Spider Safari

Learning Objectives

• To learn about spiders, where they live and how they catch their food.
• To think about, then build a home for a spider.
• To dispel some of the myths and fear that can be associated with spiders.

Opportunities for

• Sc 1 Scientific enquiry
• Sc 2 Life processes and living things
• En 1 Speaking and listening
• PSHE

Other Learning Skills

• Observation
• Co-operation
• Confidence
• Communication
• Decision making

Pre-visit Ideas/learning

• General introduction to spiders, where and how they live.
• Brief introduction on how to use an ID chart, not necessarily related to minibeasts.
• Practice using magnifying glasses.
• Incy Wincy Spider related activities.

Welcome

• Welcome and introduction to the site including any health and safety issues and expectations for the visit.

Introduction

• We will discuss what we’re looking for and why, finding out what the children know and think about spiders.
• Talk about how to use magnifying glasses and ID cards.

Activities

• Look for spiders and/or webs.
• Identify spiders using magnifying glasses and ID cards.
• Get together and discuss what we’ve found – talk about where and how spiders live.
• In small groups build a house for a spider using resources found on site.
• Visit the other spider houses while the groups talk about their house.
• Make a pom-pom and pipe cleaner spider from a kit or a clay spider.

Plenary

• Recap on what we did, what we learned about spiders, how many species we found and where they were living.
• Children’s feedback.

Expected Outcomes

• Most children will – find some spiders and identify them with help, build a spider home and talk about it as well as learn about how spiders live.
• Some children will have progressed further and will – find some spiders and identify them, build a spider home giving reasons for what they are doing and why as well as learn about how spiders live.

Additional Activities

• These activities can be built into this session as extension tasks or fun additions scavenger hunt, sticky pictures, colour matching palettes.

Resources

• ID keys, magnifying glasses, possibly more resources i.e. twigs, bark to build spider homes, spider kits, clay.

Post Visit Ideas

• Build spider homes in school grounds, keep a spider diary of numbers and species of spiders seen.
• Weave webs perhaps using woven willow rings or a forked stick weaving in things found from nature possibly in the school grounds.