Lesson 2 - project planning

Now the pupils get to be environmental data scientists - over the next few weeks they will work as small groups to collect environmental data on a specific topic and then will analyse it. BUT before undertaking any study planning is essential. This lesson shows the pupils how to plan a scientific study i.e. what is the question that needs answered, why is this important, how to go about answering this question, where to collect measurements from, and what equipment will be needed. There is a project plan template provided, that each pupil should fill in. There is also an example plan (and some hints), to give the pupils an idea of what they should be aiming for.

There are 15 topics to choose from, each with it's own information sheet that the pupils can read to help them fill in their project plan. The projects have been grouped into broader classes: ecology, weather, and geography, if you would like to focus on one area. The number of stars the top right corner show how difficult the topic is - with one star being the easiest and five stars the hardest.

Teacher instructions:

Split the class into groups of 5 – 7 pupils, depending on class size and available staff (one staff member can help ~2 groups). You can also work as one group if you'd like.

Let each group pick a project from the above project information sheets. There is also a table with the difficulty and more information/suggested ideas for each project:

Get the pupils to take turns at reading a paragraph of the information sheet to understand the topic.

Talk through each section of the project plan, use the example plan and hints. If the pupils need help look at the table for ideas.

Emphasise not to worry if the pupils don’t understand some of the words in the plan or information sheet, these should be explained either in the text or in the word list: