Links to Teaching and Learning

Aims:

To consolidate that which has been learnt Identify key facts Participate in active stewardship of the earth (save 480m of rainforest) Encourage children to learn outside the classroom environment To enable students to take ownership over their learning experience

What the session involves? :

Tour of the Café Introduction of the Rainforest Café and how it was established What is a rainforest and where are they? What animals can be found in the rainforest? The characteristics of each of the species shown? Atypical features of particular animals Camouflage Matters of survival Lunch to close the session

On a general note, enriching children’s schooling experience, with that of learning outside the classroom demonstrates that learning can take place anywhere. In addition to this offering a differentiating environment that is focused on a topic area offers a greater link between information; moving away from abstract concepts and towards more concrete examples that involve the learner and often require them to participate. In applying this to the Rainforest Café, children are required to demonstrate what they have learnt as they walk through the imitation rainforest. It is both interactive as the surroundings work on each of the five senses, and this is then supplemented as the guide scaffolds the learning through the use of questioning.

The children when answering questions are often quoted by the guide to refer to information that they have recently learnt. In some instances, this is in preparation for the visit or is reflective of the terms topic work. Children when visiting this location are encouraged to ask questions and challenge the points raised. Children are able to tailor the experience, as although they are to complete the tour, the questions can lead the discussion to differentiating subject matters depending on what the children gain from the experience.

Although the trip was informative, there was a consensus among the group that this trip would not necessarily benefit or extend children’s learning due to the limited amount of space and real life examples. Due to the limiting interaction and lack of real life examples we feel that this may hinder the true purpose of an experience such as this and would just as equally be performed within the classroom environment. In order that the visit extend the learning, children should have the opportunity to engage with materials and begin to make links between much of the theory already learnt and contextualising this alongside the examples introduced to them on a visit. An example of this would be a visit to a zoo to view specific animals in habits that have closely been replicated using raw materials to display animals in their normal environments. This may best allow children to

highlight interrelating matters and to also actively engage in the learning that is relative and ultimately enhances the learning experience.