How to use
A walk-through and the usual questions
How to use the activities
98 activities you can run tomorrow, a panel that runs one with a class in front of you, and a copy that works when the wifi doesn't. Here is the whole thing in six steps.
-
owl pelletOwlsBats SortingPellet or Poop?Investigation & lab · OwlsOwl School Report CardsSorting & card games
Step 1 of 7
Find one
Search, or tap an animal and a kind of activity. The filters combine: tap Owls and Sorting and you get the twelve that are both.
-
Pellet or Poop?Investigation & lab · Owls Run with a classYou needOwl pellets, trays, tweezers
Step 2 of 7
Open it and read it in a minute
Every activity is the same shape: what it is, what you need, what the class does, and the questions to ask. No two-page PDF to skim first.
-
Materials2/3
Step 3 of 7
Tick your way through the setup
The materials and the steps are checklists that remember where you got to, on this device, so you can set up at lunchtime and carry on at two.
-
Year 5 Blue 24 students in groups of 4 makes 6 groupsVole skulls−12+Shrew skulls−5+
Step 4 of 7
Run it with the class in front of you
Type the class and how many students, and it works out the groups. Count out loud as they find things; the numbers add up as you tap.
-
Pellet or Poop?Year 5 Blue · 17 Sept · 24 studentsMap the MenuYear 3 · 28 Aug · 21 studentsDownload them all (CSV)
Step 5 of 7
Save it, and take it with you
Save the run and it joins Your runs: every class you have ever run, with the numbers and your notes. Download the lot as a spreadsheet whenever you want it.
-
4 of 15 stampsFirst
Dissection Took It
To Class Wolf
CenterGot a code?Step 6 of 7
Collect the stamps
Everything you do leaves a mark in the passport: labs finished, classes run, films watched and answered. The other Passport to Wildlife places give you a code to type in when you have been.
-
The offline copy All 98 activities are on this device.No connection. Reading the copy saved on this device.
Step 7 of 7
It keeps working when the wifi doesn't
Save the catalogue once and all 98 activities live on the device. The room with no signal is usually the room you're teaching in.
Questions
Do I need an account?
No, and there isn't one. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you press “Send it in” on an activity you wrote yourself.
Where is my class data kept?
In this browser, on this device. It is not on our server and we cannot see it. That also means it does not follow you to another device, and clearing your browser data clears it, so download anything you want to keep.
How do I put it on my phone or tablet?
On Android, open the activities and use the Install button. On an iPhone or iPad, tap Share and then Add to Home Screen. You get an icon that opens full screen, with no browser bar.
Does it really work with no connection?
Yes, once you have saved the catalogue. The button is on Your runs in the app, or on the activities page on the web. About 3 MB. After that every activity, the filters and the whole run panel work with nothing at all behind them.
Can I put an activity on the classroom projector?
Open an activity and choose “Project it”. You get one step at a time, full screen, large enough to read from the back.
Can I print it?
Every activity has “Print the sheet”, which prints the materials, the steps and the questions and leaves the site's furniture off the page.
Where do the activities come from?
Each one comes from a post on the Ecology Blueprints blog, from the “Classroom Connection” at the end of it. Every activity links back to the post it came from.
Can I add my own?
Yes. “Make one” writes it up in the same shape as the rest, keeps it on your device, and lets you print it or send it to us. Anything sent in waits as a draft until somebody at KidWings reads it.
What is the passport?
A record of what you have done, here and across the other Passport to Wildlife places. Most stamps arrive on their own: finish a lab, run a class with the workspace, write an activity, watch a film and answer what it asks. A few come from the places themselves, as a code you type in, because we have no way of knowing you were there.
Do I need an account for the passport?
No. It lives in this browser like everything else, which means nobody can see it but you, and also that it does not follow you to another device, and clearing your browser data clears it. It is a keepsake, not a certificate.
What are the questions after each film for?
They turn a film into an activity. Two prompts: what the film said, and what you think. Nothing is marked and there are no right answers. Writing something is what counts, and it is what earns the film stamps.
Something is wrong with an activity.
Some were pulled out of blog posts automatically and a few are thinner than they should be. Tell us which one through the contact page and it gets looked at.