Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre

Telephone02 9542 1951

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

Animal houses

Science and technology – living world, Mathematics

Program overview

Students learn about the needs of Australian native animals. They construct a habitat box and consider its use. They explore their school grounds for animal habitats.

Session details

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

Key syllabus outcomes

  • Students select and use materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity (ST2-2DP-T)
  • Students compare features and characteristics of living and non-living things (ST2-4LW-S)
  • Students measure, record, compare and estimate lengths, distances and perimeters in metres, centimetres and millimetres (MA2-9MG)

Inquiry questions

  • How are environments and living things interdependent?

Content

Survival of living things

Students:

  • describe how living things depend on each other and the environment to survive (ACSSU073) SysT

Learning experiences

Students learn about different types of natural animal habitats through a presentation. They also learn about built habitats such as nesting boxes and bee hotels. They participate in a building challenge – in small groups they use an instruction sheet and simple tools to assemble a model habitat box. They take measurements and complete research to hypothesise which animal would most likely use it.

After dismantling the model houses, students explore their school grounds for animal habitats and identify suitable sites for nesting boxes. They use GPS devices to mark the locations of habitats, animal evidence and potential habitat box sites. They use Google MyMaps to create a map using the GPS data. They consider ways a variety of ways to improve habitat for native animals on their school grounds.