Askoviken+and+Wilderness+Centre

It is above all the great variety of natural environments that makes the area attractive to so many species of birds. Asköviken is surrounded by a reedbed of varying thickness and the wet meadows around the bay are kept up by mowing and/or grazing. However, the wetland environments in the area risk losing their mosaic-like character owing to eutrophication, the strict regulation of Lake Mälaren, and lagging upkeep of the wet meadows. If the wetland environments of Asköviken and the species that are associated with them are to be preserved in the longer term, measures will have to be taken in the area. With this in mind, the County Administrative Board of Västmanland applied for money from the EU's LIFE-Nature environmental fund to finance the project entitled "Improvement of habitats for wetland birds in Askö-Tidö". The application was granted in August 2004. The LIFE project in Asköviken is being run by the County Administrative Board of Västmanland and is due to be concluded in June 2008. The overriding purpose of the project is to improve the habitats of wetland birds in the Askö-Tidö area. To achieve this, the area of the reedbeds and wet meadows is to be restored and steps are to be taken to reduce the nutrient load reaching the bay. The project is also intended to improve accessibility for visitors. ||
 * Welcome to the LIFE Project in Asköviken ||  ||
 * [[image:http://www.askoviken.se/eng/Resources/_clear.gif width="31" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.askoviken.se/eng/Resources/_clear.gif width="396" height="1"]] || [[image:http://www.askoviken.se/eng/Resources/_clear.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||
 * || Asköviken is a shallow, nutrient-rich bay of Lake Mälaren which has long been known as a fine locality for birds. Around a hundred species of birds breed in the area, and all told over 250 species have been recorded.



Asköviken Nature School, Västerås and the Wilderness Centre in Gloucestershire have developed a very rich and creative co-operation in the course of our project, which has only had to stop because, sadly, the Wilderness Centre will now have to close, owing to cutbacks in government spending on education in the UK.

//All of us wonder what kind of an education system allows such a wonderful facility to close? // The educational co-operation between two of our partner secondary schools in the project has shown that Swedish students are much more sensitive to the needs of the environment than their British counterparts. What does the closure of the Wilderness and many other similar facilities say about our educational and societal priorities in the UK?


 * __Outdoor learning in Maths__**


 * __Bodil’s learning activity (Wilderness-Asköviken)__**


 * Games:**

Each child had attached to the back of their collar a small card with a picture of a plant or bird and a number. By asking yes/no questions to others they had first to find out what plant or bird they were. They then found others who were in the same group. Then by asking questions each child had to find what number was on their card.
 * Number-on-neck**

Each child cut out 2 paper circles - one bigger that the other by about 2 cm. A cut was made from the outer edge to the centre of the circles. They had to work out how to find the centre of the circles. They then used this instrument to view the angle between the branches and the trunks of 4 different trees. Using 5 metres of rope each group was asked to form an isosceles triangle and work out how to test that the 2 long sides were equal. They then did similar making an equilateral triangle. After this they made a rectangle with their rope and had to decide whether this had a smaller or bigger area than a square. Bodil then made a small thin rectangle to demonstrate that a square gives the largest possible area for a given perimeter 36 tasks written on cards were hung on 36 trees in the wood. Cards are numbered 1-36. The children worked in groups. Each group rolls a dice and does the mathematical task on the card of that number. Once completed they again roll the dice and add the number to the previous one. This gives them the number of the next task. They continue in this way until they reach 36. Each group takes a bucket of water and 2 measurers. One measurer holds 900ml and one measurer holds 400ml. They had to use these 2 measurers to make all volumes of water between 200ml and 1300ml. A rope was placed on the ground marked with distances jumped by different creatures eg flea, grasshopper. The children jumped to see which animal they could jump as far as.
 * Making an instrument for measuring angles.**
 * Geometry with a rope.**
 * The 36-game**
 * Volume using pond water.**
 * Jump as far as**

Games explained in English: