Schools and Education Resources
ACRES West Connacht School Resources
ACRES West Connect has developed an education programme for primary and secondary schools. The aim is to increase students’ knowledge, awareness and appreciation of their local habitats and associated biodiversity, and to share that information and appreciation with their families and friends. The programme supports the aims and objectives of the Social, Scientific and Environmental Education (SESE) primary school curriculum, and the secondary school’s Science curriculum. ACRES has school resources available for the following habitats: Peatland, Grassland, Saltmarsh, and Sand Dunes
In-person visits
ACRES West Connacht offers in-person visits for schools in the ACRES West Connacht CP area. If you are interested in availing of a school visit, then please contact us.
Storymaps on Farmland Habitats of West Connacht
The Story Map or video gives the students an overview of the habitat, how it was formed, the habitat’s biodiversity, and the interaction of livestock with the habitat.
Read more about how to use these resources.
Spotter Sheets
This series of colourful spotter sheets contain photographs of plants and animals that can be found in different habitats.
Dune & Machair Spotter Sheet - PDF download
Grassland Spotter Sheet - PDF download
Mini Beasts Spotter Sheet - PDF download
Peatland Spotter Sheet - PDF download
Peatland Spotter sheet (Gaeilge) - PDF download
Read more about how to use these resources.
Dune & Machair Primary School Scorecard - PDF download
Dune & Machair Secondary School Scorecard - PDF download
Grassland School Scorecard - PDF download
Peatland Primary School Scorecard - PDF download
Peatland Secondary School Scorecard - PDF download
Thailte Móna Scórchárta Bunscoil (Gaeilge) - Íoslódáil bileog PDF
Thailte Móna Scórchárta Meanscoil (Gaeilge) - Íoslódáil bileog PDF
Read more about how to use these resources.
Blanket Bogs of West Connacht
Watch this short video for an introduction to blanket bogs and to discover why they are so special. Find out how to recreate the layers of a bog in your classroom and even assess a local blanket bog habitat using a scorecard.
Using these resources
Teachers can use these resources in the classroom:
To introduce the habitat the teacher shows students the habitat’s Story Map or Video. The Story Map or Video gives an overview of the habitat, how it was formed, the habitat’s biodiversity, and the interaction of livestock with the habitat.
The teacher delivers the PowerPoint presentation with information on ACRES, the formation of the habitat, its flora and fauna, and ecosystem services.
The teacher brings the students on a fieldtrip to a habitat where the students use the Scorecard to assess the habitat’s quality and the habitiat is scored out of 10. A higher score means a higher quality habitat. The school’s scorecard is a modified version of the ACRES scorecard.
The Scorecard has two main sections:
Vegetation Section
Threats and Pressures Section
Note: The Peatland scorecard also has a hydrology section.
For the Vegetation Section the students identify positive indicator plant species which indicate that the habitat is in good quality and negative indicator plant species which indicate that the habitat is in poor quality. The Plant Spotter Sheet can assist with plant species identification. The students also calculate the cover of the positive indicator plants by counting the number of steps they encounter these plants. Finally, the students analyse the vegetation height, with mixed vegetation heights receiving the best score because a greater diversity of animals and invertebrates are found there.
The Threats and Pressures of the scorecard assesses the level of damage to the habitat and rivers or streams. Examples of damaging activities to the habitat include dumping, quarrying and bare soil and erosion. The rivers and streams could be polluted by mud, nutrients or pesticides. Non-native (alien) invasive species are also recorded which impact negatively on native plant species by outcompeting native species. The Plant Spotter Sheet has photos and names of the non-native (alien) invasive species.
The Hydrology section of the Peatland scorecard assesses how wet the peatland is, and if there are drains present in the bog. It is important that Peatlands stay wet to function properly i.e. absorb and store carbon (carbon sequestration) and form peat.