Martin Mere Trip
On Friday 3rd of May, year 3, year 4 and year 5 all took a trip to the amazing venue - Martin Mere. Martin Mere is a wetland that has been home to fabulous birds and other wildlife for many years.
We first took part in our amazing Science lesson which involved all of us having a go at pond dipping. We all had our own net to carefully swill around in the water to see what we could catch.
We were so amazed by all the wildlife we were able to catch. Some so tiny we could hardly see them to some big enough to try and climb out of our containers.
“I caught a newt tadpole” - HW
”I caught a lot of the pond snails” - MM
”I was able to catch a lot of the water skaters from the top of the water” - ZB
After our pond exploring session, we then used what we had caught for our lesson. First we identified some of the wildlife we hadn’t identified yet. We did this by using useful guides given to us by Martin Mere. We were able to use the guides by looking at if our wildlife had a shell or not, did it have legs and other things regarding its appearance.
We then picked 2 or 3 favourites and drew them.
“I like the water mites all together” IP
“I like the newt tadpole” - AN
”I like the mayfly nymph” - ZC
After drawing some of the wildlife, we then moved onto looking at food chains. Maria, our leader, told us about how the plant life in the water is the producer because this is what the produces all the energy the wildlife needs. She then showed us how some of the wildlife eats the plants - these are consumers. For example, a shrimp would eat the plants, the shrimp is now called a consumer. She then showed us how another creature would then eat the shrimp, like a diving beetle and then something like a fish would eat the diving beetle. These are why they are called food chains because they all rely on each other.
“The plant produces the energy that all the others need” TR
”My food chain shows the food chain; plant -> pond snail -> leech -> fish” - AA
Some of our work
It was then time to play on the park!
We loved playing on the swings, the zip wire and even the water features were fun getting each other wet.
After lunch, we then started to explore Martin Mere even more. We had a go at den building as well as adventuring through the Wild Walk.
“We had to balance on the wood so we didn’t fall in the mud” - ON
”We worked together to build some dens” - FDS
While we explored we were able to look at all the different birds and wildlife a lot closer. We saw so many species of ducks, geese, flamingos and even a crane.
“There was one goose that was trying to get us because it was the mum protecting her babies” - MP
”The flamingos go on one legs to rest the other leg” - MH
”Flamingos are not the pink colour when they are born” - AA
We finished the day by looking through the observatory windows looking out onto the mere. Some of use had brought binoculars with us so we could see some far away.
We had the most amazing day at Martin Mere and we have all agreed we would LOVE to go back. :-)