Living world - Can you find me?

Scientific inquiry questions 

• What are the external features of living things? 
• How can we improve a local environment to encourage living things to thrive?  

Syllabus outcomes

• observes, questions and collects data to communicate and compare ideas ST1-1WS-S
• uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity ST1-2DP-T
• describes observable features of living things and their environments ST1- 4LW-S

Content

• Living World

Cross curriculum priorities

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Culture
• Sustainability

Activity 1 - Bug camouflage hide and seek

Students work in pairs to find a suitable habitat for a giant toy bug.

Activity 2 - Microhabitats and tiny bugs

Students conduct tree shakes to collect and identify a variety of bugs.

Activity 3 - Bug analysis and guided insect drawing

Students analyse a variety of bugs and complete a guided drawing of a beetle.

Activity 4 - Muruduwin: The Blue Wren

Students learn the story of how the Blue Wren (Muruduwin) got his colours.

Activity 5 - Birdwatch walk with binoculars

Students search for birds around the site with binoculars.

As a class, read 'Can You Find Me?' by Gordon Winch and Patrick Shirvington. 

Can you find me? - video

Watch an online reading of the story by our teacher Kate.

Discussions

Discuss camouflage, where animals look like where they live. Example activities for classrooms to teach camouflage:

Hide the lizard

• Students cut out a paper lizard use the Pattern Universe website to find a template which has been printed on white paper.
• Give students a piece of patterned paper, for example coloured stripes or spots. Scrapbooking paper is great for this activity, but try to find simple patterns.
• Ask students to place the cutout lizard on the paper and 'hide it' – colour the lizard in with the same colours and patterns as the paper behind it. Staple the lizard to the paper and display.

Make a bug

• With their newfound knowledge of camouflage, students draw a bug on an A5 piece of paper. The bug could be based on a real or imagined bug, but it should be the type of bug they might find in local bushland. Students must colour their bug in, being mindful of the colours they might have seen in the trees, bush or soil. These bugs should be brought to Brewongle EEC for the excursion.

There is no worksheet required for this program.