Outdoor Learning Project Grades 6 & 7

Our Grade 6 and 7 cohort were treated to an outdoor learning day with a technological twist last Friday, with a particular focus on Top Woods. Mr Mortimer began with an explanation as to why the world is made of triangles, focusing the learning on contour lines, the effective use of what we loosely refer to as ‘Gandalf’s staff’ (a GPS/GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite System – you see why we call it ‘Gandalf’s staff now, don’t you?) and the wonder of a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system to create a map with contour lines of 50cm, and a 3D model of Top Woods. Did you know that LiDAR has a laser system that can process up to 700 000 points of information per second?

From this we collected 750 000 000 points of information from which we used 1 100 000 points on the ground to draw a digital elevation model. You’re welcome. 

Suitably impressed, the children then went to put surveying to the test, with the intention being to plot a contour path to serve as an arterial route through Top Woods which needed to tick a few boxes, including being wheelchair friendly.

It may be fair to say that the contour path plotting was affected ever so slightly by human error, in itself a valuable learning opportunity. So, back to the drawing board for a bit more theory on mapwork and a refresher on the concept of contour lines we went!

Mini projects were then the focus, with a presentation of each mini-project to their fellow Grade 6 and 7 bunch the ‘end goal’. Topics revolved around anti-erosion ideas, a focus on owl species as well as other bird species, trees, and mammals resident in Top Woods. A quick ‘toe-dip’ into the concepts of indigenous, endemic and alien/ invader species completed the puzzle. 

A survey was conducted as to what was felt to be the main purpose of Top Woods, as well as establishing what the children felt would be important to have in the woods (owl boxes, benches, a lookout point etc.). This provided important data to continue the process – we look forward to making the children’s ideas a reality in due course. Because that’s important – we are all teachers and learners.