Primary from Year 2 to Year 6
There are places on our planet where the climate is extremely hostile and yet animals live there. Working in groups, the children will start to explore the attributes which enable them to adapt to extreme conditions.
More broadly, the children will address the major subject of climate change and study its consequences. What is climate change? What are its effects today? Global warming produces knock-on effects. Everything in nature is interdependent and we are seeing chain reactions that are upsetting the balance of the living kingdom. The extinction of one animal or any living organism has repercussions on all surviving species.
With reference to a few examples from extreme environments (polar regions, hot deserts), the facilitator will invite children to ‘examine’ different animals to help them identify the specific morphological or behavioural traits that allow them to survive in these environments.
Working in groups with a research sheet, a description and a photo, the children will study an animal and then present their findings to the whole group. These will lead them to identify, based on a selection of animals, the convergent adaptive traits for dealing with certain climate changes.
In the second part of the workshop, children will use picture cards to piece together the story of five living organisms (arctic fox, alligator, polar bear, sea turtle and puffin) dealing with the effects of global warming. The discussion will raise topics such as threat of extinction, dwindling populations, reproduction problems, environmental degradation, migration and invasive species. The strands of the various discussions will be brought together to shed light on the various effects of climate change affecting biodiversity.
Workshop aims:
- Learn about how animals adapt to their climatic environment
- Identify the consequences of climate change on animals
- Formulate and discuss theories
- Put a story in chronological order using texts and images
During the workshop, the facilitator will present a slideshow and a selection from the Museum of Bordeaux collections including a host of stuffed specimens and osteological pieces (cave bears, mammoth’s tooth, etc.). Participants will also be introduced to learning resources specially devised for the workshop.
To book a workshop of The Museum comes to you and on all administrative matters, the secretariat is listening to you.
By phone: 05 24 57 65 30
By e-mail: museum@mairie-bordeaux.fr
