Unit Overview

How to deliver this pre and post excursion unit of work

This unit of work is designed to support student learning preceding and following an excursion experience with Illawarra EEC. Each lesson is approximately 30-40 minutes in length, comprising of whole class interactive components within the lesson webpage, worksheets to download and complete and group and individual tasks to be completed in-class and within school grounds

Living Worlds unit of work overview

In the 3 lesson Module 1, students are introduced to classification and grouping methods, before making determination between living/non-living and grouping living things based upon their external features

Module 2 and Module 3 examine the life cycles and survival of living things across 4 separate lessons, and form the ideal preparation for an excursion with the IEEC.

Module 4 and Module 5 focus upon 'Food and Fibre', examining the way food and fibre is grow, produced and used sustainably.

Module 6 forms the basis for summative assessment, as students are challenged to design and model a sustainable farm, considering the lifestyles and interdependence of the plants and animals grown. and raised.

Key Syllabus Outcomes

Stage 2 Science and Technology

Living World

A student:

questions, plans and conducts scientific investigations, collects and summarises data and communicates using scientific representations
selects and uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity
compares features and characteristics of living and non-living things
describes how agricultural processes are used to grow plants and raise animals for food, clothing and shelter

Inquiry Focus Questions

How can we group living things?
What are the similarities and differences between the life cycles of living things?
How are environments and living things interdependent?
How do we create food and fibre products from animals and plants?

Lesson Outlines

Module 1

Classification of living things

Inquiry question: How can we group living things?

Syllabus Outcomes

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

Lesson 1 - Classification

Lesson description

Students collect data and identify patterns to group objects through whole class and individual tasks. Beginning in the classroom, students' group object by their external features through an online game, before sorting themselves into groups based upon their own characteristics. Students then sort the contents of their pencil-cases individually, before conducting a grouping exercise outside in the playground.

Lesson 2 - Living vs non-Living

Lesson description

Students begin in the classroom, watching a video outlining the difference between living and non-living things. As a class, students' work to identify a range of living and non-living things from a collection of photographs. Finally, students work individually in a playground safari to select and draw a range of different objects and classifying them as living or non-living based upon their traits.

Lesson 3 - Creature features

Lesson description

Students begin in the classroom, watching a video outlining the difference between animal classification groups. Students draw and classify their own chosen animal, before investigating the animals within their school grounds.

Module 2

Life cycles of living things

Inquiry question: What are the similarities and differences between the life cycles of living things?

Syllabus Outcomes

Students:

identify that living things have life cycles
conduct an investigation into the life cycle of plants and/or animals

Lesson 1 - Life cycles of animals

Lesson description

Students compare a written text to a documentary, both examining the life cycle of a butterfly, taking note of the four individual stages - egg, larvae, pupa and butterfly. Using paper plates and craft materials, students construct a model representing each of the four stages, linking the transitions of each phase to complete an entire life cycle.

Lesson 2 - Life cycles of plants

Lesson description

Students examine the growth of plants through the germination of a seed, and recording of it's associated growth, before being planted outside to mature and reproduce, thus completing it's life cycle.

Module 3

Survival of living things

Inquiry question: How are environments and living things interdependent?

Syllabus Outcomes

Students:

describe how living things depend on each other and the environment to survive, for example:

− bees and flowers

− birds eat and disperse seeds

Lesson 1 - Introduction to Pollination

Lesson description

Students learn about the role of bees and pollinators in nature and agriculture, with insect pollinators having a vital role pollinating flowers to produce fruit and seeds. to gain a further understanding of the process, students complete a modelling exercise using craft materials to demonstrate how pollinators transfer pollen from one flower to another, known as pollination.

Lesson 2 - Pollination Experiment

Lesson description

Students conduct a field experiment to test colour preference among insect pollinators. By making observations and collecting data, students work in small groups to collect data for later analysis to determine any trends and patterns in their results.

Lesson 3 - Comparing Data

Lesson description

Students inlay data collected during their prior field experiment into a pre-populated excel spreadsheet and use pre-programmed bar charts and analysis tools to determine patterns and trends in the colour preferences of insect pollinators.

Excursion with IEEC recommended between Modules 3 and 4

Module 4

Producing food and fibre

Focus question: How do we create food and fibre products from animals and plants?

Syllabus Outcomes

Students:

investigate and compare advancing technologies used in food and fibre production in Australian agriculture and those used in traditional agriculture, for example:

− automated farming using micro-controllers and sensors compared to animal-drawn equipment

− autonomous vehicles to harvest crops compared to manual harvesting processes

Lesson 1 - Traditional Agriculture

Lesson description

Students critically compare 2 methods of preparing soil for planting, firstly examining hand methods using simple tools such as those used in traditional agriculture. These labor intensive methods are compared and contrasted with the use of modern machinery to prepare agricultural land at an industrial scale through the use of video resources and a 'says, thinks, feels & does' exercise.

Lesson 2 - Advancing Agriculture

Lesson description

Students view a video displaying the RIPPA robot, designed to kill weeds, pests and fertilise vegetable crops autonomously. Students then discuss further opportunities for robots to assist on-farm production before being tasked with the design of their own agricultural robot.

Module 5

Using food and fibre

Focus question: How do we create food and fibre products from animals and plants?

Syllabus Outcomes

Students:

investigate food technologies and techniques used to produce healthy food, for example:

− peeling and segmenting/slicing fruits and vegetables

− follow a recipe step by step

− measure and mix dry ingredients

Strawberry Swirl Sundaes

Lesson description

Students follow a recipe step by step, peeling and slicing fruit and measure and mix dry ingredients to make a delicious strawberry, banana and yogurt sundae.

Module 6

Designing food production systems

Focus question: How do we create food and fibre products from animals and plants?

Syllabus Outcomes

Students:

design, plan and produce a product, system or environment to support the growth of a plant and/or animal that could be used in a healthy meal, for example:

− a greenhouse

− a chicken coop

− a watering system

Design a Farm

Lesson description

Students call upon the knowledge developed across the unit to develop and design a sustainable farm, ensuring that all modules covered in the unit, including classification, life cycles and interdependence of living things and the production and use of food and fibre are considered and addressed. Students collaborate in small groups to consider these aspects, before working individually to design and plan their own sustainable farm.

Page updated

Report abuse