Geography - Biomes project

I always found geography quite dull at school and it's one of the reasons why I love home educating - it doesn't have to be taught in a rote learning manner. Practical application is so important for kids to grasp the fundamentals and the carbon cycle is one that, while it may seem quite abstract, can be witnessed if created on a small scale. 

We made two - a woodland biome and an aquatic ecosystem using materials from a local pond to recreate the temperate deciduous forest biome of the UK. If you have any pets that are adapted to a different biome, they can also be used for this purpose as any reptile owner will tell you the importance of substrates, temperature and humidity - we have a pet spotted python and Niamh has previously demonstrated her knowledge of his environment by providing an online lesson for a decent year old. 

I'll be honest about our results with the biomes - the woodland version worked spectacularly well - water could be seen condensing on the sealed vase but when it came to the aquatic biome, it failed due to the placement within our home. We didn't place it in direct sunlight but I suspect it failed for two main reasons. I think it was getting too much light causing algae to overproduce and the balance of the living creatures within the biome wasn't correct. We did accidentally place some kind of worm in there along with the soil, and while we felt awful, it's a damn good learning experience. If one aspect of the biome is incorrect - it will fail, which leads us nicely into the effects of climate change. 

I've tried really hard over the last year to teach Niamh that mistakes help us to learn and understand the world around us, and I think it's important as both parents and teachers that we admit our mistakes to demonstrate that life is a constant learning process. 

We did also add in some written work about animals because Niamh loves any learning about animals - use whatever angle you can to gain interest! We also used Minecraft to reinforce her knowledge - through either building her own biomes or finding them in creative mode and making sure animals were placed in the correct environments.