"Does Biodiversity Make You Happy?" 🐞🌿🧪

Eight lucky students from Years 4 and 5 were recently chosen to take part in a very exciting science project at Simon Langton Girls' School in Canterbury. Selected for their enthusiasm and curiosity in science, the children hopped on the bus and joined schools from across Kent to help answer a fascinating question: "Does biodiversity make you happy?"

After arriving, we were welcomed by the research team and taken to a beautiful part of the school grounds known as The Orchard. This natural haven became the perfect outdoor classroom as we began our afternoon of hands-on scientific discovery and training.

Led by PhD students from universities around the UK, including Cambridge, the children were trained in how to conduct their very own biodiversity surveys. Armed with sweep nets and specimen jars, our budding scientists got stuck in, sweeping the tall grasses and wild plants to see what they could find.

The excitement grew as we carefully examined our catches. Among our discoveries were Harlequin ladybirds, spiders, crane flies, true bugs, and after much determination one child even caught a speckled wood butterfly! With help from the student experts, we viewed it up close in a special box with a glass lid before releasing all our minibeasts safely back into the wild.

In addition to exploring nature, we also learned about wellbeing science. The children were shown how to monitor their pulse using finger sensors and shown a wellbeing questionnaire. These tools will help us compare how being in nature, like walking through our local areas in Folkestone, may or may not boost our mood and health.

Just when we thought the day couldn’t get better... we went pond dipping! With nets and trays in hand, the children explored the pond life in more detail, discovering water boatmen, pond skaters, leaches, snails, newts at different stages of life and an impressive variety of pond plants.

As the day drew to a close, we headed back to the bus.

The children asked fantastic questions throughout the day, impressing the older students and scientists with their enthusiasm. They were an absolute credit to St Eanswythe’s — respectful, curious and full of wonder.

What a brilliant day of learning and exploration. We can’t wait to begin our own biodiversity and wellbeing surveys back at school and around Folkestone!