Wild Animals in VR
Face to face with one animal from every class.
- 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
An immersive virtual reality workshop exploring the animal kingdom with content our own team has built. Pupils get up close with some fascinating, and occasionally terrifying, beasts.
The journey takes in an animal from each vertebrate class - mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish - so the session does the work of classification while pupils think they are simply meeting animals.
Suits a whole-school day especially well, because the same content reads as wonder in Reception and as taxonomy in Year 6.
How the session runs
What happens in the 45 minutes
- 01
Golden Eagle and Hare
Set in Scotland, the film introduces the golden eagle as a bird of prey. Beforehand the class discusses animal groups and what animals eat, meeting the terms carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. Afterwards pupils identify the golden eagle as a carnivore and pick out its adaptations - lightweight bones, a strong beak, wings and feathers - along with the terms raptor and bird of prey. The hare is a vertebrate mammal and a lagomorph. The hunts are realistic but the prey animal always escapes, so pupils can focus on the adaptations rather than the outcome.
- 02
Frog and Pit Viper
Set in the rainforest, the film revisits animal classification: the snake is a reptile and the frog an amphibian. The frog is adapted to damp environments and breathes through its lungs and skin, while the pit viper uses heat-sensing pit organs, camouflage, fangs and venom to hunt. The class also establishes that reptiles, fish and amphibians are generally cold-blooded, using their surroundings to regulate body temperature.
- 03
Tuna and Mackerel
Set in the open ocean, the film revises vertebrates and gills and introduces plankton as tiny drifting organisms that form an important part of marine food chains. Tuna are adapted for fast swimming with a streamlined body and excellent eyesight, and can maintain parts of their body warmer than the surrounding water. Mackerel defend themselves by forming a baitball, making it harder for predators to target individuals. Gills take oxygen from water and remove carbon dioxide, and plankton produces around half of Earth's oxygen.
- 04
Deer and Tiger
The final film introduces the deer as a herbivore and the tiger as a carnivorous mammal and predator. Deer adaptations include moveable ears, wide vision, strong legs, camouflage and herd behaviour, while tiger adaptations include sharp claws, canine teeth, powerful jaws, camouflage and a strong body. Tigers can weigh up to approximately 300 kg.
- 05
Virtual museum
The session closes in the museum, where pupils consolidate what they have learned and explore more about wild animals and their habitats.
What pupils will learn
The science they take away
Every session is built backwards from the curriculum objectives your teachers are already working to.
- 01The characteristics of the five vertebrate classes
- 02How to classify an unfamiliar animal from its features
- 03How animals are adapted to their habitats
- 04What different animals eat and how that shapes them
- 05Where in the world each animal lives
- 06The correct scientific vocabulary for describing animals
Curriculum links
What this covers in the National Curriculum
Science - Living things and their habitats
- Identify and name the five main classes of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
- Recognise that humans are mammals and identify some characteristics of mammals.
- Explain that animals have adaptations that help them survive in their particular habitats.
- Identify examples of physical adaptations used by animals for hunting, feeding, movement and defence.
- Distinguish between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores according to what they eat.
- Understand that animals are part of food chains, with herbivores eating plants and carnivores eating other animals.
- Describe some basic features of different vertebrates, including how fish breathe and how cold-blooded animals regulate their body temperature.
- Use information from the virtual museum to investigate and compare different animals.
- 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.
- Vertebrate
- mammal
- bird
- reptile
- amphibian
- fish
- adaptation
- evolution
- habitat
- food chain
- carnivore
- herbivore
- omnivore
- predator
- prey
- camouflage
- plankton
- gills
- raptor
- bird of prey
- warm-blooded
- cold-blooded
- venom
- baitball
In your school
Five animals, five classes, and a room full of pupils sorting them out.
Logistics
What we bring, what you need
We bring
- A fully networked class set of VR headsets
- Our own wild animal 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
- Are any of the animals frightening?
- A few are deliberately dramatic, but nothing in the content is distressing and pupils can lift the headset whenever they want.
- Can it cover a whole school in one day?
- Yes - six sessions covers a one-form-entry school.
- Is the content the same for every year group?
- The environments are, the facilitation is not. The questions and vocabulary are pitched to the class in front of us.
- Do we need internet?
- No. Everything runs on our own equipment and network.
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