Program overview
This exciting and interactive program will immerse your students in nature and allow them to gain practical applications of their developing understanding of the features, habits and interactions of living things. Students will meet a variety of native Australian animals during an exciting, hands-on, live animals presentation. Students will work scientifically as they use keys to identify invertebrates and record results of an invertebrate survey. They will also become a ‘habitat hero’ by learning how to create a frog pond and lizard lounge, so you can get busy back at school creating habitat friendly environments.
Inquiry and focus questions
- What are the external features of living things?
- How can we improve a local environment to encourage living things to thrive?
- How do living things change as they grow?
Learning experiences
Invertebrate hunt
After a discussion on the characteristics, habitats and importance of invertebrates, students will use various invertebrate collecting methods such as leaf litter search and tree shake. The invertebrates found during the search will be collected into specimen jars using small brushes. The students will use magnifiers to examine and identify their found invertebrates with a simple dichotomous key. They will also collect a tally of the total number of the species found in their area.
Build a bug
Students will construct a model of an invertebrate using air drying clay and found natural materials based on their observations of invertebrates collected and their examination of embedded specimens.
Live native animal encounters
During the live animal encounters, students will learn about and interact with animals such as a snake, possum, lizard, frog, phasmid and echidna. Discussion will focus on the external features of each animal and how we can ensure that our local native wildlife is living in places that suit their needs.
Design and construct a habitat for wildlife
Students explore how animals live in different environments that suit their needs at various stages of their life cycle and they consider how habitat modification may limit their ability to survive. Working in groups, students create a procedure, design and construct habitats for animals such as lizards and frogs. This challenging activity will equip students to modify an environment back at school that would encourage wildlife back to the area.
