A group of three students stood looking at a clipboard

School Workshop: Biodiversity, Bees and Me

This workshop explores the importance of biodiversity and the role of seed banks and pollinators in maintaining food security as well as discussing what we can do to help.

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Workshop overview

What happens in the workshop

Deep under the Arctic ice, scientists have created a £6.9 million seed bank with the ambition of conserving 4.5 million seed samples. Students investigate the importance of biodiversity and the role that seed banks play in maintaining global food security. They then set off to investigate Eden’s three Biomes in search of their own suggestions for plants to add to the seed bank.

On returning to the Core, the students debate which of their plant finds should make it into the seed bank as top priority. They play a game which highlights the essential role that insects play in maintaining food security through the pollination of crop plants and the reasons why these pollinators are at risk. Finally, we delve a little deeper into some of the issues surrounding biodiversity conservation, including whether there are choices we can make which will make a difference.

Visiting teacher

“ Biodiversity, Bees and Me was fantastic, it set a very realistic scene at the beginning and really introduced pupils to the necessity of plants in our lives. ”

Practical information

This workshop enables students to:

Cite examples of key plant biodiversity, describing why they are important.
Justify their opinions regarding ethical and scientific issues surrounding biodiversity conservatioion.
Describe the role of insect pollinators in maintaining food security and explain why pollinators are at risk.
Explain reasons why maintaining biodiversity and hereditary material is important.

We've designed the workshop to help teachers cover the following subject areas:

In Science, pupils should be taught about the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem, including food webs and insect pollinated crops, the importance of plant reproduction through insect pollination in human food security, how organisms affect, and are affected by, their environment, including the accumulation of toxic materials and the importance of maintaining biodiversity and the use of gene banks to preserve hereditary material.

The workshop costs £7.95 per pupil, with a minimum charge of £159 per group (includes VAT). Maximum group size is 35. The cost includes:

a facilitated workshop with our Education Team
free access to the Eden site for the day
all equipment needed for the workshop
free teaching resources enabling your class to prepare for the workshop and to follow up on the activity (download a sample copy)
a personal welcome from the Education Team at the entrance
a base for your bags in our purpose-built education centre, The Core
a space to eat your own lunch

The price includes free entry for accompanying adult helpers, whose participation is essential to the success of the day (please note our suggested adult/pupil ratios are as follows: Early Years Foundation Stage, 1:3; Key Stage 1, 1:6; Key Stage 2 and 3, 1:10; Key Stage 4, 1:15; Key Stage 5, 1:20). You’re welcome to bring more helpers if you’d like. Additional helpers are charged at our group booking rate.

We also offer a free preparatory visit to Eden for teachers wanting to plan their school trip, which should be booked in advance.

St. Gabriel's School

“ The workshop stimulated structured and thoughtful discussion. Our pupils were filled with awe and wonder! ”

Unforgettable school trips

Accredited workshops at Eden

This workshop is accredited under the British Science Association’s CREST Awards scheme and goes towards a Discovery Award.

In order to gain the award it is also necessary for the students to have completed some of the suggested pre- and post-visit activities provided upon booking.