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The Grassland Plant Survey - Expanded
In this survey, learners will observe, measure and record what they find in and amongst the grass on their site. They will also estimate the percentage cover of certain plants in their survey area. This survey can be done at any time of year, and no prior plant identification knowledge is needed!
The data will give a more in-depth understanding of grasslands in educational settings, allowing insights into how these grasslands support wildlife. Learners can use the survey to monitor the impact of habitat changes, such as how stopping mowing and letting grass grow long impacts plant diversity.
This survey has been adapted from the National Plant Monitoring Scheme.
Getting to know your space
Recording change
Preparation
What you need:
If you are doing the survey digitally:
- a patch of grass on your site
- 50cm x 50cm quadrats (home-made or shop bought) or 55-60cm hoops
- mobile devices with the grassland survey open (access via the QR code below). You will need to login to your Nature Park account to do this.
If you are doing the survey on paper:
- a patch of grass on your site
- 50cm x 50cm quadrats (home-made or shop bought) or 55-60cm hoops
- printed survey form (download below)
- clipboard and pencils
- camera to take photos of your quadrat (if possible)
Upload your results when you come back into the classroom or in signal range. You must be logged into your Nature Park account to upload your results.
To upload your results, your site must already be on the Nature Park Map. Add it to the Map by drawing your site boundary (5 mins).
Access the survey
Location
Outdoors
Resources
Grassland Plant Survey Form.pdf
2.67 MB
Step by step
- Decide where on your site you want to do the survey. If your site has already been mapped, use the habitat map to help choose your location. The planning and preparing your nature surveys page can give you ideas for what to investigate with your survey.
- You can use the PowerPoint to introduce the survey to your group and distribute the survey materials.
- Divide your class into groups (three per group works well), head outside and place 50cm x 50cm quadrats in the chosen grassland habitat.
- Check your learners have entered the right date, time and location for the survey.
- If you have access to mobile devices, encourage your learners to take a photo of their quadrat from above and from the side as asked for in the survey form.
- In Part 1 learners will be asked to complete three activities
- Measure the tallest plant in their quadrat and measure it from where it grows in the soil – ensure the bottom of the ruler is on the soil
- Pick one leaf from each plant growing in their quadrat, lay them on a piece of paper and count the number they have found – encourage students to crouch or kneel to get closer to the plants (if it is windy, try taping the leaves down or bringing them inside)
- Pick the habitat they are surveying – they can use the grass and wildflowers habitat flowchart to help them
- In Part 2 learners move onto the indicator species activity. Before starting the activity, remind learners that the goal is not to find every indicator species but just to see which ones you have.
- For each indicator species present, learners estimate what percentage of the quadrat that species covers.
- If the survey is being done on a mobile device, learners submit their results. If doing it on paper, learners return inside and enter the survey results online
The below video shows you the online survey form.
Video file
Reflection
Why was it important to do surveys in different spots? Why didn’t we do the survey across the whole grassy area? Would the information we would get from survey the whole grassy area be different from the survey we did using a few spots?
Curriculum links
- living organisms may form populations of single species, communities of many species and ecosystems, interacting with each other, with the environment and with humans in many different ways
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