This year’s British Science Week is 8th – 17th and has the theme of ‘Time’. They have lots of wonderful ideas and resources to download on their website. In addition to this, I have a feeling that a lot of children will wanting to do their own Moss Safari to see if they have waterbears in their school grounds after watching the BBC Live Lesson which features tardigrades found on a Moss Safari.
I’m calling on particularly primary school teachers to get ready to do a Moss Safari. It is very simple, highly educational and is ideal to engage children with nature on their door step where ever your school. It also provides a call to action for future scientists as there is still so much to find out about these extraordinary animals.
What you need to know
This is an adventure. We are looking for wild animals that are hidden under our very noses. They are invisible to the naked eye and we can only see them if they are magnified.
These animals live in moss. Moss is everywhere, on roofs, walls, trees, in lawns, in pavement cracks. Inside the moss cushions you walk by each day is a whole ecosystem. A miniature world where animals live, feed, grow, reproduce and die, usually unseen by humans.
As with a real-life safari we can search of the Big Five. These include the microscopic mites that are like the rhinos of the mossy world, ferocious thrashing worms called nematodes, graceful crawling rotifers that have two hidden wheels that they unfurl to feed with, the cute and (almost) indestructible tardigrades (waterbears) and the enigmatic hairy worm, the gastrotich.
Not only that, these animals have only been known about for 300 years (since we first made a microscope) and we still have a lot to learn about how they live in moss, how they survive extreme conditions and their potential to help us understand the impact of climate change and help develop future medicines.
We need scientists who choose one organism to study in detail, experts that can identify, describe and explain how these organisms live, grow and interact with the world around them. New species of the Big Five are being described each year, piecing together the incredible biodiversity of our planet. There is room for everyone to become an expert.
What you need
- Basics: Moss (soaked), microscope (magnification x 40 upwards), microscope slides (dimple), cover slips.
- To demonstrate: a microscope camera to attach to a computer to display on the board.
- To increase your chances of finding the Big Five: filter paper, filter funnel, forceps, plastic Pasteur pipettes, small beakers or vials, Petri dishes.
What you can do
Collect fallen moss from your school grounds or near by (avoid taking moss that is securely fixed in it’s habitat – moss fallen from roofs or on fallen twigs is best). Soak the moss in mineral water if it is not wet.
The simplest Moss Safari is to squeeze the wet moss and collect the water (moss squeeze). Then put a few drops on a microscope slide, pop on a coverslip and then look at the slide with a microscope at x40.
Do a live Moss Safari by showing the children the view of the slide on the microscope using a microscope camera. Move the slide back and forth so that you can search for the Big Five.
Use additional information to support your descriptions and facts about the lives of each of the Big Five. Also ask questions about objects you see: is it living, dead or has never been living? Is it an animal or plant? How do we know? What do you think it is doing? Moving, resting, hiding, feeding, walking? Which parts of the body can you see? It’s head, tail, eyes, stomach, legs etc.?
Set up a few microscopes and support children in finding and identifying the Big 5. Give them a few drops of moss squeeze to search.
What the children can do
Watch you do a live Moss Safari. Tell them facts about the Big Five and what to look out for. Get them thinking about food chains, life cycles, survival.
- Record their observations in tables.
- Write a method of ‘How to find a waterbear’.
- Draw and label animals that they can see.
- Label printed photos – animals and parts of their bodies
- Draw life cycles of each of the Big Five that they see.
- Describe how each of the Big Five survive in moss.
- Write a story about living in moss and meeting one or more of the Big Five
Sharing your finds
We at Moss Safari love to know what you have seen.
Teachers can share their classes finds, results, drawings and stories on Moss Safari’s various social media accounts. Or send us a message via the contact form below.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Also now on Threads and Bluesky as @mosssafari.bsky.social (message me if you want a code)
Other Support, Links and Events
Tune into BBC Live Lesson on Monday 11th March at 11am with the British Science Week theme of Time. It has the theme of invertebrates and life cycles as well a feature on waterbears (tardigrades).
Help doing your own Moss Safari. Moss Safari has collaborated with Vitta Education/Edulab to produce Moss Safari Kits for schools. These kits have everything you need (except the moss!) to run a Moss Safari at your school. It even includes a booklet of five Moss Safari lessons – all curriculum linked and endorsed by primary school teachers.
Host a live Moss Safari
Moss Safari can be beamed live into your school classroom, assembly or after school club. For a fee, you can have a personal live Moss Safari for one hour. Have an expert introduction to Moss Safari, a live Moss Safari with narration, along with opportunity to ask all the questions you have about Moss Safari, the Big Five and microscopes. Contact us for availability.
Moss Safari 