Environment
Return
to Curriculum
Concept
Map:
| Classifying
objects
- Which of these are living? non-living?
or dead? Leaves
on trees VS new leaves on ground VS dried up leaves on the ground; finger nails;
saltanas VS grapes; coral; snail shells; fruit from a shop VS fruit on a tree;
etc Do
a cut and paste exercise from magazines of living, non-living or dead onto 3 posters. |
Definition
of living things
- What are the features of a
living thing?
- What are the features of a non-living thing?
- What are the features of
a dead thing? | Variety
of non-living things
- What are the features of
a living thing?
- What are the features of a non-living thing?
- What are the features of
a dead thing? | Our
environmental backyards
- discover what plants &
animals we have in our backyard;
-plant some plants and help them grow;
- do we have a pet? what effects does having pets or cattle have on our environment?
|
Biodiversity,
change & continuity
- Why did some species
die out?
- What happened in to the dinosaurs?
-What factors affect survival
in Africa, Antarctica or Australia?
- Look at endangered species and how we
have tried to protect them | Living
together
- Food webs and ecosystems;
- interdependence
of animals and plants in any ecosystem;
- look at animals that live in groups;
- reasons for introduced species in Australia and ways to control them;
- evolution and how animals have adapted behaviourally to better their chances
of survival | Classification
of living things
- animal and plant kingdom;
- Australian flora and fauna;
-dichotomous keys for classification;
-identify
common plants & animals;
- similar features of animals that have evolved
together;
- identify patterns to make predictions;
- identify features
that define animal groups like vertebrates, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles
etc etc | Survival
- Living & non-living things that affect survival
|
Ecology
- What is ecology?
- Natural ecosystems;
- pond
& garden ecosystems within a school;
- setting up an aquarium;
-
jam jar aquarium;
- human change to ecosystems;
- classify animals by
their diet;
- animal parenting, feeding, competition & coexistence;
- explain behavioural features of animals that promote greater chances of survival;
| "Environment"
| Structure
of animals & plants
- structure of animals
and plants used for reproduction, support and movement; | Social
organisation
- dominance;
- animal communication;
- plant competition for light; |
| Scientists
- what scientists helped us with our understanding of our environment?
- who was Charles Darwin?
- modern scientists David Suzuki etc? |
Characteristic
of living things
- observing cells, tissues under
microscopes;
- viruses;
- what living things are made of;
- energy for life (photosynthesis);
| Scientific
Method
- Ways to work with the environment;
- graphing using
bar graphs or line graphs;
- averages;
- designing an experiment.
| Adapting
to the environment
- look at animal & plant adaptation to habitat (climate, predation, camouflage,
evolution)
- features of carnivores & herbivores;
- behaviour strategies
for hunting & evasion;
- body structures assists survival;
-"survival
of the fittest" :Darwin
- external features & adaptations for animals
& plants for survival. |
Microscopes
- using a microscope;
- types of cells;
- types of microscopes. |
Classification
of living things
- animal and plant kingdom;
- Australian flora and fauna;
-dichotomous keys for classification;
-identify
common plants & animals;
- similar features of animals that have evolved
together;
- identify patterns to make predictions;
- identify features
that define animal groups like vertebrates, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles
etc etc | Food
webs
- identify simple food webs in our own backyards;
- create a visual map to display how living things in a habitat interact;
- map our own human food web;
- explore typical food webs for Africa, Antarctica
or Australia; | Conservation
- explore ways Australians
are trying to save the environment;
- what do GreenPeace do?;
- explore
topical environmental issues;
- debate some key issues. |
The Black Death
-
understanding of how disease can affect the human habitat; |
Animal
& plant habitat
- where do various animals
& plants live in the world?
- what are the most common animals & plants in Australia?
- compare habitats
and the factors that affect them
- explore similar areas in the world. Are
the plants & animals similar?
- what does an animal or plant need in its
habitat?
- how does other animals & plants affect a particular species?
- what are some of the special needs for animals & plants in the Australian
climate? | The
Australian environment
- how is the Australian government
assisting in protecting our environment?
- what programs exist to protect
or repair our environment?
- what causes global warming?;
-what causes
the greenhouse effect?
-how
can I help? | Water
needs in Australia
- why is water so important in
Australia?
- how can you conserve water at home? |
Undesirables
- weeds or pests |
Pollution
- what types of pollution
are there?
- how can we limit it?
- what damage can it cause?
| Ecosystems
- Keeping things in balance |
|
1.
Definition of a living thing: It can be simplified by the term "REMRING":
(R)espiration: This is the process of using stored energy to help body growth,
repair and function; (E)xcretion is the removal of waste; (M)ovement can be of
any form (tenticles, legs, wings, cilia (little hairs) etc); (R)eproduction which
is the process of creating offspring in a new generation; (I)rritability which
is a strange term to suggest that the creature reacts somehow to its environment
(eg. heat, lack of water, danger, food etc); (N)utrition is the process of obtaining
food and using it; (G)rowth.
2.
Survival Game activities: These activities can highlight how the presence
of introduced species can affect the survival of other species:
Ecosystems
includes the interaction between living and non-living things in an environment
that affects the survival of plants and animals.Living things need sun, soil,
air and water to survive. Temperature, rainfall and sunlight affect the type of
vegetation that grows, which in turn influences the types of animals that live
there. Ecosystems can be different sizes - from a drop of pond water with microscopic
organisms to a ranforest, wetlands or desert. Ecosystems can exist within other
ecosystems. Some examples could include Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Great Barrier
Reef, our backyard, school yard etc.
Activity:
Discuss a typical ecosystem that exists nearby; identify the animals and plants
that exist there and display the food web that exists in the area. A food web
displays the relationship in the food chain of "who eats what".
Activity:
Bring into class a collection of 20-30 objects to classify them as living,
non-living or dead. Some things could be a piece of paper, pen, dead insects,
a human hair, a new leaf off a tree, a dried up leaf off a tree, wheat seeds,
an apple, an apple core, a plastic cup, a toy, etc.
Definition
of a living thing: It can be simplified by the term "REMRING": (R)espiration:
This is the process of using stored energy to help body growth, repair and function;
(E)xcretion is the removal of waste; (M)ovement can be of any form (tenticles,
legs, wings, cilia (little hairs) etc); (R)eproduction which is the process of
creating offspring in a new generation; (I)rritability which is a strange term
to suggest that the creature reacts somehow to its environment (eg. heat, lack
of water, danger, food etc); (N)utrition is the process of obtaining food and
using it; (G)rowth.
- Activity:
Focus on the relationship between organisms and the physical conditions that
affect the ecosystem.
- Activity:
Look at food webs in Australia, Africa and Antartica (eg. Gould League "Food
Webs, Classification & Biodiversity" Book & Kit $87).
- Activity:
Focus on the factors that encourage the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem.
- Activity:
Focus on introduced species and their influence on native species.
- Activity:
Students act to prevent environmental damage by becoming involved in "WaterWatch"
etc.
- Activity:
Look at extinct or endangered species; the reasons why they are endangered and
ways to prevent this.
- Activity:
Look at the theory of evolution put forward by Charles Darwin and evidence for
it.
- Activity:
Set up an ant farm and observe the behavioural patterns of ants over time.
- Activity:
Test water for pollution, micro-organisms, salinity or turbidity (mirkiness).
Food
Webs: A food web describes the interdependence of a series of organisms
within an ecosystem in terms of "who eats who". The way to draw a food
web is traditionally to display the names of the organisms with arrows coming
away from each organism to other predation organisms that are likely to eat them.
The terms that are useful include producer (eg. grass, plants, etc), consumer
(eg. rats, birds etc), decomposer (eg. bacteria etc) and predator
(eg. hawk etc). A typical food web might be the following ...
stork / \ \ \ / \ \
\ fish beetle snail frogs / \ \ | insects & plants tadpoles plants mosquito \
| / \ | / \ algae / \ | / sun
As
you can see, if the amount of algae reduces, then the number of tadpoles reduces
also. This in turn drops the number of beetles also but may not affect the number
of stork because the stork feeds off other things also. If the number of tadpoles
reduces, in time it will also drop the number of frogs and therefore the mosquito's
natural predator will reduce in number ie. mosquito numbers will increase. You
can see how complicated it could become!
- Activity:
This information can be displayed on cards and moved around on a table by a group
of students to discuss the relationship between the different animals.
- Activity:
A similar sort of task can be done in the context of a rainforest using trees,
rocks, water, rainfall, leaf litter, logs, soil, other animals, palms, ferns and
fungi. Remember trees and rocks provide shelter for some organisms; some plants
depend on soil and rainfall and leaf litter provides nutrients for the plants
in this ecosystem.
What
can threaten an ecosystem? Overpopulation, excessive hunting or fishing, natural
disasters, pollution, human intervention, disease, predators or feral animals,
destruction to the natural habitat, competition for food or shelter, animals with
a specialised diet.
Ways
of investigating an organism within an ecosystem? As a series of questions
we can find out a lot about an animal ...
- What
is it called?
- What
does it look like?
- What
does it eat?
- Where
does it live?
- What
other animals share this environment?
- What
are its natural enemies?
- What
other threats does it face in its ecosystem?
- What
might happen in the future for this animal?
