Field guide HPGE enrichment program | Stage 2–3 Creative Arts and Science and Technology | Field of Mars EEC

Cost, risk assessment and details

Cost	$60 per student - GST free This will be processed through the student's home school. This program is only available to NSW Department of Education school students.
Dates	Available dates
Times	9.15 – Drop off 2.15 – Pick up
Risk assessment	Field of Mars Reserve risk assessment - main location
Transport	Schools are required to organise transport for students to and from the location. No vehicles are permitted into Field of Mars Reserve.
Staff	Teachers are not required to attend but are welcome.
Student selection	Maximum 12 students per school per day. When choosing your students, remember the program takes place indoors, outdoors and in public spaces. Students may be near creeks and bushland tracks. While EEC teachers supervise them all day, consider if they’ll need SLSO or teacher support to stay safe.
Bring	Sports uniform, backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes, reusable name tag.
View	Preparing for your excursion
Welfare	Participants will be walking during the day on an accessible boardwalk. Wheelchair accessible. May not suit recently unwell participants. For medical or special needs notify staff prior to program.
Extreme or wet weather	Program may be modified, postponed or cancelled due to predicted extreme temperatures, bush fire danger, heavy rainfall, high winds or dust storms.
Booking policy	Confirm student details 7 days in advance.
Cancellation fee	Less than 4 weeks notice – full cost Weather or fire danger cancellation – $0

Activities

Discovery

Students begin with a close-up photography challenge around the education centre, searching for the small details that are often overlooked. They capture leaves, flowers, seeds, bark and other natural features to create a collection of digital specimens for their field guide title page.

Colour palette

Students use Procreate to capture and explore the colours of the bushland. Experimenting with watercolour brushes, blending tools and custom palettes, they create colour swatches with annotations inspired by the natural environment.

Digital journaling

Students transform field observations into detailed digital illustrations using Procreate. They explore brushes, layers, colour palettes and drawing tools to represent texture, form and scientific detail with accuracy and creativity.

Expedition

Students explore Field of Mars Reserve to investigate biodiversity, habitats and non-living features. Using Field of Mars EEC iPads, they photograph, observe and record details that will become the foundation of their digital field guide.

Field guide

Students refine and complete their multi-page digital field guide by combining their strongest photographs, illustrations, annotations and scientific observations into a professionally designed publication.

Each student’s field guide will be professionally printed. A PDF version will also be shared with the school via Google Drive.

Showcase

Students present selected pages from their completed field guides, explaining their observations, artistic techniques and the scientific thinking behind their work.

This program is only available to NSW Department of Education schools.

Timetable

Time	Activities
9.15	Arrival
9.30 - 10.15	Discovery
10.15 - 10.30	Recess
10.30 - 11.00	Colour pallet
11.30 - 11.30	Digital journaling
11.30 - 12.00	Expedition
12.00 - 12.30	Lunch
12.30 - 2.00	Field guide
2.00 - 2.15	Showcase
2.15	Depart

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

observe, document, describe, annotate, classify, represent, ecosystem, biodiversity, biotic, abiotic, quantitative, texture rubbing, specimen

Syllabus outcomes and content

Syllabus outcomes and content Stage 2

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus (2024)

Visual Arts

Outcome

• makes artworks using art forms to represent subject matter and ideas, and describes ways artists convey ideas about their world to audiences through artworks CA2-VIS-01

Content

Making: Artists represent their world through subject matter and ideas in artworks

• represent subject matter and ideas in artworks, making choices based on own interpretations of the world
• use drawing materials and techniques to create effects with texture and tone to represent subject matter and ideas
• explore balance, scale and proportion in compositions to represent subject matter and ideas
• demonstrate safe art making practices with respect for physical, social and digital saftey

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024) - Stage 2

Physical and living systems depend on energy

Outcomes

• Uses information to investigate the solar system and the effects of energy on living, physical and geological systems ST2-SCI-01
• Uses and interprets data to describe patterns and relationships ST2-DAT-01

Content

Living things depend on energy and materials to survive

• Observe and describe living and non-living things in a habitat
• Describe the transfer of energy between plants and animals using food chains, Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024

Syllabus outcomes and content Stage 3

Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus (2024)

Visual Arts

Outcomes

• makes artworks in intentional ways to represent ideas about their world, and explains ways artists are influenced by contexts and how artworks are interpreted by audiences CA3-VIS-01

Content

Making: Artists represent their world in intentional ways through their artmaking practice

• Represent ideas or perspectives of their world and intentions in own artmaking practice
• Use drawing materials and techniques to create artistic effects to represent subject matter or ideas in intentional ways
• Create intentional effects with awareness of the relationships between colours and tones, to represent subject matter or ideas in realistic, imaginative or symbolic ways
• Use painting materials, techniques and processes to explore ways to apply paint in combination with mixed media materials
• Apply understandings of materials, digital technologies and processes to represent intended ideas in artworks
• Explore artistic conventions and ways to represent subject matter and ideas in compositions
• Demonstrate safe artmaking practices with respect for physical, social, digital and cultural safety

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024) - Stage 3

Knowledge of our world and beyond inspires sustainable solutions

Outcomes

• Uses evidence to explain how scientific knowledge can be used to develop sustainable practices ST3-SCI-01
• Interprets data to support explanations and arguments ST3-DAT-01

Content

Living things may change over millions of years, in response to their environments

• Observe behavioural and structural adaptations of plants and animals, and suggest how these may help them survive in their environments

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2024