Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre

Telephone02 9542 1951

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

Watch it grow

Science and technology – living world

Supports the Primary Connections unit – Watch it grow!

Program overview

Students study features, growth and change of plants and animals. They observe some life stages of living phasmids (spiny leaf insects), worms and/or mealworms. They investigate invertebrates on school grounds. They search for and photograph life stages of plants. They record observations through drawings, model building or creating an iBook.

Session details

90 minutes. Up to 3 sessions (one class each) per day.

Key syllabus outcomes

  • Students observe, question and collect data to communicate and compare ideas ST1-1WS-S
  • Students describe observable features of living things and their environments ST1-4LW-S

Inquiry questions

  • What are the external features of living things?
  • How do living things change as they grow?

Content

External features of living things

Students:

  • describe the external features of a variety of living things (ACSSU017)
  • identify and group plants and animals using their external features, for example: SciT SysT   
    • native and introduced plants and animals
    • worms, insects, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals

Living things change

Students:

  • explore how living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves (ACSSU030) SciT
  • record the changes in growth of a common plant or animal, using uniform informal units and appropriate technologies ComT SysT

Learning experiences

Life stages of animals

Students observe live invertebrate (phasmids, worms or mealworms) at various life stages. They search the school grounds for invertebrates, identify them and link them to life stages.

Life stages of plants

Students explore school grounds and photograph life stages of plants, including seeds, seedlings, flowering plants and fruiting plants. They create a digital iBook by adding these life stages photos to a Book Creator template.