NEW BIODIVERSITY LOAN BOXES LAND IN EDINBURGH PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS

Bring the science centre to your school! Dynamic Earth’s Biodiversity Loan Box brings that science centre feeling into the classroom.

Thanks to funding from AEB Charitable Trust, Dynamic Earth has been able to create a box of hands-on, interactive resources for teachers to deliver in their classroom. This box will help demonstrate the biodiversity of Scotland and the impacts of climate change on native plants and animals.

In December, Dynamic Earth’s first Biodiversity Loan Box was delivered to Victoria Primary School. This resource is designed to break down barriers between schools and science centres by providing learners with free, science centre quality activities in their own classrooms. Through four hands-on activities, learners explore the diversity and interconnections of Scotland’s wildlife, how ecosystems can be fragile and could collapse if overexploited, the impact climate change can have on our local biodiversity, and how environmental changes have resulted in the loss of charismatic native species.

Norry Leonard, a Primary 4 teacher from Victoria Primary School, shared his experience using the Biodiversity Loan Box:
“I organised the resources into station-based learning, initially planning for 20-minute rotations. However, the children were so thoroughly engaged that sessions naturally extended as they wanted to explore further and ask more questions. The loan box proved incredibly effective at sparking curiosity about Scottish wildlife. It was particularly revealing to discover how limited the children’s prior knowledge was about our native species – this resource really filled an important gap in their understanding.”

We are excited to continue encouraging curiosity about Scotland’s wildlife across Edinburgh as we share these boxes with other primary schools in our local area, and our Learning & Engagement team plan to produce similar boxes on other subjects in the future.

Dynamic Earth would like to thank AEB Charitable Trust for providing us with the opportunity to produce and share these resources.