For Peat’s sake!
Source:
adapted from Wild, Wet and WonderfulOBJECTIVE
To explore the connection between people and peat – historic, economic and cultural - and our role in the future conservation of peatlands. The activities will illustrate how long it takes for peat to be made, and yet how quickly it can be lost.
Did you know?
Peat in raised bogs can be up to 10 metres deep, and yet peat builds from dying layers of sphagnum moss at as slow a rate as 1mm per year…..just think how old our peat bogs are!
Sphagnum can hold up to twenty times its weight in water. This, together with its unique ‘sterile’ properties made it useful as a wound dressing in the first world war. It has also been used for nappies and cot bedding.
Peatland has been cut and drained for agricultural improvements, and stripped for use in the horticultural industry.
Before the activity
Use a map of Scotland to indicate highland and lowland areas and to indicate the distribution of raised and blanket bogs in Scotland (maps in pack). Use a local OS map to identify any areas described as ‘bog’. How much peat has formed in the lifetime of one pupil? Peat in raised bogs may be up to 10 metres deep... how long has this taken to form?
Illustrate this on the wall showing the layers of peat from bare ground to living Sphagnum next to a timeline. Can you connect the timeline to other projects the children have done? (e.g. dinosaurs/world war etc)
See Wild, Wet and WonderfulActivity sheets Activity sheets 4.1: Timeline and Resources section 2.1: What is a Peat Bog?.
Produce a peat timeline - see the activity Time Line in the School Grounds Topic Area, to demonstrate how long it take peat to build up.
The activity
Discuss the roles of the horticulturist, bog scientist, nature lover and landowner and act out a debate. Draw posters to promote each person’s point of view.
Find out if your local garden centre offers ‘peat free’ composts.
Find out about alternatives to peat and do trial planting in the classroom. Make your own compost and experiment with the variety of peat free alternatives (Activity sheet 4.4 in Wild, Wet and Wonderful).
Make posters and leaflets advocating peat free products and contact conservation organisations in Scotland for advice.
Use the Internet to contact schools in Islay or Caithness to discuss the cultural and landscape impact of peat on their lives.
(See Wild, Wet and Wonderful Activity sheets: Compost in the classroom 4.4. Role Playing 4.5. Resources sheet.5.1 – 5.2)
Suggested follow-up
Look at a map of the Glasgow area and identify the names of places associated with bogs. Indicate how large an area may have been covered with bogs and compare this with what has been left untouched.