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Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre

Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre

Telephone02 9542 1951

Emailroyalnatpk-e.school@det.nsw.edu.au

I investigate living things

Science and Technology - Living World

Supports the Primary Connections unit - Feathers, fur or leaves

Students embark on a day of scientific discovery. They participate in a range of hands-on activities to investigate living things and the natural environment.

Key syllabus outcomes

A student:

  • questions, plans and conducts scientific investigations, collects and summarises data and communicates using scientific representations ST2-1WS-S
  • compares features and characteristics of living and non-living things ST2-4LW-S

Skills focus - working scientifically

Planning and conducting investigations

  • conduct scientific investigations to find answers to questions
  • use appropriate materials and equipment safely (ACSIS054, ACSIS065)
  • collect and record accurate, honest observations using labelled observational drawings, basic formal measurements and digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS055, ACSIS066)

Communicating

  • represent and communicate observations, ideas and findings, using formal and informal representations (ACSIS060, ACSIS071)

Inquiry questions

  • How can we group living things?
  • What are the similarities and differences between the life cycles of living things?

Content

Classification of living things

Students:

  • collect data and identify patterns to group living things according to their external features, and distinguish them from non-living things (ACSSU044) SysT
  • identify that science involves making predictions and describing patterns and relationships (ACSHE050, ACSHE061) SciT

Life cycles of living things

Students:

  • identify that living things have life cycles (ACSSU072)
  • conduct an investigation into the life cycle of plants and/or animals (ACSSU072) SciT

Learning activities

Students:

  • observe the external features of preserved animals and group them in various ways
  • use their senses to examine living things and their evidence on a bushwalk
  • examine leaf shapes and/or seed pods and use them to identify and group plants
  • complete a scratch art of leaves, take a leaf rubbing or create ephemeral art using leaves and seed pods
  • relate seeds to plant life cycles 
  • search for invertebrates on land (leaf litter) or in the water (dipnetting)
  • create a model of a lifecycle using natural materials
  • depending on site, birdwatch, find and classify feathers, search for crabs, collect and classify litter and/or group flotsam and jetsam found on the beach

Recommended excursion sites