Culbin is a fabulous place for school visits. With an expert ranger on hand for advice, you can teach any subject through the medium of Culbin, and students will get a real flavour of the outdoors as they walk in the forest.
Many schools come to study the changing and unusual sand dune/forest environment; others look at the species which live here, from plants and lichens to red squirrels and forest birds, or at themes such as camouflage and food chains.
How do I plan a school visit?
Forestry Commission Scotland is happy to help tailor-make a visit around your requirements. Just give the ranger a ring to discuss your ideas. Telephone: 01466 794161.
RSPB can also facilitate school visits to Culbin or undertake outreach work to your school. Telephone the RSPB Education officer on 01463 715000.
What kind of resource materials can you offer?
This website contains many themed pages which might prove useful.
- Under a theme of Survival on Shifting Sands we'd suggest looking at: Culbin's landscape and Culbin's plants & wildlife.
- For a more historical approach, the history of Culbin covers early peoples, myths about the area and the forest's wartime role.
- There's also more generic information on managing Culbin’s forest and managing Culbin’s coastline.
- Further images are available for use from the Forestry Commission picture library.
Model lesson plans
The biology team at Elgin Academy has put together a list of curricular links for Culbin and biology, and a model lesson plan (PDF 109k) to highlight how Culbin could be used to support the standard grade biology curriculum.
Acknowledgements: with thanks to Elgin Academy, particularly Ros Gordon and Andrew Campbell.
These are just two possible ways of using Culbin - the ranger is happy to advise on secondary or primary school related activities for any curriculum area.
