Report on Watch Meeting at LRAC, Kenwick 23-6-19

We began the afternoon by walking to the meadow area at Lincolnshire Rural Activities Centre near Kenwick. It looked beautiful as it appeared to be full of ox-eye daisies.

The children were asked to see how many different leaf shapes they could find and record in a 3 metre long strip.

We talked about why meadows are so magical and special. The children (11) were  given Meadow Activity Sheets and encouraged to explore the meadow.  They  were able to take the sheets home to use in other meadows.

They  were also  able to use the pootle pots and magnifiers to look for insects.

They were told about the Love Lincs Plants project .

The children chose the two plants that would be added to the Natural History Museum and Joseph Banks collections. There were a great number of common spotted orchids in flower and two of those were dug up and laid on a tray.

The other plant that was chosen was the meadow cranesbill which was again in abundance and two of  those were dug up.

The children then each chose a flower to be added to the Watch collection. They collected a flower and leaf from each specimen. These  included ox-eye daisy, germander speedwell,  black medick, common mouse- ear and birds-foot trefoil.

We walked back to the Centre where the children were ready for the drinks and biscuits, donated by Northgate Coop in Louth.

The specimens were identified and recorded. Each was arranged on paper on a board laid on newspaper and then covered with paper and another board and  placed in a press.

The resulting dried specimens will be mounted at a later meeting.

We had a very pleasant productive afternoon in a beautiful place.

Watch Group Sunday 23rd June

Our next meeting is on Sunday 23rd June,starting at 2pm at the Lincolnshire Rural activity Centre at Kenwick.

We will be visiting the meadow area and arranging some fun activities there, including the Magnificent Meadows Activity sheet.

We are excited to be taking part in the LoveLincsPlants project to collect and preserve Lincolnshire plants for the Joseph Banks Institute and the Natural History Museum collections. So we will chose and collect two samples from each of two species growing there.

The children can also collect a flower and a leaf from other plants growing in the same area.

We can also look for butterflies and other insects in the meadow.

Back in the classroom we will start the process of pressing the flowers, which can then be mounted at a later meeting.

We will also have magnifiers and the digital microscope in the classroom so that the children can look more closely at things they might find.

We  will meet in the LRAC car park, Kenwick Hill  Louth LN11 8NR 

(There is a shared entrance with Kenwick Park Leisure Centre, Continue straight on and turn right after the overflow car park)

Children must be accompanied by an adult.