EDEN PROJECT, LOCATION GUIDE

GEOGRAPHY

Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered

Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available at the Eden Project in Cornwall. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind.

The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners Cornwall including the Eden Project themselves who have an excellent education team so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives.

Making Life Easier for You

Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and what to take with you.

Peace of Mind

So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along.

You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System.

THE EDEN PROJECT The Eden Project is a fantastic place for secondary school students to widen their learning with its excellent curriculum links for KS3 to KS5. Experience the Rainforest Biome - the world's largest indoor rainforest - and discover the tropical plants that are used to produce everyday products. Take part in one of a wide choice of curriculum linked workshops before exploring the Mediterranean Biome, outdoor gardens and other attractions. The Eden Project has been recognised at the British Travel Awards as the Best UK Leisure Attraction 4 years running.

STUDY FOCUS

Rainforest Biome – the World’s Largest Indoor Rainforest Feel the tropical heat in our stunning Rainforest Biome and experience four of the world's rainforest environments: Tropical Islands, Southeast Asia, West Africa and Tropical South America featuring over 1000 varieties of plants and temperatures of 18-35C

With the awe-inspiring domes and enormous trees towering above you, you'll follow the path deep into the vast indoor jungle and find surprises around every corner.

-Combine this with a Rainforest focussed workshop – on following pages

Rainforest Canopy Walkway This Treetop walk in the Rainforest Biome has breathtaking views across the Biome, and helps explain the importance of rainforests. The Walkway will hopefully inspire students to work to save these precious areas of our planet. Exhibits on the Canopy Walkway include;

Baka Camp At our camp, you'll explore the way of life of the Baka indigenous people who live in the West African rainforests of Cameroon, the Congo basin and Gabon.

Canopy Camp Explore an aerial laboratory and campsite where canopy scientists explore life at a different level. Here you'll learn how rainforests keep fed, clothed and healthy, produce weather that keeps you cool and watered and inspiring human technology.

Nest Platform High above the ground, take in the stunning range of life in the rainforest. In 'nature's design studio' see how forms are produced that fit their function, from

protective prickles to pollination mechanisms and from guttered leaves to garish flowers.

Biodiversity Chandelier A spectacular focal point of the Rainforest Canopy Walkway, the chandelier is a collection of individual shapes that interlink to form clusters that explore the theme of biodiversity.

Mediterranean Biome Meander through the landscapes of the Mediterranean, South Africa and California in this huge indoor garden. Within its discover the amazing variety of plants growing in these warm temperate regions of the world. Take an unforgettable journey through a paradise of brightly coloured flowers, gnarled trunks and bountiful vines.

The Core building Inside this beautiful building based on the structure of a sunflower, students can press buttons; wind handles and peer inside things to learn about everything from ecosystems and evolution to climate change and plant resources. There’s Interactive displays, moving exhibits, the ‘wall of hands’ and at the epicentre of the building, a 70-tonne granite sculpture.

Outdoor Gardens What was once a sterile clay mine is now a vibrant global garden, brimming with plants, sculptures and play equipment. Explore miles of paths that twist and turn up and down the slopes of the pit. You'll get breathtaking views of the Biomes and discover gardens and landscapes featuring everything from beautiful ornamental flowers to crops used for medicine, fuels, materials and food. Also home to the WEE Man and the Giant Bee.

WEEE Man Waste Sculpture The WEEE Man is a 3.3-tonne structure which represents the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) the average British household throws away in a lifetime. At seven metres high, his grimacing head towers over the Eden Project outdoor gardens. Mobile phones, mp3 players, lawn mowers and the like make up his bones and sinews; his teeth are computer mice; his ears are satellite dishes; and his brain is built from computer parts.

Giant Bee Marvel at this huge model of a bee set amidst our flowerbeds near the entrance to the Biomes, a reminder of how important pollinating insects such as bees are to flowers – and to us humans.

Over a third of our food plants depend on pollinators to reproduce – providing us with fresh flowers, fruit and vegetables.

Curriculum-linked school workshops

The Eden educational team offer a range of curriculum-linked school workshops especially designed which make full use of this fantastic site. Workshops include all equipment as well as free teaching resources enabling your class to prepare for the workshop and to follow up on the activity.

Here are our top picks for Geography groups…

Rainforest Climate Challenge -2Hr (KS3-4)

This workshop, which focuses on geography, citizenship, science and sustainable development, looks at the impact of climate change and explores some of the reasons for it, as well as realistic solutions.

Students will look at the interdependence between people and nature and how nature provides essential services. The group will study how the changing climate is affecting the lives of many Polynesians.

Building on the Polynesians theme, students explore the Rainforest Biome searching for essential plants for survival. On their return they will look at the impact of rainforests and deforestation on climate change.

Finally students will look at what this country is proposing to do about climate change and discuss what young people today can, realistically, do to contribute positively to the climate change debate.

This takes place in the education centre, as well as the Rainforest Biome

Rainforest Ecology and Adaptation - 1 hr (KS5)

Rainforests are complex and biodiverse ecosystems which play a significant role in regulating climate across the globe. Life here must cope with extreme abiotic and biotic conditions. This session looks into the ecology of the rainforest, the challenges to life here and how plants have evolved adaptations to thrive. It also touches on some of the human pressures on these precious ecosystems and how that influences the ecology.

This classroom-based interactive session links strongly with Biology and Geography specifications and there is an optional linked activity that the students can complete the Biomes.

Jungle Connections – 2 Hr – KS3

Students are challenged to explore their connections with the rainforests of the world by exploring Eden’s own jungle.

The challenge starts with a review of students’ knowledge of rainforests and a hands-on activity to stimulate thinking about our connections to the rainforest and some of the associated issues. Students spend up to an hour in the Rainforest Biome, experiencing the reality of the tropical climate and finding further examples of their rainforest connections.

On returning to the classroom they will take the story of chocolate as an for analysing trade relationships in more detail and investigating our power as consumers to make a difference.

This takes place in the education centre, as well as the Rainforest Biome.

Biodiversity under Threat- 1 hr (KS4-5)

All life on our planet is inter-dependent and all species have a role to play in their ecosystem. Conserving biodiversity and fully functioning ecosystems is key to the survival of all species. So, what does biodiversity actually do for us? Why and where is it being lost? And what can be done to halt the decline? After the presentation there is an optional linked activity that the students can complete in the Biomes.

Biodiversity in a Box - 2hr (KS3-4)

This workshop explores the importance of biodiversity, in which students seek out relevant plants at Eden and debate which ones could guarantee our future survival.

Deep under the Arctic ice, scientists have created a £6.5million seedbank with the ambition of conserving 4.5 million seed samples. Students investigate some of the key factors in plant conservation before setting off as a team to investigate Eden’s three Biomes in search of their own suggestions for plants to add to the seedbank. On returning to the Core, students debate which of their plant finds should make it into the seedbank as top priority.

Finally, we delve a little deeper into the importance of biodiversity and look at some of the issues surrounding biodiversity conservation, including whether there are choices we can make which will make a difference.

This takes in the education centre, as well as around the Eden Project site and its Biomes.

Sustainable Attainable – 2 Hr (KS3-4)

Students are invited to investigate Eden’s green business credentials and then think about their own lives, college or career. Using the Eden Project as an example of a business with sustainability at the heart of its working practices pupils look at the meaning and execution of sustainability.

The students will explore what it means in the real world, by looking for examples of our approach and considering how effective they are. We will consider the big picture and discuss why sustainability is so important. Students finish by looking at how students can make a meaningful contribution now and in the future.

The students can explore the Rainforest Biome to find out how and why nature works in collaboration and what we can learn from this.

This takes place in the education centre, as well as the Rainforest Biome and the wider Eden site.

Rural Rebranding – 1 Hr (KS5)

A workshop for Geography students which explores the Eden Project as a working example of managing rural change.

The Eden Project is a unique organisation; social enterprise, educational charity, tourism destination, exemplar of regeneration. This session sets Eden in the Cornish context and provides practical examples and real world contexts to ground your students’ learning.

This classroom-based session links strongly with the Geography A level syllabus. Students are encouraged to ask questions and build a running dialogue throughout the interactive session. After this there is an optional linked activity that the students can complete across the site. This takes place in the education centre, with the optional follow-up activity across the Eden site.

Sustainable and Eco-tourism – 1 hr (KS5)

A workshop which explores the Eden Project as a working example of an eco- tourism attraction and social enterprise.

The Eden Project is a unique organisation; a social enterprise, an educational charity, a tourism destination, an exemplar of regeneration. This session sets Eden in the Cornish context and explores the project’s ambition to be a sustainable organisation, introducing the concept of the Triple Bottom Line and its function as a social enterprise. The session provides practical examples and real world contexts to ground your students’ learning.

This classroom-based session links strongly with Geography and Tourism A level syllabuses. We encourage the students to ask questions and build a running dialogue throughout the interactive session. After this there is an optional linked activity that the students can complete across site. This takes place in the education centre, with an optional follow-up activity across the Eden site.

What to Take With You

Students and staff should bring:

 Equipment such as clipboards, pens and pencils (if visiting independently)  A packed lunch (including a drink and, we recommend, an additional bottle of water)  Layers of clothing, including appropriate outdoor clothing, to help cope with the variations in temperature between the indoor Biomes and outdoor gardens

Accommodation

The YHA Eden Project is within walking distance and most convenient place to stay for your school trip to Eden and also provides a great base for your exploration of the wider Cornwall area.

The Youth Hostel is made from shipping containers, in keeping with their ethos of sustainable living. They are very experienced in handling school groups of all sizes There is even the option to add an evening bolt-on session to complete the Eden adventure suitable for any age of students on full-board for groups of 20 or more.

These unique events give groups the fantastic opportunity to get on site once the Project is closed to the public – including inside the Rainforest Biome at night.