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 formed Appreciate 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
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.
