Learning outdoors: Designing an outdoor syllabus for Year 7 Biology
Karen Mylod, Head of Biology
In recent years I have become increasingly aware of the benefits of spending more time outdoors in natural settings. After attending a session on outdoor learning at the Sevenoaks School Flourishing Conference in October 2023 as well as listening to podcasts from science communicators like Michael Mosley and Tim Spector and reading related literature, I have been convinced of several key conclusions: experiencing nature through sights, sounds( Buxton et al., 2021), and even microbial( Panthee et al., 2022) and phytoncides( Li et al., 2009)( plant chemical) exposure, can reduce stress, enhance mood, improve concentration, modulate immune function, and particularly benefit students with special educational needs such as ADHD( Kuo and Taylor, 2004)( Hood and Baumann, 2024).
Given this persuasive body of evidence, as a department, we could no longer ignore the need to integrate outdoor learning into our curriculum. Arguably, more than for any other subject, biology lends itself to outdoor learning and we felt it important to lead the way and do something revolutionary: teaching every Year 7 biology lesson outdoors for the entire year. This decision was bolstered by the understanding that many Year 7 students are familiar with forest school classes from primary school so should be comfortable having lesson outdoors. However, what we are planning is different to forest school in that we will teach scientific skills,
knowledge and concepts in an outdoor setting. Three outdoor biology lessons in our two-week timetable would provide the students with approximately 75 minutes of outdoor learning per week, a substantial portion of the recommended 120 minutes of outdoor activity for health and well-being( White et al., 2019).
To illustrate the potential of outdoor learning, I recall a transformative experience during a recent expedition to Croatia. I joined our Year 12 students working alongside a diverse group of scientists, including experts on bats and bat parasites, an engineering student designing fake flowers to test pollinator preferences, and a recent master’ s graduate about to begin her PhD on sociality in insect colonies. By watching and assisting them with their data collection, our students gained insight into the scientific method, and the questions and conversations that arose developed their understanding of reliability, repeatability, uncertainty, and experimental bias. They did all this without once picking up a pen or typing on a computer, yet they absorbed knowledge and skills and flourished both academically and personally.
Our current Year 7 syllabus is heavily focused on cells and human biology, often neglecting the broader scope of our subject. This new outdoor syllabus aims to reconnect students with the essence of biology- the study of life in all its diversity. We are just a small part of the vast web of life on Earth, and this curriculum will reflect that. Key to achieving our aim will be the construction of an open-sided outdoor classroom within a relatively wild area of the campus. Additionally, we aim to have a bank of weatherproof equipment and clothing that will allow us to venture out and learn in all conditions. Some learning will take place in the surrounding meadow and woodland, but even when students are based primarily in the outdoor classroom,
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