Exploring Ecology on the Doorstep

Year 8 students spent their Friday afternoon exploring the minutiae of the natural world on our doorstep.

Being fascinated by everyday life - by the insects buzzing outside the classroom window, the plants growing in the Chapel Garden, or the minibeasts hiding beneath the lily-pads in the pond is, in itself, curiosity-led research. 

Combine that natural curiosity with a desire to understand how different organisms interact with each other and with their environment, and you have students, equipped with pitfall traps, identification guides and pond dipping equipment, ready to immerse themselves in the world of ecology.

From studying the organisms present at different levels of the pyramidal food chain, to estimating the population size of the daisy plants in the lawn, they left no stone, branch or lily pad unturned.

No minibeasts were hurt in the process! Every pea clam, leopard slug, woodlouse and ramshorn snail was safely returned to its habitat at the end of the lesson.

19 September 2025