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
- Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre, Bungoona Path and/or Honeymoon Track to Reids Flat
- Bonnie Vale (please note limited access to toilets)