Nowhere Wood is in Nailsea, North Somerset, England. It is part of the Trendlewood Park, an award-winning green space.
Nowhere Wood is full of stories, from all of the creatures that live there to the people and events that have shaped and built the wood over billions of years.
Stories from Nowhere Wood tell a few of these stories.
Find the extraordinary hidden within the everyday and familiar.
Most stories contains a twist, a big idea to make us think more deeply about how life took over this small blue planet in space. Other stories will tell about how people helped Nowhere Wood grow and develop.
There are detailed notes on the ideas behind the stories, and mapping to Key Stages 2 and 3 of the English National Curriculum. See Notes on the stories if you want to follow this up.
Really, though, the stories are for anyone who is curious about how the natural world is like it is. Take a journey through and see for yourselves.
We did not want those trees in Nowhere Wood to be felled, but we accepted that the trees were infected with Ash die-back disease and had to go. Growing and managing trees is something that people of done for tens of thousands of years. One secret is to use every part of the tree …
The trees in Nowhere Wood are always there, going quietly through the motions of the seasons: noticed only when we stop to look and reflect. But we feel their presence strongly, just out of sight and mind. Until today, when their absence feels like the loss of dear friends. It only took a morning, and …
The air is all round us and is a mixture of many different gases. 78% of the air is made of nitrogen, which is the most common gas. This story is about two other gases found in the air – oxygen and carbon dioxide. We breathe in oxygen and use it to release …
Neil Ingram has had many years’ experience as a biology teacher in a variety of secondary schools, Head of Science and an A-level examiner. He has authored assessment materials for middle years biology courses and written extensively for Nuffield curriculum projects. He has recently co-authored a book on Evolution for Oxford University Press, which was published in 2021.
He has recently retired from the University of Bristol, where was senior lecturer in science education. He taught on the biology programme on the PGCE course. in the He is interested in the impact of genomics on society, and ran a course on Genetics, Society and Education in the University of Bristol.
How to contact the resource:
Twitter: @NeilIngram1
email: neil@neilingram.co.uk
Mr Andrew Town
Andrew Town has been a key figure in the conservation of Nowhere Wood and the wider Trendlewood Park for many years. He is a keen amateur naturalist and photographer. He has compiled a detailed species record for the species living in the wood and the wider park. These can be seen on the Friends of Trendlewood Park website.
Aims of this resource
Stories from Nowhere are reflections on the changes that take place in a small wood in England during a single year. The stories are springboards for deeper thinking about the “big ideas” of biology.
This a new kind of resource for biology education. It aims to promote literacy and curiosity about the “big ideas” of biology.
Designed for personal reading, it can also be used in online learning or classroom discussions.
The resource has the following features:
a series of short, self-contained, stories, each leading into a “big idea” of biology. Awareness of these ideas develops gradually across different stories.
Each story is 500 words or less, written in accessible English, designed to be read on screens. There are tooltip explanations of key words.
The stories are lavishly illustrated, often with the author’s own photographs.
There are extensive teachers’ notes with links to the KS3 programmes of study for science in England.
The site is under development and, if there is sufficient demand, additional stories can be added at a rate of one or two each week, following Nowhere Wood through the changes that take place within a single year and over the whole history of life on Earth.
or subscribe to the site to receive regular updates and to help to shape its future development.
Notes on the stories
Stories from Nowhere Wood are short and self-contained. They are intended for private reading to promote curiosity and develop literacy. There are tooltip explanations of key terms.
The stories can also be used as a basis for discussions at home or in school classrooms.
The stories have been designed with online learning in mind. New stories will be added weekly, hopefully on Fridays, and will continue for as long as there is demand.
We welcome comments, ideas and advice from parents, teachers and students.
The stories celebrate the extraordinary nature of the ordinary. They discuss organisms that are common to parks, gardens and woods. Everyone can see these organisms, once they learn how to look.
The stories lead to reflections on the big ideas of biology. Each story only contains a small glimpse of the big idea, but added together across all of the stories, they build a rounded picture of what life is and how it has completely taken over this small blue planet in space.
The resources
The stories from Nowhere Wood are self-contained, holistic views of life. In some ways, any attempt to reduce them to learning outcomes destroys their unity. Nonetheless, teachers and parents might find the following table important. The stories are fully compliant with the programmes of study for the National Curriculum and can lead to recognisable learning outcomes.
There are detailed notes on each story, which can be accessed by the ‘More notes’ link in the left column of the table.
the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem (KS3) identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution (KS2)
Understand that oak trees produce acorn fruits, that animals and plant feed on
Appreciate the interdependence between the organisms in Nowhere Wood
the variation between species… means some organisms compete more successfully… (KS3)identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution (KS2)
Understand that red squirrels cannot compete successfully with grey squirrels for acorns
Appreciate that competition with grey squirrels has reduced the range of the red squirrels, which are now are in the UK
changes in the environment may leave…some…species less well adapted to compete successfully…which in turn may lead to extinction (KS3)identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution (KS2)
Know that there are many species of living organism, and each faces unique challenges in staying alive
Appreciate that many of species may become extinct before they will be discovered
the dependence of…life on Earth on the ability of photosynthetic organisms…to use sunlight in photosynthesis to build organic molecules that are an essential energy store
Know that snowdrops are seasonal organisms that rely on energy stores in bulbs
Appreciate that stored food promotes early growth and relies on photosynthesis from the previous year.
recognise that soils are made from rocks and organic matter (KS2)identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution (KS2)
the rock cycle and the formation of… sedimentary … rocks (KS3)
the carbon cycle (KS3 Chemistry)
the composition of the atmosphere (KS3 Chemistry)
the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the impact on climate (KS3 Chemistry)
Know how sandstone rocks are formedAppreciate how living organisms adapted to environments in the past, and how this impacts on life today
adventures in time and in spacelife depends upon life
describe the differences in the life cycles of an insect… (KS2, yr5) the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem, including food webs (KS3) observe changes across the 4 seasons (KS2)
Know that the behaviour of organisms helps them to survive in their environments
explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal (KS2) reproduction in plants, including flower structure, wind and insect pollination, fertilisation, seed and fruit formation and dispersal, including quantitative investigation of some dispersal mechanisms (KS3)
Know that fruits contain seeds; some fruits are eaten by animals, which help to disperse the seeds
life depends upon life adventures in time and in space autumn stories
explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal (KS2) reproduction in plants, including flower structure, wind and insect pollination, fertilisation, seed and fruit formation and dispersal, including quantitative investigation of some dispersal mechanisms (KS3)
Know that some plants can reproduce without making seeds
life depends upon lifeadventures in time and in space
observe changes over time, and, with guidance, they should begin to notice patterns and relationships (KS1) ;the adaptations of leaves for photosynthesis (KS3)
Know the names of some of the trees in Nowhere Wood – especially the oak and sycamore treesKnow why many trees lose their leaves in autumn
recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things (KS2, Year 4); the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem, including food webs (KS3)
Know that the loss of trees provides new opportunities for growth in the wood
identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, (KS1 Year 1); recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of way (KS2, Year 4); Pupils might find out about the significance of the work of scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, a pioneer of classification (Ks2, Year 6); increasing their familiarity with…fairy stories, myths and legends, (NC English Years 3 and 4)
Know there are different ways of naming organismsKnow that myths and legends are important ways of thinking about organisms
[Pupils] should be developing their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and non-fiction (KS2, Years 3 and 4); [Pupils] should identify how the habitat changes throughout the year. (KS2 Year 4]
Know why fairy rings can sometimes be found and the relationship to the fungal mycelia below
Identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways (KS2, Year 5)
Know how the green woodpecker is similar to and different from the great spotted woodpecker.Know that these differences enable the woodpeckers to live together in Nowhere Wood
Know that climate change with bring new species to the wood
adventures in time and in space
climate change
the environment
More information on the stories
Trampling acorns underfoot
The story begins with an observation, why are there so many acorns in Nowhere Wood, and why does it matter? Science always begins with observations, observations followed by questions.
2020 is officially recognised as a “mast year” for acorns in England. This was published after I had written this story in early September. There is also this video:
This is a very interesting video, but it gives the impression that the oak trees intentionally choose to overproduce acorns in mast years, but I am not sure that this is so. I suspect the weather conditions have to be right.
The video is quite long and does contain a double entendre, so use cautiously with a class. It is very informative for teachers, though.
The Stories from Nowhere will emphasise interdependence:
between organisms in an ecosystem
between parts within a cell
between the cell and its environment
between organisms and their parents
between organisms and their ancestors.
Living organisms exist because of their interdependences. Understanding interdependence is a crucial first step to understanding what life is.
Squirrel wars
The disappearance of red squirrels from many English woodlands has been caused by the introduction of the grey squirrel from the United States. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is certainly due to the more efficient digestive systems of grey squirrels, meaning that they can get a larger store of energy and more nutrients than red squirrels. This promotes the growth of grey squirrels at the expense of the red squirrels. The red squirrel population is are vulnerable to disease and is endanged throughout Europe.
The Stories from Nowhere use the metaphor of ‘adventures”, to show that organisms are journeying through time, and that their journeys have inherent risks and no guarantee of success. Organisms are not like machines. The idea of organisms being ‘wet machines’ was very common during the 20th century. The stories will explore why this is no longer a useful metaphor for modern biology.
Being and becoming in Nowhere Wood
Living organisms work hard, in every moment, to stay alive. This requires a continual input of energy and chemical nutrients, that are used to repair and remake their bodies. In the stories, we call this the state of ‘being’.
At the same time, in every moment, the living organisms are moving into the next stage of their lives, which we call ‘becoming’.
At any moment in time all living organisms are both being and becoming.
Students will be aware that organisms have life cycles from Key Stage 2. This seldom revisited at Key Stage 3.
Students often think that the adult (reproducing) stage of the life-cycle is the most important stage. However, the same butterfly exists at all stages of its life-cycle, not just in the adult stage. Each stage of the life cycle depends upon the earlier ones for the continued existence of the butterfly.
Counting the ways to stay alive
Every species that is alive today is a “success story”, because its ancestors have survived long enough to reproduce, and it forms part of an unbroken line of descent from the earliest living organisms.
However, their continued existence is by no means guaranteed. If the environment changes, such that an organism is no longer able to get the necessary input of energy and chemical nutrients, then it will die. If sufficiently large numbers of organisms of that species die, then the species can become extinct.
Most of the species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct. It is likely that, at some point in the future, our human species will also become extinct. This adds a special impetus to those who are concerned about the impact of man-made climate change on the survival of the species on Earth.
Organise and stay alive
Another key theme of the story so nowhere is the idea that living organisms have very highly organised structures, that enable the characteristics of life to emerge. The stories use the idea that living organisms are collections of processes, that interact together.
The characteristics of living organisms emerge when these processes integrate and work together. For this to happen, the various parts of living organisms need to work together precisely in both space and in time.
This story begins to introduce that key idea. The ability of the watch to tell the time depends upon the parts of the watch working together in a very precise and organised way. If the parts cannot do this, then the watch will not keep time.
Cells, tissues, organs, organisms and ecosystems are all collections of interacting processes, and each show unique characteristics of life. This depends upon the various parts of the systems working together in integrated and controlled ways.
Moving things on
Living organisms are stores of energy: plants receive energy from the Sun, and act as energy stores for herbivorous animals. Herbivores our energy stores for carnivores, and so on.
When an organism dies, any energy that it stores is transferred to organisms which act as recyclers. This story tells about one important type of recycler, the fungi. Bacteria and invertebrate organisms can also be recyclers.
The molecules that make up the body of an organism are also available to be recycled, when the organism dies.
Climbing the walls
What grows on a vertical cliff wall 2 metres above the ground, and how did it get there?
This story starts with an observation, followed by a question. The answer is surprising – ferns, one of the oldest land plants. This story is about the different stages of the adventure of this fern plant.
One thing that is worth emphasising is that everything takes a long time. It might take a year for the spore to germinate into the tiny gametophyte and another eighteen months for the mature fern to grow up from the gametophyte. I suppose if your lineage is about 390 million years old, then you can afford to take your time!
The organisms exist on different time scales is a big idea in biology, and one that our stories will return to regularly.
Life is a relay race
This story introduces the big idea that the genome contains information and it is this information that is transferred from parents to offspring and between the different stages of the life cycle. Life is a relay race and the baton that is passed on is information. This is an important point, which will be explored further in future stories.
[Later we will discover that the mother also passes on the machinery needed to select, read and use the information, but this is a good place to start.]
All change!
These stories use the metaphor “adventure” to describe the changes that take place in and around an organism during its life. There are two types of changes: those that keep the organism alive (being), which involve the maintenance of molecules and organelles (“parts of cells”) and the like-for-like replacement of cells.
This requires a continual input of energy and nutrients into the cells. This has been described as a “flowing balance”***.
The second type of change involves the production and growth of new cells and tissues, associated with growing and developing (becoming).This also requires a continual input of energy and nutrients into the cells.
This story explores these ideas. Despite the continual changes that take place within an organism, it remains recognisably the same. It has a stable identity. How this happens is only now becoming understood, although it does remain something of a mystery.
The story plants the seed that it is the genetic information in the genome that remains the same. It is copied and passed on to every cell that is made by cell division. Cells use this information to grow and maintain themselves in ways that allow the organism to have a stable identity.
***Some teachers might be interested to know why this is. In terms of thermodynamics, living organisms are open systems that maintain themselves in a highly ordered state, when compared with the external environment.
Organisms stay alive as long as they are able to maintain this ordered state. This requires the active self-maintenance described in this story, which requires the flowing balance of energy and nutrients.
When an organism is no longer alive, its body reaches a thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment.
A year in the life of a sugar factory
I find teaching about leaves difficult, because it is so easily reduced to information: a word equation recipe and a list of incomprehensible names of cells. This is important information, of course, but it is, perhaps, easier to understand and remember if it is set in a meaningful context.
This story offers three preliminary contexts. The place of a leaf within the life of a tree and within the life of Nowhere Wood are explored. Thirdly, the metaphor of a leaf being a sugar factory is introduced. I teach this by firstly getting my students to imagine they are designing a car factory in terms of its inputs and outputs:
Then, it is relatively easy to transpose the idea across to leaves, introducing some key terms in a meaningful context. (A leaf cell storing sugar as starch is equivalent to storing manufactured cars in a warehouse.)
Finally, in the questions, the big idea of sustainability is introduced. This will be explored further in future stories from Nowhere.
Subterranean superheroes
Readers of the earlier story, ‘A year in the life of a sugar factory’, might think it extravagant for an oak tree to spend a year making leaves, only to throw them away at the end of the year. ‘Subterranean superheroes’ completes the story by showing that the oak trees collaborate with fungi, bacteria and earthworms, to recycle the leaves into nutrients that can be taken back into the plants through their roots. These organisms have co-evolved together and are totally dependent on each other for their continued survival and also for the survival of Nowhere Wood.
Interdependences are one of the “biggest” ideas of biology and we should expect them to occur everywhere, at all all levels of biological organisation.
Soil is made from tiny particles of rock, but it is the organic materials (humus) that provide nutrients for the growth of plants. It is the actions of fungi, bacteria and earthworms that maintain the levels of humus in the soil.
It is the actions of earthworms that aerate the soil and improve its drainage that provides the oxygen and water needed for the growth of plant roots. Soil is alive because of the activities of these living organisms. Sand (which lacks these organisms and their processes) is dead and cannot sustain life.
Friday 4th December is #WorldSoilDay2020 and here is a video celebrating our dependence on soil:
https://youtu.be/MmJUj4Aa2kM
Spring is coming!
We return to Nowhere Wood to observe the changes that are taking place as the wood prepares for Spring. All science starts with observations.
The singing trees
A simple observation, led to the question, why are the trees singing, and leads to questions and new thinking. Students can be encouraged to make observations, ask questions and think their way towards answers.
What is a frog?
Frogs are common and fascinating. Pupils can be encouraged to find and observe (but not collect!) spawn in their local ponds. Here we develop the idea of frogs having adventures, an idea introduced in an earlier story, Squirrel Wars.
“Their lives are adventures.
The word ‘adventure’ has two parts:
Ad means moving towards something.
Venture means attempting something dangerous or difficult, that is risky, with no guarantee of success.
Put the two together and you get the idea that the lives of all living organisms are risky journeys into the future, with no guarantee of success or survival.”
This story adds the idea of competition, between rival males for the opportunity to breed and between tadpoles, which eat each other for food. Competition is defined as “trying to gain an advantage by being better”.
By competing in this way, natural selection is enabling the strongest, fastest growing and healthiest frogs to mature and be able to breed in future years. In doing so, they will pass their genetic offspring onto future generations. This is the basis for evolution and has ensured the survival of frogs for the last 275 million years ago.
Having uncertain adventures, in a competing environment is the beating heart of evolution.
Early risers!
Snowdrops are examples of “seasonal communities” that have a short growing season, which is terminated by the emergence of tree leaves, that cast shade over the woodland floor.
They have a number of adaptations that enable them to grow early in the year, the first of which is the ability to store energy as food in bulbs. Snowdrops are adapted to grow through frozen soil. They are a sign of the arrival of spring, and are therefore cultivated in gardens, which has significantly promoted their survival over the generations, selecting for early flowering and showy flowers with the characteristic green colouring. This is an association between humans and a wild plant, that has greatly benefited both groups.
There are other secrets of the snowdrop, which will be revealed in future stories.
In the mean time, ask students, why, if the snowdrops are storing food all year in underground bulbs, are the bulbs not eaten by animals?
This is a linked series of three independent stories that traces the origin of the Pennant sandstone that forms Nowhere Wood and the origin of the coalfields that are close by. It uses the language of the rock cycle: weathering, erosion, deposition.
The stories go on to reflect on what the forests of tropical tree ferns were like. The significant rise in oxygen levels allowed large invertebrate animals to develop. The rise in herbivore biomass, promoted the evolution of carnivorous reptiles that were the ancestors of the dinosaurs. The interconnectedness is emphasised.
Ferns growing on the walls of Nowhere Wood in the present are discussed in the story called ‘Climbing the walls’, and the continuity with the past is emphasised in both stories.
The impact of the tree fern forests on reducing the atmosphere carbon dioxide levels and the subsequent impact on climate change is considered. It is not just humans that have altered the climate, any large-scale effects on atmospheric carbon dioxide can produce similar effects.
Safety in numbers
This story arose from a chance encounter with some insects sitting on leaves on in the autumn sunshine. They looked like cars in a car park. Cluster flies have an interesting, if not gruesome, life cycle, which show just how uncertain life can be. The metaphor “adventures in space and time” seems to fit this insect very well.
Goodbye for now
Observing seasonal changes has been a feature of the National Curriculum since Year 1. Although we know have know that birds migrate for tens of thousands of years, we still do not really understand where they go and how they return. The development of small light-weight GPS trackers might be helping to unlock these secrets.
Fruits of the autumn
The autumn is a special time in Nowhere Wood, partly because of the fruit and nuts that appear, supporting a cast of herbivores that feed on them. This, in turn, supports various food chains.
This story considers the mutually beneficial relationships between blackberry plants and blackbirds.
The secret of the winter flowers
We are so used to associating flowers with spring and summer, that to discover a winter flowering plant is special. Especially when it is going over such a large part of the floor of the wood. The winter heliotrope stores food, from photosynthesis in its rhizome, so it can grow as soon as it is warm enough. December and January have been especially warm in Nowhere Wood, with temperature records being broken. The plant has taken advantage of this, with the first flowers opening at the start of the new year.
The secret that there are only male plants in the wood is not unique; other species that are brought be people to the UK (such as Canadian pondweed, Elodea) are the same.
The plant thrives because of vegetative reproduction, forming clone plants. This is ideal, as long as the climate and the environmental factors suit its growth. With no genetic variation in the population, there is no chance of the plant recovering from adverse environmental conditions. A fungal disease could easily wipe out the entire UK population. We have seen this with Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s and, more recently, Ass die-back disease.
The greening of Nowhere Wood
Observing the steady changes of the seasons is one of the real pleasures of Nowhere Wood. Unless we pay attention, it is easy to miss the sudden greening of the woods with new leaves. There many names for the colours of new leaves, which are very special. Kelly Green, is one such colour. It is especially associated with Ireland.
Leaves are essential for the healthy growth and survival of the wood. This story and its companion story, A year in the life of a sugar factory, explores why.
If a tree falls…
From the birth of leaves, we move to the death of a weakened ash tree, felled during a storm. All things in the wood are continually being (staying alive) and becoming (moving to the next stage of their lives). Eventually death is the next stage of life. We can mourn the loss of a favourite tree, (and see the Sycamore Gap tree for a more national recent example), but the loss provides opportunities for new growth, new life and new possibilities for Nowhere Wood.
What’s in a name?
This is the first in a new sequence of stories, using the wonderful photographs of Andrew Town. Andrew has done more than anyone to observe, record and celebrate the changes on Nowhere Wood over so many years.
All organisms have a scientific name, based on the system developed by Carl Linnaeus. His is a binomial system with two names. One is the unique name of the species and the other is the name of organisms to which it is most closely related.
The scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens. Scientific names are usually printed in italics.
sapiens is the unique name of our species. It means “wise or intelligent”. [It is worth noting that this is what we choose to call ourselves!]
Homo is the name of human-like creatures, which most resemble us. These include Neandertal Man and Devonisian Man. Sadly, perhaps, all other members of this species are now extinct, although each of us has some of their DNA within our bodies.
Local people, throughout history, have used their own names for organisms. We tell the tale of the Dryad saddle fungus, which reminds us that there may be other ways of thinking about the wood.
Woods are self-regulating ecosystems that help to preserve our species. Thinking of this in terms of Dryad nymphs is a good way of visualising the complexities of the wood.
The new stories will begin to explore some of these other ways of thinking about woods, and we are including references to the English and History National Curricula, where appropriate.
The fairy ring
The fairy ring that sometimes appears on the field by Golden Valley School is a beautiful thing. It is a visible part of a huge fungus growing all of the year round under the soil. We call this a mycelium (plural mycelia). [To avoid the complexities of using two Greek words, I call them mycelia in the stories.]
Fairy rings inspire talk of fairies, and the quotation in the story is sometimes attributed to Shakespeare. The great fairy play ‘Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’ is definitely his work.
Are there fairies in Nowhere Wood? I cannot say, but am pretty sure that scientists do not know how to look for them.
William Shakespeare wrote “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” in about 1596. In the play a group of powerful fairies cast spells on people, making their lives very difficult. Many people believed in such ideas in Elizabethan times.
Why do you think many people no longer think like this?
There are probably many reasons for this.
People’s beliefs change over time for many reasons. Here are a few possible reasons:
1. Science: As we learn more about the world through science, we can explain many things that people used to think were magical.
2. Education: More people can read and learn about different ideas now than in the past.
3. Technology: We have cameras and other tools that can record and show us more of what is happening in nature.
4. Cultural changes: Stories and beliefs change as societies change.
5. Critical thinking: People are encouraged to question things and look for evidence.
6. Some people might still believe in fairies. And it’s important to respect that different people have different beliefs.
Remember, though, that some people still enjoy fairy stories as fun make-believe, even if they don’t think fairies are real.
What do you think about fairies and other magical creatures in stories?”
Hard hats, safety specs and camouflage jackets
These stories use the idea of organisms having adventures in space and in time. The organisms in the stories often have exciting and often risky experiences. That is, the outcome is uncertain. The two stories about the woodpeckers are good examples of this.
When male great spotted woodpeckers drill holes in trees, they generate forces that would kill most birds and even humans. To withstand these pressures, their whole bodies show adaptations that have evolved over millions of years. Woodpeckers have adaptations that no other birds have.
These adaptations are described in this story.
Drilling holes to attract a breeding mate is not the only risk in the story. The male might not find a receptive female, or the fledgling chicks might die before they can fly.
Being a woodpecker in Nowhere Woods is a risky business.
Woodpeckers have a lot of adaptations to help them to survive in Nowhere Wood. This story contains a photograph that suggests that the woodpeckers are living successfully here. What does the photograph tells us about the future of woodpeckers in Nowhere Wood?
The woodpeckers have bred successfully and are raising at least one baby chick. All being well, the chick will survive and secure the future of the woodpeckers in Nowhere Wood. At least for now. Staying alive is a continual challenge.
Woodpeckers have developed these adaptations through evolution. Charles Darwin is the scientist who first suggested a possible way evolution could happen. This is called natural selection. Find out what natural selection is.
The adaptations shown by the woodpecker parents can be passed onto their offspring (children). The woodpeckers with good adaptations will be more likely to survive and live in Nowhere Wood. Those woodpeckers with poor adaptations will not survive. Eventually, those woodpeckers with good adaptations will reproduce in Nowhere Wood and pass on their good adaptations to their offspring. This is an example of natural selection.
A different kind of woodpecker
The story of the green woodpecker is a game of spot the difference. The great spotted and green woodpeckers are similar. They probably shared a common ancestor that lived in Europe about 10 million years ago.
This story is about how the green woodpecker is similar and not similar to the great spotted. The differences are important: they allow both species to live together in the same wood, and are essential to the long-term survival of both species.
In terms of evolution, the common ancestor 10 million years ago (or so) ensures that the woodpeckers are similar. (Humans and Chimpanzees shared a common ancestor between 5 and 7 million years ago, and are clearly similar to each other.)
The evolution in the woodpecker species since then has developed and maintained the differences, which ensure that both species can survive in the same wood, without the one species competing with and replacing the other..
In this way, the story approaches the National Curriculum statement:
identify how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways and that adaptation may lead to evolution
Green and great spotted woodpeckers have different ways of feeding. How does this help them to live alongside each other in Nowhere Wood?
Species live alongside each other in Nowhere Wood if they do not compete with each other for important resources, like food, shelter and nest sites. Having different ways of feeding is a great way of avoiding competition between the two woodpecker species.
What might happen if they shared the same food supply?
If they both shared the same food supply, and if it was not sufficient to support both species, then the woodpeckers would compete for the food, and the loser would probably not be able to live in Nowhere Wood.
The sustainable park
The United Nations sustainable development goals should inform quality education in schools. Goal 12 refers to responsible consumption and production. Woodlands have been managed sustainably for hundreds of years. Pollarding, removing useful timber whilst allowing the tree to continue to grow, is at the heart of these woodland management practices.
Trendlewood Park is reusing some of the cut timber to create new hedges. This is because willow wood is able to grow new roots from the lower ends of their stems.
1. Branches of the brittle willow break easily, and it an advantage to the tree if these branches can also develop into independent trees. These trees are identical to the parent plant, and are useful in helping to colonise an area in which it grows well.
This is the same as growing new plants from stem and leaf cuttings.
2. In the spring, willow trees make seeds that germinate into new plants. These are not identical to each other. They show differences in their characteristics that we call variation. These differences are important in allowing willows to colonise areas that have different environments.
Both types of reproduction are important and help the willow to grow in a wide variety of habitats, especially in damp or wet habitats.
Apples and the new year
The local customs of a place are part of its history and are worth recording, studying and celebrating. The ‘wassail’ ceremony, traditionally held on twelfth night in country places, is one such custom. The story links the details of the blessing of the apple trees to the locality around the hamlet of Nowhere. East Farm is now the popular Old Farmhouse public house and restaurant.
The Apple Tree Man of Nowhere
This a different kind of story from Nowhere. A fictional tale built around a version of the traditional folk tale of the Apple Tree Man. These stories are usually associated with the cider growing regions of Somerset. Nowhere and its sister Nailsea are important examples of this.
The story uses real locations and celebrates the families that farmed this land in the past.
Climate change and the air
Climate change and the weather
Climate change and the new arrivals
This the first in a series of stories written with St Francis Primary School, Nailsea, about the effects of climate change on the area around Nowhere Wood.
Andrew Town’s detailed observations over the years have recorded the arrival of some insects that are recognised nationally as arrivals due to the effects of climate change.
Here are excerpts from his field notes:
August 2019 – a pair of Roesel’s bush crickets was a surprise find in Golden Valley. Unlike many crickets and grasshoppers these are easily identified by the bright yellow line around their pronotum and three bright spots on the thorax. Until recently they were found in this country only in the coastal dunes and marshes of SE England. They have now begun to spread west and north apparently encouraged by the recent years of hotter summer weather. I have never seen one before. They nearly all have short wings so are flightless but still manage to create song with their wings – see photo 1.
June 2020 – you may remember last year I found a pair of Roesel’s bush crickets in Golden Valley field. Until relatively recently these European crickets had just a small foothold in the coastal marshes of Kent. They started to migrate westwards and northwards in the late 1900s.
By 2001 they had reached Rutland and now they are quite common across the south of England. Quite an achievement for a specie where 99% of the population is short winged and flightless. This is a nymph so proof that they bred in GVF at least last year. Nymphs are easily recognisable by the yellow stripe that surrounds their pronotum*.
*The pronotum is a part of an insect’s body. It’s the top part of the first segment of the thorax, which is the middle section of an insect’s body. The pronotum can vary in shape and size depending on the insect species. It often serves as a protective shield for the insect’s head and can have different colors and patterns.
June 2024 – downland villa bee fly [villa cingulata] – Golden Valley field.
Bee flies not only mimic solitary bees but also prey on them by dropping their eggs into the bees’ nest where they hatch and devour the bee larvae. The ‘downland villa’ bee fly was a rare specie only found in the Chilterns and had not been recorded for 50 years prior to 2000. Because it is on the red list of endangered species the photo had to be submitted to the Avon Recorder for verification. Thanks to help from Rob Martin for doing this after helping with the initial ID. It has now been verified but it has recently made a comeback including in this area. Good news for the bee fly but disappointedly not as rare a spot as at first expected. Still a first record for the Park.
a series of short, self-contained, stories, each leading into a “big idea” of biology. Awareness of these ideas develops gradually across different stories.
The stories are lavishly illustrated, often with the author’s own photographs.
Visit the first story now
Follow @neilingram1 on Twitter
By 2001 they had reached Rutland and now they are quite common across the south of England. Quite an achievement for a specie where 99% of the population is short winged and flightless. This is a nymph so proof that they bred in GVF at least last year. Nymphs are easily recognisable by the yellow stripe that surrounds their pronotum*.