⏳ Portrack Marsh on the Tees — Thursday 9 July 2026.
Today's mission
✓Recap what we test on a river and why — so nobody's lost on Thursday.
✓Lock in a personal prediction about the health of the Tees.
✓Know our jobs and be calm & confident for the trip.
Success criteria — by the end I can: name the 3 tests · read a reading (good/bad) ·
say what bugs tell us · state my prediction · say my job for Thursday.
Do Now · Catch-up
Warm up — what do we remember?
Have a go even if you missed last week — we'll fill the gaps together.
1. Name one thing we test in river water.
e.g. pH, oxygen, temperature, the bugs living in it.
2. Where does our river start and end? (one word each)
Source (hills) → Mouth (sea).
3. What tool do we use to sample a patch of ground?
A quadrat.
4. True or false: clear water is always clean water.
False — you can't see chemicals or bacteria.
Starter · Trip or Trap
Trip or Trap? 🪤 Tap how many think it's TRUE
Read each one out. Hands up if you think it's true — tap the number. Then reveal.
Watch out:clear = clean — chemicals and bacteria are invisible. That's why we test.
Round 1 · The Plan
🥾 Round 1 — Kit, meeting point & staying safe
20-SEC BRIEF
We meet at the minibus, coats + wellies, hand gel in the bag. By the water: stay behind the line, never go in alone, wash hands before food. If you feel wobbly, tell an adult — that's the plan, not a problem.
Challenge — what's missing from the bag?
🌟 Higher: why do we never sample alone — give two reasons (safety + reliable data).
Round 2 · The Science
🔬 Round 2 — The three tests & reading a reading
20-SEC BRIEF
Physical (temperature, how cloudy) · Chemical (pH, oxygen) · Biological (which creatures live there). A reading only means something when you know what's good and what's bad.
Which test is it? “We count the mayfly larvae.”
Oxygen reads 3 mg/L (low). Good or bad for fish?
💡 Say the consequence: “low oxygen → fish can't survive → poor health.”
pH is 5 upstream, 7 downstream of a works. What does that suggest?
🌟 Link it to the human-impact story from L1c — pollution changes the reading.
Round 3 · The Bugs
🐛 Round 3 — Quadrats, bugs & biodiversity
20-SEC BRIEF
A quadrat is a square we drop to sample fairly. More different creatures = higher biodiversity = usually a healthier habitat. Some bugs are “clean-water only” — finding them is a great sign.
Challenge — which quadrat suggests the healthier habitat?
Common slip:more bugs = healthier. It's more variety, not just more bodies.
🌟 Higher: why do we take several quadrats, not just one? (reliable, representative results)
Prediction Lock 🔒
Place your bet — how healthy is the Tees?
Fill in your paper prediction card (name, pH guess, oxygen guess, bugs you'll find). Then we tally the class verdict on the board — we'll check it for real on Thursday.
🎯 This is our headline: we've predicted the Tees is mostly ___. On Thursday we find out who's right.
⏸️ Slot 2 · Rehearse & Walk (~25 min)
Welcome back, crew 👋
We're mission-ready on paper. Now: who does what on Thursday, then a real practice of our calm-noticing on the walk.
✓Get a clear job for the trip.
✓Practise 5-4-3-2-1 grounding on our walk — just like we will at the marsh.
Mission Readiness0%
Mission Roles
🎖️ Everyone gets a job
Tap each person a role. A job means you always know what you're doing — no surprises Thursday.
👋 Who's here today?—
Tap a name to grey it out if they're absent. Greyed-out pupils are left off the role list and every printout.
🌟 Roles can pair up — a Spotter + Recorder make a good team. Whatever we end up doing, every job is a real job.
🥾 Before we head out on the walk, print a named field card for each pupil who's here — they take it on the rehearsal walk today and on Thursday.
Walk Rehearsal
🌳 Our walk = the real thing
Same grounding we practised indoors — now for real on the walk. At Portrack we'll do this while the others sample. Read it, then out we go.
5 · 4 · 3 · 2 · 1
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can feel (wind, ground, coat)
2 things you can smell
1 slow breath — you're grounded 🌿
On the walk: try one round out loud as a group, then everyone does their own quietly. This is a skill for Thursday, not just today.
Exit · Capture
✅ Final check & save everything
By Thursday I'll know…
My job
The 3 tests
My prediction
The safety line
Not all locked in yet? No stress — we'll top it up tomorrow.
See you tomorrow — then at the minibus Thursday! Coat, wellies, positive head. We've got this. 🌊
Tap below to print a class evidence sheet and a named prediction / field card for each pupil — those cards double as their clipboard sheet on the day.
🛰️ Mission Readiness0%
🧑🏫 TA Focus — Olivia
🎯 Cold Call
—
🛰️ MISSION READY
Predictions locked. Jobs assigned. Tees, here we come.