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Teacher preparation - Collect two buckets of soil from two different locations. Put the students into teams. Each team takes a cup of soil and tips the contents onto a piece of large butchers paper. In each corner of the paper write - plants, animals, soil, other. Students use tweezers, paintbrushes and magnifiers to carefully examine their soil sample and move their findings into one of the four corners. Record their findings on the worksheet. Gather students together to conclude the activity by sharing their findings.

Students were taken to the school woodland and encouraged to take time to reflect and enjoy the woodland environment. Students completed four different tasks - a Y chart to draw on their senses, sketches of trees, leaves, bark etc and a search for habitats.

As a whole class the students made playdough. I found this to be the best recipe as it did not require cooking. Ingredients · 2 cups plain flour · 2 tablespoons vegetable oil · 1/2 cup salt · 2 tablespoons cream of tartar · 1 and a half cups boiling water (adding it slowly until it feels just right) · food colouring (optional) · few drops glycerine (secret ingredient for stretch and shine!) Method Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add boiling water into the dry ingredients. Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky, combined dough. Add the glycerine. Allow it to cool down then take it out of the bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. This is the most important part of the process, so keep at it until it’s the perfect consistency. If it remains a little sticky then add a touch more flour until just right. Before the students were given their blob of playdough, we conducted a class brainstorm about all the ways we could manipulate it. These were recorded in our Class Science Journal eg, press, pinch, squeeze, roll, flatten etc. Then the students were given time to get creative. Once the students had completed their model they were asked to use the words on the worksheet to describe how they formed and molded the dough. This is where the worksheet comes in handy as the students had a visual copy of the words. Students who struggle with literacy and to write a full sentence were encouraged to circle the words that they used to create their model.

This is an exciting lesson. I was able to set up a night activation camera in the hollow of a tree inhabited by a family of Southern Boobook Owls. Southern Booboook Owls live in Western Australia and they are the smallest owl on the Australian continent. These movies can be used to show the behaviours of any owl species. There are six owl movies. Movie 1 - the baby owlet rotates it’s head/neck 180. Movie 2 - the adult owl delivers a mouse to the owlets in the hollow. Movie 3 - the adult owl delivers an invertebrate (possibly a moth) Movie 4 - the adult owl delivers another invertebrate. Movie 5 - an adult owl enters the hollow. Movie 6 - a second adult owl enters the hollow. Here is link to the owl movies that have been uploaded onto my website. https://thescienceworkshop.weebly.com/southern-boobook-owls.html Use the accompanying worksheet to guide students as they view each movie. Students record what the owls are doing, what they eat and what goes on in an owl hollow in the middle of the night. It’s very busy!!

This is a detailed powerpoint on how to guide your students to make a ‘circuit’ bug. A circuit bug is an electronic/craft project using LED lights, a 3V disc battery, a peg, copper wire and pipe cleaners. Once the students have created their circuit they can work creatively to make a bug/minibeast. The possibilities are endless. The final slide in the powerpoint is a a set of review questions for the students to evaluate their learning experience.

The students work in teams of two to investigate ’How many times can the bottle be lifted to shoulder height in 30 seconds?’ This powerpoint explains how to set up the investigation. The final slide in the powerpoint includes discussion questions.

Students were shown different materials buried in a ‘see-through compost container’. The materials in the container were - a banana skin, plastic knife and paper egg carton. Students then engaged in a discussion about how long it would take the different materials to rot. The students then conducted their own investigation. Students chose one material either; fruit or vegetable scrap, plastic, paper or Chux cloth. Students placed their material in the bottom of a round take away container then covered the material with potting mix. A few weeks later the students uncovered their material and recorded their findings on the worksheet. Resource also includes an assessment rubric.

This activity is about the frogs in the area where you live. The students choose one frog commonly found where they live. In their journals or a piece of paper they divide their page into quarters like shown on the powerpoint. The students read through the text for their chosen frog and then sort the information into habitat, description, noise and food by recording the information into each box.

This is powerpoint explains how a 2 stroke engine operates. It explains the difference between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke engine. There are definitions explaining the parts of a 2 stroke engine - spark plug, air filter, carburettor, crank shaft and piston.

This is a powerpoint to guide students through an individual investigation where they explore their nervous system. To conduct the investigation the students will need one pin 1 paper clip ice a polystyrene cup hot water a fine tipped black texta a piece of 1cm grid paper The students will use a black pen to draw and 1cm grid on the back of their hand. In this grid they will use different materials to test out their sense responses. The students will make a duplicate grid on a piece of 1cm graph or grid paper. On this piece of paper they will record their responses using codes. The final slide in this resource includes discussion questions.

The students investigate how many how metal objects it would take to change the temperature of a cup of water. The students work in their cooperative teams to make a prediction and set up a fair test investigation by measuring the temperature of the water before and after placing hot metals objects into the cup. The students evaluate the investigation by concluding whether the hot metal pieces are heat producers or heated by something else. To conduct this investigation the students will need a thermometer, tongs to pick up the hot bolts, a timer, a polystyrene cup and several hot bolts from a hardware store. The bolts need to be placed in the sun to heat up prior to the lesson. This resource includes a PowerPoint presentation explaining how to conduct the investigation, an accompanying worksheet to record findings and an assessment rubric.

This is a powerpoint, youtube clip and worksheet that explains to students how to set up a fair test to investigate coral bleaching. Students will take two marine shells, weigh each shell then place one shell in a bowl of tap water and the other shell in a bowl of vinegar. Over the next week the students make observations and record the changes to each shell. There is also a worksheet to accompany this powerpoint. The worksheet is called ‘Investigating Coral Bleaching student worksheet’ . The students will make their own conclusions about the effect of Carbon Emissions on our coral reef ecosystems. The worksheet can be adjusted so that the investigation runs over a sorter period eg, one week.

TIn this package you will find - a worksheet and an assessment rubric. To conduct this investigation you will need to collect several metal coat hangers and tie string to two ends of the coat hanger. Place students into teams of two. Each team has a set of materials to test using their coat hanger. The strings on the coat hanger are ‘draped’ around the students ears. This is how the student will pick up and sense the vibration. The student use the worksheet to record their findings. Each student will ‘tap’ a selection of materials onto the wire of the coat hanger and the other student will indicate if they sense the vibration.

Students will examine images about Uluru to see how it has been affected by weathering, erosion and human activity. Students will carefully examine 6 images and describe the possible causes for the shape of the landform. Which type of weathering or erosion has caused the landform to change? Students record their ideas on the worksheet. Students draw a diagram predicting how the landform of Uluru might look 100 years into the future. At completion of the written task gather the students together to share their findings. This activity could be used as an assessment task to conclude a unit of work on erosion and weathering.

This is a Frog Quiz to be used at the end of a unit or topic on frogs. All the images are of frogs in the Perth region. Perth in Western Australia. However, the quiz could be used to review frogs in any part of the world. Students work in teams to write their answers.

This is an activity that is part of a unit on Our Five Senses. To set up the activity gather together up to 17 small film canisters or similar small jars. Place a cotton ball in each container. Use an eye dropper to add a few drops of the following food essences or aromatherapy oils to the containers - peppermint, lemon, orange, vanilla and rose. Mix up a small amount of coffee and pour a ew drops into one of the containers and to the final container add a few drops of vinegar. Place an adhesive dot on each container and then number them. Make a list of the scents and their matching number. This comes in handy for remembering what each scent is. Conduct a discussion with the students about our sense of smell. Invite them to the table that you have set up with the Scent Pots. The students use the worksheet to identify the smells that they recognise and place the correct number next to the scent. Place a cross through any scents that they did not identify.

To conduct this activity you will need to purchase about 10-12 Hexbug Nanos. I recommend fishpond.com. Explain to the students that Hexbug Nanos are robotic toys that move and react with sensors. Explain to the students that they will be working in teams of three to construct and create their own maze. Firstly get the students to draw a maze design that they will be able to build. Give each team the lid from a box of A4 photocopy paper. Cut an entry and exit opening for the students. Get them to make a mark where they want the opening to be cut. Pre cut several strips of hard cardboard with a guillotine (this will make it easier and quicker for the students to commence construction). Students construct their mazes using the strips of cardboard and masking tape. When their maze is complete they can test it out with their Hexbug Nano. On the worksheet the students can measure and record the distance travelled by their Hexbug. Then the students are ready to conduct their trials. For each trial the students place their Hexbug at the entry point and using a timer record how long it takes for the Hexbug to travel through the maze and out through the exit. If the Hexbug gets ‘stuck’ they re to record at which point it gets stuck and then make improvements to the maze. The goal is to continually improve the maze so that the Hexbug improves it’s travel time with each trial. The worksheet includes further questions on evaluating their investigation.

This is an interactive investigation where the students are taken to a bushland setting in Perth Western Australia or have access to a bushland area on their school site. The students use the worksheet to guide their investigation about the Nyoongar season of Kambarang which occurs in October/November Djeran which occurs in March/April Makuru which occurs in June/July Djilba which occurs in August/September There are several Nyoongar Six Season posters that can be purchased or found online. I purchased mine from SERCUL in Beckenham. I do not have a worksheet for Birak. This season is over the Jaunary/December period and Australian students are on their summer holidays at this time.

This activity template could be used for research on any Australian animal. It is a digital learning activity. The file was shared with each student via Google Drive but could be shared using whatever other digital learning platform that you use at your school. The students had to choose one of the informational sites from this my own website designed by Crickcrick herself! http://thescienceworkshop.weebly.com/bandicoot.html They then had to sort the information into the four text boxes on their digital learning file. The students had to describe a bandicoot, list possible threats, describe a bandicoot habitat and list the foods that a bandicoot eats. the students had the choice to upload their own photo of a bandicoot or use the one on the file.

This is a resource to set up on display in your science classroom. Each fortnight a different photo is displayed. The students guess what the photo is and submit their entries. This resource includes labels to set up your Mystery Science Photo display poster, how to construct the poster and how to make the shoebox for the entries. The resource includes enough photos for a 10 week term or two terms if you choose to put up one photo per fortnight. Before placing you photo on display be sure to snip off the answer located at the bottom of the page and place it someone safe so that you will remember what the answer is.