rubbish; as well as plants for providing food, linked to understanding of nutritional choices
associated with health.
● Direct experiences of natural ecosystems to understand ecological principles that place
humans in close interrelationship with other living things, as well as to develop a sense of
the beauty and tranquillity of natural environments, linked to affective activities involving,
for example, art, creative writing including poetry, music and listening quietly to sounds to
appreciate and them and to produce a sound map of the area.
● Ecological investigations to identify the role of plants in ecosystems to also establish
important environmental lifestyle choices, e.g., the energy efficiency of eating lower down
the food chain with implications for reduced meat consumption, which is also linked to
animal welfare; protection of communities of plants through preservation of the beauty of
natural environments and plants as habitats and food for endangered animal species;
the importance of plants as carbon sinks to alleviate the effects of global warming and the
significance of fossil fuels in contributing to the problem. Drama activities to explore
the social and environmental impact of real or imagined development plans on an area are
particularly useful teaching and learning strategies for integrating affective and cognitive
education to informed action.
● Plants in evolutionary relationships with animals, e.g., pollinating insects as closely
adapted by their senses, behaviour and feeding structures to flowering plants, to illustrate
how living things are closely linked over evolutionary time; while DNA is common to all
living things in a ‘family of life’, illustrating how we are closely interrelated with all life
forms, with associated responsibilities for stewardship and preservation of the biosphere.