HOW DO GPS SYSTEMS WORK

ARE BRAINS LIKE COMPUTERS? 

Animals and plants make homes in wild habitats like deserts and forests, but they also live amongst us, in our nature space, on the edges of buildings and between the cracks in the pavements. See if you can take photos of different habitats around our school and create a mind map of the different living things that might live in these spaces. 

Students collect data on observed plants and animals in each habitat. Following the nature walk. Discuss as a class how they might organise and represent their observations using Popplet, and how scientists find out about life in different habitats. 

WHEN - Anytime. No booking required.

WHAT - Students use the app Popplet to collect data on the biodiversity in garden beds around the school and present their data findings using Popplet (mindmaps). 

WHERE - Anyware around our school.

Popplet has been distributed to all classroom iPads (but please double check before embarking on this activity). 

Watch the video above for a quick tutorial on how to use Popplet for mind mapping. 

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS 

SCIENCE (Living Things) - Students respond to questions, make predictions, and participate in guided investigations of everyday phenomena. They follow instructions to record and sort their observations and share them with others. 

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES - Data Collection & Representation (Abstract Thinking Skills) - Abstract thinking is the ability to consider concepts beyond what we observe physically. Recognizing patterns, analyzing ideas, synthesizing information, solving problems, and creating things all involve abstract thinking. 

• Numerical Data Collection & Representation

• Categorical Data Collection & Representation

• Data Detective –Habitats around our School project (Popplet).

• Locate & use data.

• Identify methods for collecting data.

• Use software to create data displays.

Watch the video to the left for a quick overview of how to use AR Makr App. It should be installed across all primary iPads.

PLEASE HAVE A QUICK READ OF THE SLIDE SHOWS ABOVE CREATED BY MS GAIL. THEY PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW FOR STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS ABOUT ABORIGINAL SYMBOLS.

ACTIVITY

After exploring the slide show and engaging with the AR Makr Tutorial, students are invited to experiment with AR Maker by creating their own designs. They will venture into various parts of our natural spaces or around our primary school to thoughtfully place Aboriginal symbols in locations that resonate most with their meanings. For instance, they might associate sitting spaces with community gathering symbols, designate the campfire area in our nature space with symbols of warmth and gathering, or represent bubblers as waterholes, thereby enriching our school environment with cultural significance and interactive learning.

INPUT / OUTPUT NATURAL SYSTEMS

INPUT / OUTPUT DIGITAL SYSTEMS

HOW COMPONENTS OF A DIGITAL SYSTEM CONNECT TO FORM A NETWORK  

THE WOOD WIDE WEB - HOW TREES SPEAK TO EACHOTHER

WHERE - Set Course (activity linked to story walk).

WHEN - Bookings available, but can be impromptu.

WHAT - Teachers will need to source class iPads to use and distribute to small groups/pairs of students as they progress through the trail. Progressive story walk pages will be located on a laminated card map. The trail will finish with a QR Code for students to scan using an iPad in order to view both educator and student Mystery Readers presenting a range of digital stories to the students. 

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY

Students might like to create their own QR Codes that link to their videos from the Digital Narratives Green Screen presentation activity. 

Above is a video tutorial for students providing a guide of how to scan a QR code with an iPad camera. After scanning the QR Code, students can find a quiet space in our nature space to watch the stories in small groups/pairs. 

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

(Representation of Data & Digital Literacy) 

Knowledge- Data in digital systems can be text, numbers, images, sounds and symbols, with the use of QR codes to present data creatively.

Digital Literacy Skills - This builds on students’ digital literacy skills, as they manage and operate devices. Digital literacy means having the skills you need to live, learn, and work in a society where communication and access to information is increasingly through digital technologies like internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices. 

Understandings - Data can be represented in a variety of ways, including digital formats. 

(LINKED TO NATURE INVESTIGATIONS FUN WITH CLAY ACTIVITY)

Students can either use the clay models they have made during the 'Nature Investigations' activity or find natural items in our nature space to create short 'Stop Motion Videos' using the app 'Stop Motion Studio.' 

Stop Motion Studio has been distributed to all classroom iPads (but please double check before embarking on this activity). 

iMotion is a user-friendly app for all ages. Students will need to have teams of at least 3 for this activity. One student can act as a photographer, one student moving the items in the scene and one student pressing the photo capture button.

Digital Technologies - (Algorithms in Narratives and Information Reports) - Narrative and Information Report structure and visual language to create shared stories and understanding of concepts linked to coding (Sequencing & Digital Fluency). 

Digital Fluency - Digital Fluency is the ability to discover, select, evaluate, and use information and technology effectively and ethically. 

Literacy Connections (Creating Literature) - Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts.

WHERE - Nature Space

WHEN - Bookings available for Digi Tech iPads.

WHAT - Teachers will need to book Digi Tech iPads to use and distribute to small groups/pairs of students. Students use Book Creator to either create a Comic Book Narrative in Nature Play or begin an Information Report on the flora and fauna found around our school.

Early Years - Nature Play Book Creator Data walk Portfolios

Picture Graphs - Living and non-living things photography data hunt. Represent Data from Nature Play in different ways Collect data using technology e.g. take photos with a tablet, digital device, or digital microscope (Zoomy).

Please watch the video above with your students as a quick tutorial on how to use the different features of Book Creator. 

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Digital Technologies - (Algorithms in Narratives and Information Reports) - Narrative and Information Report structure and visual language to create shared stories and understanding of concepts linked to coding (Sequencing & Digital Fluency). 

Digital Fluency - Digital Fluency is the ability to discover, select, evaluate, and use information and technology effectively and ethically. 

Literacy Connections (Creating Literature) - Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts.

WHERE - Nature Play - Non-Specific

WHEN - Monday & Tuesday (during independent educator booked lessons) or see booking sheet for available lessons. Educators, please ensure you have watched the Green Screen Tutorial before beginning this lesson.

WHAT - iMovie app on Digi Tech iPads. 

Activity Challenge (see below):

STEP 1: Students work in pairs / small groups (using the Digi Tech iPads) to take photos of beautiful scenes/flora/fauna (at least 4-6 photos) found around our nature space. Discuss how to take a good landscape/perspective/zoomed-in photo.

STEP 2: Students select their favourite photo to present a brief David Attenborough (style) video narrative, to overlay with the green screen (see student example to the right).

STEP 3: Demonstrate to students how to use iMovie to overlay their images/documentary videos to the green screen. It is suggested that small groups take turns using the green screen, while the remaining students work on independently assigned tasks on the computers.

Digital Microscope (Patterns in Nature) Investigations -Students can gather different natural items around our nature space, and categorize natural items by different observable features and then use Zoomy/outdoor microscopes to re-categorize the data patterns they observe under the digital microscope. 

Please see Colleen if you would like borrow microscopes.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Mathematics (Data Collection) - Identify questions or issues for categorical variables. Collect data, organize into categories and create displays using pictographs / spreadsheets. 

Digital Technologies - Representation of Data (Abstract Thinking).

Seesaw offers an extensive collection of outdoor educational activities that span across literacy, numeracy, and science, providing a rich resource for teachers to engage their students in experiential learning. These activities, available for assignment on Seesaw, are designed to take education beyond the classroom and immerse students in hands-on, real-world learning experiences.

Within Seesaw's platform, educators have the option to choose from a wide variety of pre-designed journal activities. These range from straightforward photography tasks that capture the beauty and detail of the natural world to more complex outdoor art projects and scientific explorations that encourage observation, inquiry, and critical thinking. Whether it's identifying plant species, calculating the height of a tree using simple trigonometry, or creating nature-inspired art, each activity is crafted to enhance students' understanding and appreciation of the environment around them.

Tinkercad - Students use the codeblocks in Tinkercad to bring their coding to life (Conditional Programming). Students learn about the concept of biomimicry, analyze a pattern in nature, conduct research, and then use nature as an inspiration for designing a new product, structure, or space in Tinkercad. 

RESOURCES

Tinkercad Program

Zoomy

Natural Items (used to examine patterns)

LINK TO LESSON PLAN

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Tinkercad - coding brought to life (Conditional Programming) 

Mathematics - Exploring patterns through biomimicry in nature - Fibonacci sequence. Students analyse proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems. 

Digital Technologies (Programming) - Students practise computational thinking in analyzing a code-generated pattern inspired by nature. Students identify ways that analyzing and imitating nature can help solve problems. 

Computational Thinking (Problem Solving Processes): Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions. 

Google Earth - Measuring Distances in Nature Play with Google Earth App (using Ruler). You may like to design and develop your own measurement activities (pitched at your student's ability level).

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Explore regular and irregular shapes.

Compare and measure Angles

Look for 2 dimensional & 3 Dimensional Shapes

Compare & measure perimeters

Explore scales, legends and directions.

The Google Earth app has been distributed to all classroom iPads (but please double check before embarking on this activity). 

Students can use Google Earth to measure distances as well as the area and perimeter of different buildings and areas around our school.  

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Measurement & Geometry- Compare and describe 2 and 3- dimensional shapes that result from combining and splitting shapes with the use of Digital Technologies. 

OTHER AREAS 

Angles

Area & Perimeter 

Scales, Legends & Directions

Access the Nature Passport Web App on your tablet, laptop or desktop computer through your web browser. 

Click the button below to access the online version of the app. 

https://app.naturepassport.org/

Nature Passport is ideal for small groups who work together to complete guided activities outside the classroom. Each Nature Passport account allows multiple users to work in groups on separate devices while sharing a common journal.