Minibeasts in VR
The garden, seen from a beetle's point of view.
- Key stages
- EYFS - KS2
- Session length
- 45 - 60 minutes
- Group size
- One class at a time
- Formats
- Up to 6 sessions a day
About this workshop
We get up close with some fascinating garden invertebrates in this VR workshop. Pupils visit the garden as they have never seen it, meet some incredible beetles and insects, and view the world from their perspective.
Shrinking to the scale of a minibeast does something a magnifying glass cannot: it makes the scale of a leaf, a puddle or a blade of grass real. Pupils absorb the facts because they are standing in them.
A strong choice for EYFS and KS1, and for any school running a minibeast hunt that deserves a bigger finish.
How the session runs
What happens in the 45 minutes
- 01
Minibeasts
Pupils shrink to approximately the size of an ant and explore a familiar habitat - a garden. Beforehand they name the minibeasts they might find there, such as ants, spiders, snails, slugs, beetles, worms, earwigs, butterflies, flies, grasshoppers and woodlice, and meet the ladybird as an example of an insect. Afterwards the class recaps that insects have six legs while arachnids such as spiders have eight, and discusses the range of food minibeasts eat - plants, nectar, flowers, other minibeasts, decaying plants and animals, wood, soil and animal waste - and the different roles they play within food webs.
- 02
Ladybird
The ladybird is introduced as a familiar example of an insect, and the class recaps the main characteristics: six legs, three main body parts - head, thorax and abdomen - a pair of antennae and an exoskeleton, with many insects also having wings. Afterwards pupils identify aphids as a favourite food of ladybirds, and learn that their bright red and black colouring warns predators that they may be unpleasant or toxic to eat. The class discusses other animals that use warning colouration, including wasps, bees, poison dart frogs, caterpillars and blue-ringed octopuses, along with the ladybird's other defences - playing dead and releasing a smelly liquid from its feet.
- 03
Caterpillar
The caterpillar is introduced as part of one of nature's most remarkable transformations. Pupils establish that a butterfly begins as an egg which hatches into a caterpillar, and that the caterpillar spends much of its time eating and growing - in some cases approximately doubling its size in just one day. Afterwards the class discusses what happens inside the chrysalis, where the caterpillar changes its body form into an adult butterfly, and meets the term metamorphosis: a major change in body form during an animal's life cycle.
- 04
Honeybees
Honeybees are introduced as important and highly social insects that live and work together in large groups called a colony. Beforehand pupils discuss what humans get from bees - honey, honeycomb, beeswax and royal jelly, as well as the hugely important process of pollination. Afterwards the class learns that bees have different types of eyes from humans and can see ultraviolet light, which helps them locate flowers and identify patterns that are invisible to us. If bees disappeared, many flowers would not be pollinated successfully, which would affect the plants and crops that produce many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Pupils discuss how they can help, including planting more flowers and avoiding the use of pesticides where possible.
- 05
Virtual museum
The session closes in the museum, where pupils consolidate what they have learned and meet additional minibeasts.
What pupils will learn
The science they take away
Every session is built backwards from the curriculum objectives your teachers are already working to.
- 01How to identify common invertebrates by their features
- 02That minibeasts can be grouped by observable characteristics
- 03What different minibeasts need from their habitat
- 04The role invertebrates play in pollination and decomposition
- 05How scale changes what an environment looks like
- 06How to observe carefully and describe what they see
Curriculum links
What this covers in the National Curriculum
Science - Living things and their habitats
- Understand that minibeasts are invertebrates and do not have backbones.
- Recognise the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates.
- Identify and name a range of common minibeasts, including insects, arachnids and molluscs.
- Recognise the main characteristics of insects, including six legs, three body parts, antennae and an exoskeleton.
- Explain that invertebrates live in a wide range of habitats and have adaptations that help them survive.
- Identify examples of adaptations used by minibeasts for feeding, movement and defence.
- Understand the importance of minibeasts within food webs and ecosystems.
- Describe the life cycle of a butterfly and understand the process of metamorphosis.
- Understand the importance of honeybees and their role in pollination.
- Recognise some of the ways in which humans can help protect bees and other minibeasts.
- Use information from the virtual museum to investigate and compare different minibeasts.
- Develop scientific questioning, observation and recall skills by predicting answers before viewing each film and reviewing them afterwards.
Key vocabulary
The words pupils will use
These are the scientific terms our facilitator uses during the session, so you can introduce them beforehand or pick them up again in follow-up lessons.
- Invertebrate
- vertebrate
- minibeast
- insect
- arachnid
- mollusc
- crustacean
- exoskeleton
- adaptation
- habitat
- food web
- predator
- prey
- carnivore
- herbivore
- pollination
- metamorphosis
- life cycle
- chrysalis
- caterpillar
- colony
- ultraviolet
- warning colouration
- defence mechanism
- nutrients
In your school
A blade of grass is enormous when you are the size of a beetle.
Logistics
What we bring, what you need
We bring
- A fully networked class set of VR headsets
- Our own minibeast content, built for primary pupils
- A DBS-checked facilitator to lead every session
- Cleaning and hygiene kit used between every class
You provide
- A school hall or a large, clear indoor space
- A parking space close by to unload equipment
- A member of school staff present in each session
Questions schools ask
Before you book
- Will children who dislike insects cope?
- Nearly always yes - and it frequently changes their mind. Any pupil can lift the headset at any point.
- Is it suitable for Reception?
- Yes. It is one of our most popular EYFS sessions and the pacing is adjusted for the age group.
- How long are headsets worn?
- In short stretches within a 45-minute session, not continuously.
- Can we pair it with a real minibeast hunt?
- Many schools do exactly that, running the hunt in the afternoon.
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