Children, and the adults who are responsible for their education, demonstrate an increasing lack of environmental understanding and knowledge. This is important because the development of societal environmental literacy will be key to the responses that we make to the current climate crisis. Many teachers perceive themselves to lack the skills, knowledge and resources to undertake meaningful outdoor education but through our study we show that by working with a professional environmental educator these limitations can be overcome. We have shown that children and adults can enhance their understanding and knowledge of an aquatic habitat and that through this kind of first-hand experience the impact upon children can be a lasting one.