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(1993). ‘Merry's Ears’—dispersal of fruits and seeds. Journal of Biological Education: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 166-169.

In the early days of the FSC, younger pupils comprised only about 4% of visitors to the Centres; this proportion fell to around 1% in the mid 1970s but has risen dramatically (to 16% in 1986) during the present decade. During 1986, the introduction of GCSE has brought a further factor into play and the F'SC's junior category now embraces the range from 6-year-olds to GCSE pupils. At all levels, courses are carefully designed in consultation with school staff to enable pupils to gain the maximum benefit from their visit. While there is always a carefully-structured basis to a course, the approach to a topic is as heuristic as possible and child-centred learning is considered critically important. In GCSE courses, care is taken to link content to both the National Criteria of the Secondary Examination Council and the more detailed requirements of the particular syllabus being followed.