Activity - A nature visit

All living creatures, plants and animals need water to survive. Some plants will only grow if the ground is water logged, that is marshland or swamp. Many animals are aquatic (live in water) or semi-aquatic (need both land and water). People too, use water for many different leisure activities.

Take the Cubs to look at the natural water around their meeting place. This may be a local pond in a park, a river or stream, the seaside or a lake, loch or reservoir. Plan an outing to study the animal life, bird life, plant life and human activities which take place on and around the water.

Ask the Cub Scouts to record or draw their findings. If each Six visited a different area they could display and explain their results.

 

The picture below shows a system of two glass jars or demijohns, the top one with holes in the bottom. Layers (from top to bottom)

• 21cm fine sand
• 10cm couarse gravel
• 10cm broken bricks to prevent the gravel and sand washing though

Cub Scouts could filter some water using plant pots with holes in the bottom, some stones, coarse gravel and some fine sand.

Note: This activity is to let the Cub Scouts see how water is cleaned therefore dirty water should be poured into the top eg water mixed with mud. Although the water will be cleaned during the process it is not fit for drinking and would need further treatment before it was safe to drink. Boiling for 20 minutes would render it safe.

In Uganda you might see elephants, hippos, crocodiles, snakes, wart hoggs and fish eagles. In the UK the plants, animals and birds would be quite different.

Your Cub Scouts could collect or draw pictures of wildlife in the UK and in Uganda.

Game

Here are lists of birds, animals and fish that inhabit Uganda. Call out the names and the Cub Scouts should run to one wall labelled air if a bird is called, land if an animal that lives on the land is called and stand on a chair if an animal that lives off the ground or in the air is called.

• Water: Tilapia, Nile perch, Hippopotamus
• Land: Elephant, Lion, Zebra, Hogg, Aligator
• Air/trees: Monkeys, Crested crane, Stork.