Conservation activity pack Conservation activity pack What’s included in this pack? What do I need to do? ...................................................3 RSPB Scotland nature reserves ...................................4 The RSPB Investigating your area ................................................5 The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was • Plants and wildflowers ..................................................................... 5 formed way back in 1889 and has • Trees ................................................................................................. 6 grown so much since then that • Insects .............................................................................................. 7 we now have over one million • Birds .................................................................................................. 10 members. We manage more than 200 nature reserves in the Water explorations ............................................................................ 11 • UK and help protect rare and threatened wildlife all over Recording and reporting your findings .......................13 the world. Species research and using resources ........................14 Nature is amazing – help us keep it that way by becoming Human impacts ..............................................................14 an RSPB member. Taking action .................................................................15 rspb.org.uk/join How to find out more ...................................................17 What next? ......................................................................17 Wildlife ID sheets (back of pack) 2 What do I need to do? Where and when? • When you’re out and about, please remember to leave things as you • It’s important to choose a place found them. Do not pick flowers that you can explore easily, either or plants, and make sure you put by yourself or with your group. This Conservation activity pack has been minibeasts and insects back in their own homes. created by RSPB Scotland for Scouts, • You also need to make sure you’re allowed to carry out a survey and Explorer Scouts and the Scout Network. • Always take photos or draw explore your location properly. pictures of your discoveries rather e want to help Scouts try new activities, • Check with your leader about how than take them home. This helps while also learning about wildlife and large your location needs to be – us conserve natural spaces. Also, the great outdoors, by working towards W don’t make it too big! take note of any pollution you spot, the completion of a number of Activity Badges, such as litter or water pollution. Challenge Badges and Chief Scout and Queen’s • Make sure you have time to Scout Awards. complete your investigation properly, because plant and This includes activities you can do to help Cub wildlife surveys can take time. Scouts and Scouts earn their Environmental Keeping safe Conservation Activity Badge, Naturalist Activity • Make sure you use your eyes, ears • Make sure you have an adult Badge and World Challenge for Scouts. Explorer and nose to find out more about who can help or supervise when Scouts and Scout Network can help either as Young what’s there. You’ll find different you’re using tools and carrying out tricky tasks. Leaders, or for the environmental section of their wildlife in different seasons, so we’ve included some identification • Always make sure an adult knows Chief Scout Awards and Queen’s Scout Awards. where you are and when you’ll be (ID) sheets in your pack to help. Once you’ve done an activity, email us at back from doing your survey. [email protected] to let us know • Make sure that before you get • If you have any cuts, cover them what you did and tell us any results; we will started you have all the equipment with a plaster or wait until they’ve then send you a certificate. If you complete you need to carry out your healed before going pond-dipping. more than 3 activities we will send you surveys. Some surveys need • Don’t touch any rubbish you a special award and share your story. particular items of equipment. find, unless you’re carrying out a clear-up! If you are, wear gloves. 3 RSPB Scotland Fetlar Mousa Loch of Spiggie nature Sumburgh Head Noup Cliffs North Hill Birsay Moors Trumland The Loons and Loch of Banks Onziebust Mill Dam reserves Marwick Head Brodgar Cottascarth & Rendall Moss Hoy Hobbister This is a selection of the RSPB nature Dunnet Head Broubster Leans reserves in Scotland that you can visit, to Loch na Muilne explore wild areas and carry out surveys. Bog pools at Forsinard Flows RSPB Forsinard Always contact the reserve first to let them Flows nature Troup Head know you’re coming – they might be able reserve Balranald Nigg and Udale Bays Culbin Sands Loch of Strathbeg to provide an RSPB leader for your activity. Fairy Glen RSPB Loch Loch Ruthven Corrimony of Strathbeg Our nature reserves help us conserve nature a huge range of important wildlife, so Insh Marshes reserve Fowlsheugh why don’t you visit us to find out how? Coll Glenborrodale Loch of Kinnordy Contact details for our reserves can be The Reef found at rspb.org.uk/reserves Inversnaid Colonsay Loch Lomond Loch Leven Older scouts could possibly volunteer at Oronsay Lochwinnoch an RSPB reserve as part of their service, Loch Gruinart Baron’s Haugh The Oa or for the residential section of their awards. Visit rspb.org.uk/volunteering Ailsa Craig Ken-Dee Marshes for more information. Wood of Cree Crook of Baldoon Mersehead Mull of Galloway 4 Investigating your area Land explorations Plants and wildflowers How do I do it? Things to think about • Make a quadrat by cutting four 10 cm • Is your location on wild or managed land? What will I need? lengths of wire from the coathanger. • Can you see signs of human development? • 4 x 50 cm lengths of garden cane Cut the lengths with pliers and then use them to bend each length to form a • What’s growing where? • A wire coathanger right-angle. That should make the corners • Pliers (take care with these) of your quadrat. What to look for: • Sticky tape • Now stick pieces of cane to the wires using • The colour, shape, and size of leaves, sticky tape to form a square, which can be and their texture. • Paper and pencil used to mark out the area you will study • A hard surface in your survey. • The colour, shape, and size of flowers, and the number of petals. • Your wild areas ID • Choose a good wild place for your survey and record sheet (See page 3 for tips on this) then place your • The kind of place (habitat) you found them quadrat on the ground. Write down the plants in – was it damp, shady, grassy or dry etc? A wildflower ID guide such • you find in your quadrat and record how as RSPB What’s that flower? many of them you find. If you find a plant you published by Dorling Kindersley. can’t identify, make a note, take a photo or draw a picture so you can look it up later. Wild areas ID • Now take 10 paces to your left or right, sheet at back of pack drop the quadrat at your feet, and repeat the process. You should do this at least three Handy hint or four times to build an accurate picture of If you don’t have the things you the plantlife in your chosen location. need to make your own quadrat, Make sure you do the survey right across your you could use a small plastic hula hoop. area, not just at the edges or in the middle! 5 Trees What will I need? • Your tree ID and a record sheet How old is this tree? Things to think about • A good tree and plant guide, such as RSPB What’s that Tree? (DK) Take a tape and measure the distance What does the age and type of tree tell you around the trunk, approximately 1.5 metres about how it has grown. Can you tell if it was • A tape measure from the ground. If the tree is growing close planted by people or grew naturally? to other trees and has a tall, straight trunk, How do I do it? every 12 mm equals one year of growth. What to look for: If the tree is standing on its own with plenty Trees can look very different in spring, • of branches growing from the trunk, then • The colour, shape, and size of leaves, summer, autumn and winter. The first thing every 25 mm equals one year of growth. and their texture. to do is think about what season it is, and whether the trees you’re looking at keep Are all the trees in your location the • The kind of place (habitat) you found them their leaves all year (evergreen) or lose same age? in – was it damp, shady, grassy or dry etc? them in autumn and winter (deciduous). If you’re looking at trees in autumn and winter, you’ll have to use different clues to identify them. • In spring and summer, use the colour and Handy hint shape of the leaves to help. In autumn and The method of calculating winter, use other signs to identify them – a tree’s age explained here works for deciduous trees. Evergreens like fruits, or branch and trunk shape. grow differently – see if you can Using your tree ID sheet, check the leaves find a good way of figuring • out their age. and try to match them to the examples provided. Do the same with the shape of the buds and branches if you need to. • Once you’ve identified the tree, you can Tre e ID assess how old it is. sheet at back of pack 6 Investigating your area Creature explorations What do I do? To work out what you’ve caught, try Insects answering these simple questions: Choose a spot to look for minibeasts. What will I need? The best spots are often under stones, in • Is it an insect? Does it have three pairs of legs, antennae and three body sections? • Empty clean jars bushes, on the bark of trees or in other shady, quiet places.