Natural Gower Key Stage 2

Oxwich National Nature Reserve

Education Resource Notes for Teachers Contents

Page

Information for Teachers 1

How to use this pack 1

Wildlife watch 1

Risk Assessment 1

Equipment List 2

Curriculum Links 2

Cross - curricular work 3

Before you go activities 4

After your visit activities 4

Activities

1. Oxwich dipping pond 5

2. Oxwich Reedbed 6

3. Oxwich Burrows 7

4. Oxwich bay 8

5. St Illtyds’ Church, Oxwich 9

Oxwich Burrows trails leaﬂet 10

Credits

This education pack was written and designed by Audio Trails Ltd (www.audiotrails.co.uk) on behalf of Gower Landscape Partnership.

The Gower Landscape Project has received funding through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and also from the Heritage Lottery Fund under its Landscape Partnership programme. Other funding partners include the City & County of Swansea, Natural Resources Wales and The National Trust.

Images were supplied and are copyright of the following individuals and organisations: Audio Trails Ltd © Copyright GGAT HER Charitable Trust © Crown Copyright (2014) Visit Wales National Trust Information for teachers

Gower is renowned for being the very ﬁrst place in Britain to be recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and has within its boundaries many international and national protection designations for its landscape, ﬂora and fauna and for its geology.

This part of the Gower app around Oxwich NNR explores the theme ‘Natural Gower’. The trail has ﬁve places of interest. At each one expert sound bites, stories, photographs, facts and information are used to reveal the area’s important natural value. There are ﬁve ‘Activity Points’ where text is revealed to engage children in independent learning.

How to use this pack

This education pack can be used on its own or to complement the Gower app. It contains information and activity ideas at key points along the Oxwich NNR trail around the theme of ‘Natural Gower’.

The pack supports curriculum planning, highlighting how the activity suggestions are relevant to a range of learning outcomes in Key Stage 2. There are also additional activities that can be carried out before and after a visit to enrich your topic planning.

You may wish to follow the entire trail and carry out the suggested activities at each point of interest. However, the activities can be done in any order and you can take any safe route from one activity to the other. You may want to dip into the pack, picking and choosing particular activities and places along the trail. You may wish to come back on another day to carry out further activities in diferent places along the trail. The activities and app are completely ﬂexible, allowing you to adapt ideas and routes depending on your needs. A route map leaﬂet is appended to the back of this pack.

Wildlife watch

At each stop there is an opportunity for children to carry out a three-minute wildlife survey. Listen! What can you hear? Look! What can you see?

Risk Assessment Teachers and group leaders are responsible for carrying out their own risk assessments prior to the visit, in accordance with guidance issued by local authorities. We recommend teachers undertake a familiarisation visit in order to write the risk assessment and plan activities before bringing a group on the walk. It is essential a thorough risk assessment is carried out before the trip.

Please follow the Countryside Code and consider the impact your visit will have on the environment around you. For further information go to www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk.

1 Equipment List

iPads (running iOS7+ and preferably with GPS) with the Gower app downloaded

Binoculars and telescopes

Writing and drawing materials i.e. clipboard, paper, sketchbook, charcoal, pastels etc

Camera / video recorder – one can be found on the iPad

Compass – one can be downloaded for free on to your iPad

For pond dipping – white tub/tray, net, magniﬁer, plastic spoons, hand wipes/antibacterial soap

For rock pooling – white tub/tray, net, magniﬁer, plastic spoons, hand wipes/antibacterial soap

Curriculum Links

Science Programme of Study

Skills

Communication: 1 & 2 Plan an enquiry Developing: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Reﬂecting: 5 & 6

Range

Interdependence of organisms: 4, 5 & 7

2 Cross - curricular work

The trail around Oxwich NNR links naturally to the science curriculum but there are many ways in which it can support Gower’s rich and varied work in other curriculum areas.

In PSE children will be: • Inspired and appreciative of the natural world • Developing a understanding of how the environment can be afected by the decisions we make individually and collectively • Taking an active interest in the wider environment • Understanding aspects of the cultural heritage and diversity of Wales • Using ICT safely • Understanding that our actions have consequences

In English children will be: In Art and Design children will be: • Responding to visual, audio and written material • Stimulated and inspired by the natural • Speaking and listening in pairs and in groups environment as well as individually • Investigating the natural environment • Gathering information about Rhossili and it’s • Exploring and experimenting with connection to the sea from a range of sources shapes in nature • Using the visit as a stimuli for various writing projects • Experimenting with a range of materials

In ICT children will be: • Using the Gower app on a mobile device independently and collaboratively • Using the app to explore the habitats in Oxwich NNR across a variety of subjects • Communicating with image editing software

In Geography children will be: • Identifying and investigating the geographical location of Oxwich NNR • Following directions and routes • Using a map of Oxwich • Asking questions about Oxwich • Identifying natural and human features • Carrying out practical investigations • Making decisions about environmental issues

In Cwricwlwm Cymreig children will be: • Developing and applying their knowledge and understanding of the cultural, economic, environmental and historical characteristics of Wales

3 Before you go activities After your visit activities

What are National Use the photographs and sketches you made Nature Reserves? during your visit to create a map that charts Research. your visit and the route you took.

Find out about How should this National Nature Reserve be the Countryside cared for? Code – Respect – Protect – Enjoy. Plan a return visit to Oxwich National Nature Choose the rule that Reserve at a diferent time of year to you think is the most investigate how the seasons bring changes to important and create an the area. advertising campaign to persuade the public to follow it. You may wish to make posters, Invent a species perfectly adapted to living leaﬂets or other merchandise and invent in one of Oxwich’s many habitats. Design characters, poems or animations to promote and construct a model of the habitat for your the Countryside Code. invented species.

Research, write a deﬁnition and create a word Provide information for visitors and tourists bank for some or all of the following with a ‘Welcome to Oxwich NNR’ brochure, keywords: habitat, adaptation, mini-beast, leaﬂet or poster. species, interdependence, organism, consumer, predator, nutrition, producer, Write a report on how we can protect this conditions, environment, food chain, prey. area for the future?

What is an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Write a set of instructions or an experts guide Beauty’? Research the criteria for becoming to rock pooling. You could call it, ‘Rock Pool an AONB and debate why you think Gower Top Tips’ should retain its AONB status. Use the photographs and sketches you have Find out about other ‘Areas of Outstanding taken during your visit to inspire nature art Natural Beauty’ in Britain. projects. Think about the natural textures, colours, patterns and shapes you observed at Investigate the habitats in your school’s Oxwich. Use these to inﬂuence your work. grounds. Identify conditions within the habitat and predict the plant and animal species you Research artists, poets, writers or designers would expect to see there? List how they may who are inspired by Gower and nature. have adapted to their surroundings. Write your own illustrated ‘Pond Dipping Top The Gower Society wants to safeguard Gower Tips’. for future generations. Explore their website, www.thegowersociety.org.uk to ﬁnd out what they do.

4 1. Oxwich dipping pond

Read the app text to find out more information • Always pond dip about Oxwich dipping pond. with an adult. • Kneel near the Wildlife watch. waters edge. Listen! What can you hear? Never lean over, Look! What can you see? you may lose your balance. • Never be silly near the edge of the water. The App text and activity pond may be deeper than it looks. Collect and examine a variety of pond • Half-fill your container with water from the organisms. pond before starting. • Use your net and make figure of eight Choose your favourite. movements in the water. It’s the best way to find organisms. Interview them and discover the answers to • Move away from the edge to examine your the following questions: How do you move? finds. Turn your net inside out into your Where do you live in the pond? What is it like container. there? What special features do you have? • Put all pond life back where you found it Who do you eat? Who eats you? What do you including any algae. need to survive? What else can you tell me • Wash your hands when you have finished about yourself? What is your name? and before you eat. You may have germs on your hands that could make you ill. Compare your finds and gather organism data.

ICT: Using ICT equipment independently and Measure – sketch – photograph - observe – collaboratively. examine – identify. Look at Oxwich NNR through a lens. Use your Create a ‘Creature Fact File’ for your favourite cameras’ viewfinder to frame habitats and organism or for one you have invented. species. Use your ‘viewfinder fingers’ to help focus your observations. Take various shots of a range of habitats from diferent angles and Pond Dipping Top tips positions. Think about: portrait, landscape, close-up, focus, zoom, blur, colour, flash on, To find out what goes on below the surface of flash of. the water and to stay safe while searching, follow these ‘Pond Dipping Top Tips’.

5 2. Oxwich Reedbed

Read the app text to ﬁnd out more information Science: Investigating how plants and animals about Oxwich Reedbed. rely on each other.

Wildlife watch As you continue along the trail look for Listen! What can you hear? evidence of animals. You may discover tracks, Look! What can you see? poo, feathers, fur or hair, burrow holes, trampled grass, surface scratches or half eaten nuts. What clues do they give you about the species you have not seen but you App text and activity know are there? Can you think of reasons why they have not been seen? Search for a quiet and peaceful place. PSE: Exploring personal values and Use your ﬁngers as a viewﬁnder to search for understanding how the environment can be your favourite aspect to sketch. afected by the decisions we make. Frame your sketch with vivid words and Developers wish to build a theme park here phrases that remind you of this place. to increase visitor numbers to the area, to increase money spent in the area and to Use your senses to make a record of what you create jobs for the future. Imagine you are a can see, smell, touch and hear. How do your member of the Gower Society. Make a list of senses make you feel? arguments against the development. Can you think of a punchy protest slogan against the Record your feelings about the place too. development? Back in class you could stage a debate about the issue Further activities

English: Writing in response to a wide range of stimuli. Writing for a range of purposes and in a range of forms.

You could use the words you have collected to create a number of diferent poems. Compare your words with friends. Do they feel the same way about the place as you do?

6 3. Oxwich Burrows

Read the app text to ﬁnd out more information Contentment about Oxwich Burrows. “So save your Wildlife watch. pity, ‘tis as well, he Listen! What can you hear? needs it not who Look! What can you see? labours, And they that in the country dwell lack App text and activity neither life nor neighbours; I have the birds, the ﬂowers, the trees, beside my cottage door, Find a vantage point. Did you but know the worth of these, you would not count me poor. Locate north, south, east and west with your For nature’s beauty doth outweigh the compass. pageantry of kings, And I am quite content to stay, here near the Write one sentence to describe how you feel heart of things.” or what you can see or hear as you look in each direction. Compile a list of the things that make you feel contented. When you go back to class you Combine your sentences with your friend’s could write your own contentment poem in sentences. the style of Cyril Gwynn. Create a descriptive poem of Oxwich. ICT: Communicating text and images using Read it aloud. app software.

Select ‘Postcards from Gower’ from the app Further activities sliding menu. Follow the steps to create a virtual postcard to send to your friends or English: Experiencing and responding to a family. Take a photograph, write a caption, wide range of texts including poetry. add a message and share. PSE: Appreciating the natural world as a source of inspiration.

Cyril Gwynn was a famous Gower poet. He wrote ‘yarns’ inspired by what he saw and experienced.

Read the verse written by Cyril Gwynn.

7 4. Oxwich Bay

Read the app text to ﬁnd out more information Further activities about Oxwich Bay. Geography: Asking questions about a place Wildlife watch. and drawing conclusions. Listen! What can you hear? Look! What can you see? Conduct a landscape assessment of Oxwich NNR. Oxwich has a mosaic of habitats and diverse landscape features. App text and activity Think about. Landform – Flat, hill, slope etc Collect objects from the beach with diferent Water – Pond, marsh, sea etc textures, shapes, patterns and colours. Vegetation – Hedgerow, grassland, woodland etc Observe your collection in detail through a Man-made features – Bridge, pylon, footpath magnifying glass. etc Draw one of the objects you have found from Visitor facilities – Bin, bench, café etc diferent angles or in diferent media. Interpret the results and present them using Powerpoint. Talk to your partner about what is so special about your collection. Beach scavenger hunt. Search for something: smooth, Create ‘beach art’ collages using the sand as light, heavy, blunt, bright, your canvas. Take a photograph. straight, slimy, rough, unusual, cold, patterned Leave your collection on the sand. and colourful.

Stay Safe on the beach – Top Tips • Be careful of sharp objects or litter hidden in the sand. • Rocks can be slippery please walk with care. • Stay away from the waves as you search. Think about the tide. • What will the weather be like? Be prepared for all eventualities. • Don’t collect anything alive. Leave animals and their homes where they belong. • Always wash your hands after handling your beach ﬁnds and before you eat.

8 5. St Illtyds’ Church, Oxwich

Read the app text to ﬁnd out more information Write a ‘Rock Pool Riddle’ for one of the about St Illtyd’s Church, Oxwich. organisms you discovered in the rock pool. Carefully reveal clues about the organism in Wildlife watch. each line until the ﬁnal reveal in the last line. Listen! What can you hear? Share your poems with your classmates. Can Look! What can you see? you guess each others organisms?

What am I? App text and activity My legs are ? I am ? in colour. Observe the conditions in diferent parts of the I live within ? rock pool. I enjoy to ? I am ? Predict the animals and plants you would expect to ﬁnd and make a record of what you PSE: Exploring personal values and have found. understanding how the environment can be afected by the decisions we make. Discuss how the plants and creatures features have adapted to life in the rock pools. Describe to a partner how human activities could threaten Oxwich. Consider how the Handle with care. When investigating area is used. Brainstorm how an animal might organisms in the rock pool it is important to adapt if their habitat was treat them with care. Write a ‘handle with care’ threatened. checklist to keep your creature safe.

Take care when exploring rock pools. It is vitally important that you stay safe too. Write a ‘Safety Rules Booklet’ for you and your friends to follow.

Further activities

English: Writing in response to a wide range of stimuli. Writing for a range of purposes and in a range of forms.

9 Oxwich Burrows Route directions Trail info 1 Take the footpath next to the road entrance to Oxwich Distance: 5.25km car park and follow the left hand path which runs Allow: 2 hours adjacent to the road. Pass through the kissing gate to enter Oxwich National Nature Reserve and follow the Start: The trail begins at Oxwich car park (fee on Wales Coast Path signposted to ‘Three Clifs Bay’. entry).

2 After passing a second fingerpost turn left at the Terrain: Generally flat, the surface varies from firm wooden ‘Oxwich National Nature Reserve’ sign, go and level to soft and uneven. through the gate next to the river to arrive at an a small clearing with wooden benches. Take care near the Public Transport Information: water. Follow the boardwalk around Oxwich Dipping 0871 200 22 33 (Calls cost 10p per minute plus any Pond and turn left after passing through a kissing gate charges your to enter woodland. You will soon arrive at a wooden network provider makes), viewing platform over the Oxwich Reedbed. www.traveline-cymru.info or download the free Traveline Cymru app.

3 Return back along the way you came but don’t go back through the gate. Instead, head a little further towards Safety First! the sea and turn right onto the Coast Path, following • Walking through dunes along the beach and this for a short distance along a sandy track across boardwalks • Take care by water 4 Take the ﬁrst path on your left (covered with cockle • Take extra care in windy and/or wet conditions shells) and follow one of the paths through the dunes • Always supervise children and dogs towards the sea. If you are feeling energetic a climb up • Leave gates and property as you onto the top of the mature dunes is worth the efort. It ﬁnd them will also help you locate the kissing gate in the fenceline you are heading for. ‘Gower’ app

Once through the gate continue through the dunes, Discover how nature has adapted to both keeping the sea on your left to exit onto Oxwich Bay Download our ‘Gower’ natural and manmade changes that before the yellow buildings. app to your iOS or Android device and continue to take place here. discover more about 5 Continue along the beach towards St Illtyd’s Church to Gower. Distance: 3km Grade: moderate examine the rock pools before returning back to the car park. thisisgower.co.uk

Image credits: © Dan Boys. Oxwich Castle & St Illtyd’s Church: © Edith Evans / GGAT HER Charitable Trust Reedbed Oxwich Burrows

This is a fantastic There are three stages habitat for wildlife, and of dune building. this area has been Nearest the sea you opened up to help the have embryo dunes. birds that feed and These are colonised by breed among the reeds. 3 small plants such as sea Stand here for a while. rocket and sea couch. How many diferent As the dunes stabilise birds calls can you and grow, yellow or fore hear? If you are lucky dunes form and are you may even spot an dominated by long- otter too! rooted marram grass. 4

2 Dipping Oxwich Bay Pond

This is a freshwater A lovely beach, backed marsh – a fantastic with dunes that get home for wildlife, but less busy the further take care around its 5 east you travel along its edges! 2.5km length.

During the Second World War Oxwich Bay was used by the Americans for D-Day invasion training. The 1 concrete blocks you can see from here are typical beach defences from the era. War lights were also strung out along the beach and sand dunes to confuse enemy pilots to make them think they were bombing Swansea or the Arms factory at Pembrey. The ruse worked and the dunes were indeed attacked.

Oxwich Castle St Illtyd’s Church

Oxwich Castle is not really a castle at all, but a Buried amongst the mansion – defensive features such as the trees, a place of worship battlements and the gateway are largely has stood on this site ornamental. Most of the surviving buildings were since the 6th century, built between 1520 and 1580 by the Mansel but the main tower of family, whose coat of arms adorns the gateway today was built in the guarding the castle’s courtyard. 14th century.