It’s a wrap - Lyfta live lesson: Protecting biodiversity

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On October 4th and 5th a whopping 291 school classes (approximately 8700 students) participated in our latest Lyfta live lesson, an experience they rated an incredible 4.9 out of 5!

This live lesson focused on the topic of biodiversity and tied in with two important awareness days; World Habitat Day and World Animal Day, as well as international Global Goals Week.
Children at Mowmacre Hill Primary School enjoying a Lyfta live lesson
Children at Mowmacre Hill Primary School enjoying a Lyfta live lesson
In this series of live lessons we explored the 'The Island Biologist' storyworld and focused on Life on land: protecting biodiversity (with a focus on SDG 15). The lesson was a chance for classrooms to connect and to be inspired about the importance of biodiversity, the ocean and protecting the planet.
Posts from schools participating in the Lyfta live lessons
Posts from schools participating in the Lyfta live lessons
Through a Lyfta storyworld, presented via Zoom, students were able to meet marine biologist Paula and find out about her work, exploring the cliff edge where she conducted her research and taking a trip on a speedboat through 360° scenes and soundscapes.

Why should we protect the biodiversity of the planet?

Our in-house teacher Noel kicked off the live lesson by showing the Lyfta globe and asking students to share their thoughts on why we should work to protect the biodiversity of the planet:

"As a species we need plants and trees to save the planet!"

"If we don't look after the planet, who will?"

"It would be boring without animals, we must care about animals in our world"

"If we destroy trees then we will all die because trees give us oxygen"

"We don't want more animals to become extinct"

"It is important to respect other's habitats, not just ours"

The students were also asked what they thought a marine biologist was:

"Someone who explores animals under the sea!!"

"A marine biologist is a scientist who looks at sea life"

"Someone who works underwater with animals and plants"

"A scientist that studies life in the ocean"

Paula, the marine biologist

Noel then introduced participants to Paula through a 360° scene to see her researching ocean bird populations off the coast of Galicia, northern Spain. Students were asked what questions they might ask like to ask Paula:

"How deep is the water?"

"What is the rarest bird you've seen?"

"How did you choose that job and what did you have to study?"

"Is it dangerous?"

"What birds do you usually find near the ocean?"

"Why are you working on a mountain?"

A ride on a speedboat

Posts from schools participating in the Lyfta live lessons
Posts from schools participating in the Lyfta live lessons
The children were then shown around the other 360° spaces in the storyworld, exploring the ledge where Paula and her team were sleeping and going for a ride in a speedboat. Most of the children agreed they would very much like to go out on the boat, although some were concerned they might feel seasick!
Noel then clicked on Paula in the 360 space and she came to life in a short documentary film. In the film, Paula explained that her passion for the sea and how studying seabirds is in her blood! From a very young age Paula's grandfather, a sailor, taught her about the different species of seabirds - this fueled her yearning to pursue a career to truly understand these creatures.
At the end of the film Noel asked the children to think about the skills that Paula might need in her job:

"She has to be ambitious and determined because she might not find a bird straight away"

"She needs to be courageous because she's climbing cliffs, she's in parts of the world that are uninhabited and she's out in the dark"

"She needs to be quite physically fit to climb and find the birds nests. She needs to be good at careful looking, listening and noticing things. She needs to be very patient too!"

"She might need to be camouflaged and quiet so she doesn't scare the birds"

"We think she needs to be patient and great at finding things - she is very caring for the birds"

"Paula needs to be good at animal voices so that she can talk to them and knows them when they are in danger"

How concerned were the children about the environment?

We finished the lesson with a discussion about the environment. The children had lots to say about their concerns about the environment and how they would like to help:

"Imagine a fish eats plastic and you eat the fish…. You might get really sick"

"I would like to learn about new species and save endangered animals"

"We need to look after the animals and their habitats because they cannot do it for themselves"

"I feel very strongly about the environment and the way that people litter whilst driving"

This live lesson included students from right across the UK, including from Newcastle upon Tyne, Luton, London, Pontefract, Nottingham, Hunstanton, Carlisle and Exeter to name just a few.
We were delighted that the experience was rated an incredible 4.9 out of 5 by participants!
Missed the live lesson? No problem! If you are already subscribed to Lyfta you can explore The Island Biologist storyworld and watch the film here.
If you don't yet have a Lyfta account, sign up for a free Lyfta Starter account now and we will let you know when the next live lessons are open for booking.

Lyfta live lessons - what are they?

Lyfta live lessons are delivered by our brilliant resident teacher live, via Zoom, bringing together many different schools for a shared Lyfta experience.
Since we started our live lessons, we have delivered sessions to over 1890 classes in total (over 56,000 student sessions)!

New to Lyfta?

Our Lyfta storyworlds are at the heart of what we do, offering learners intimate windows into the lives of people from across the globe. Students and teachers can explore real human stories through 360° spaces and soundscapes, high-quality documentary films, and rich media articles.
Our Lyfta films depict personal stories that open up a wider, societal issue.
Our live lessons provide a great opportunity to experience some of the content with your students with no preparation required.
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