Investigate the distinct features of our local wildlife that help them adapt to their environment, find out what is required for their survival and how we can help. This inquiry and sensory based learning activity into the features that define an animal, its habitat and the important role that wildlife has in the natural environment. Students will gain an understanding of their basic needs and learn simple actions they can do to help protect the wildlife and their homes.
This activity is aimed at lower secondary students.
Victorian Curriculum Learning Outcomes:
Science Inquiry:
Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically, including identification of independent, dependent and controlled variables (VCSIS134)
Biological Sciences:
Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs and can be affected by human activity (VCSSU093)
Ecosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (VCSSU121)
Human activities (for example, over-exploitation, habitat destruction, monocultures, pollution) can reduce biodiversity and can impact on the magnitude, duration and speed of ecosystem change (ACSBL028)
There are differences within and between groups of organisms; classification helps organise this diversity (VCSSU091)
Multicellular organisms rely on coordinated and interdependent internal systems to respond to changes to their environment (VCSSU117)
An animal’s response to a stimulus is coordinated by its central nervous system (brain and spinal cord); neurons transmit electrical impulses and are connected by synapses (VCSSU118)
The theory of evolution by natural selection explains the diversity of living things and is supported by a range of scientific evidence (VCSSU120)
Geographic Knowledge Landscapes & Environment:
Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs and can be affected by human activity (VCSSU093)
Human causes of landscape degradation, the effects on landscape quality and the implications for places (VCGGK119)
Spiritual, cultural and aesthetic value of landscapes and landforms for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that influence the significance of places, and ways of protecting significant landscapes (VCGGK120)
Causes and consequences of an environmental change, comparing examples from Australia and at least one other country (VCGGK147)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ approaches to custodial responsibility and environmental management in different regions of Australia (VCGGK148)
