Contents Activity Page

Contents Activity Page Click the titles to watch the demonstration videos Animal adventure 5 Be seen, be safe 9 Confusing cans 13 Plant detectives 17 Rainbow collectors 21 Sniffly sneezes 25 Testing timers 29 Useless umbrellas 33 Star Passport 37 4

GEM COSMIC Animal Adventure Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about minibeasts and habitats. Cosmic and Gem are bored. Gem wants to go on an animal adventure. Uncle Astro said that they will find minibeasts if they look carefully. Gem looks high and low but she can’t find any little animals. Cosmic thinks they should ask Uncle Astro for help. Through this activity you will support children to: • Go on a minibeast hunt • Find out about the minibeasts they see and their habitats • Share their findings with the rest of the group Kit list • Collecting jar or pooter (special devices for catching minibeasts) • Magnifying glasses and/or digital microscope • Identification book (optional) • Outdoor environment, preferably with rocks, logs, large stones, pieces of old carpet (you could place some on the ground a few weeks earlier) What to do 1. Introduce the activity using the story on the activity card. Ask the children where they think they will find minibeasts. 2. Give out activity cards and equipment to the children. 3. Explain that they will be going on a minibeast hunt. 4. Encourage children to discuss their ideas and how to carry out their investigations. Prompt questions: • Where will you look for minibeasts? • Will we collect them? How will we make sure we don’t harm them? 5. Support children to conduct their investigation and make their own records of their results. They could also take photographs or make drawings. They might like to use a minibeast guide to identify what they find. 6. Ask the children to present their findings to the rest of the group, they can be as creative in their presentation as they want. 7. Return any collected minibeasts to their habitat. 5