Year 2 trip to the Royal Gunpowder Mills

In March, Year 2 visited the Royal Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey to support our work in Science on habitats. We enjoyed many different activities throughout the day. A tractor took us on a trip around the Gunpowder Mills to the pond, this was great fun! On the way, we spotted a variety of animals including swans and deer. We even saw a sunken boat in the canal! 

When we arrived at the pond, everyone had a go at pond dipping to see what wildlife we could find in this habitat. We had to be very careful and use nets and buckets to collect the wildlife. Later on, we used magnifying glasses to check what we had collected and drew pictures. Lots of us found tiny larvae and insects in our buckets!

 In the afternoon, we went on a wildlife walk to learn more about the animals that live at the Gunpowder Mills. We were excited to get a closer look at some animal habitats, we saw mole hills, badger setts, bat roosts and found lots of minibeasts under logs! Finally, we visited the Wildlife Tower where we looked at different natural objects on display. The children particularly enjoyed holding real deer antlers!

 We all had a fantastic day and learnt a lot about habitats!