game that reinforces this topic.
The seeds from woodland can also tell you about dispersal. The seeds in the table above have different methods of dispersal from wind dispersal to being carried by animals. Can you match the seed to its method of dispersal
Leaves come in a variety of shapes and size and help to identify which trees may be around you. Press the leaf to view an interactive game that reinforces this topic.
Leaves are an important part of the woodland helping the trees to make food from the sun through photosynthesis. When they fall they provide essential organic matter (nutrients) to the woodland floor to help the trees, flowers, fungi and mini-beasts. Leaves can also tell us whether a tree is evergreen or deciduous by its shape and if it is shiny. Compare the holly leaf with the oak leaf and the pine needle.
You can find lots of textures in the woodland from soft to hard, rough to smooth and prickly to bumpy. You can discover these textures through scavenger hunts or bark rubbing and from environmental games like meet a tree. Smells are all around you in the woods from the plants, the soil and even the animals. If you are in the woods during late spring you can smell the bluebells that cover the woodland floor. They smell similar to hyacinths and are related to them. Stinkhorn fungi and foxes both produce distinctive odours which are commonly encountered by visiting groups. Smelly cocktails can be made using natural materials and mixing with water. Making a non-drinkable potion for your nose. The colours of the woodland can reflect the season or time of the year. In winter the white of snow and frost and browns of the trees, in spring the light greens of the new growth and blues and yellows of the flowers, in the summer the lush greens of the foliage sprinkled with splashes of colour and in autumn all the ranges of greens reds and browns of the falling leaves. A rainbows of colours and shades can be collected by children to show the range of natural colours. Colour can also be used by animals to help them be seen or to be camouflaged. The two pictures below show two animals using colour, one as a warning to others and the other is camouflaged, can you spot it?
Shapes can be seen in a variety of places around the woods and are often used to name plants and flowers. Click the shapes to view an interactive game to help reinforce this topic.
Flora is a word used to describe the plants found in an area. The flora of a woodland can be divided into different layers, the ground layer, the herb layer, shrub layer and the upper layer or canopy.
Each layer has differing light quality and quantity available to it. The highest and best quality is at the top and the least and lowest quality is at the bottom. The plants grow where they can tolerate the light level and so develop the woodland flora. Many of the smaller plants flower early, in spring, before the canopy closes and blocks out the light. Fauna is a word used for the animals found in an area. The fauna of our woodlands is varied, ranging from mini-beasts up to large mammals like Fallow deer. The woodland animals are dependant upon each other and the plants around them, this relationship is the basis of the woodland food web. Many of the animals which are found on the Lickey Hills are not often seen as they are most active at dawn and dusk or during the night. Many schools take part in mini-beast safaris (bug hunts) to discover how diverse our invertebrate fauna is. These sessions can provide a good introduction to basic animal classification.
Ecology is the study of the system within which the organisms living there interact with each other and their environment. Many different processes are at work at a range of different levels. One of the easier processes to study is a food web or chain, as seen seen below.
The appearance of the woodland is the most obvious change over the seasons especially in the deciduous areas, changing through the topics covered throughout this page. For more seasonal information click the tree. The life story of many different organisms can be explored from beginning to end during a study tour through the woods. The example below is one of many from the woods.
Soil is the collection of organic matter and inorganic fragments that have built up and mixed over time. The study of soil takes into account the composition, depth, levels of acidity, the country rock and organisms found within. The country park has several soil types. Even a basic investigation will quickly allow us to compare and contrast them. The most obvious comparison to be made within the woodlands is between the deciduous and evergreen parts of the woods. Comparisons can be made between all of the above categories contrasting the two areas with sunlight being the most influencial factor between the two.
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Woodlands
