Mystery HPGE enrichment program | Stage 2–3 Science and Technology | Field of Mars EEC

Cost 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	See location tile below.
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 8 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 in bushland. Not 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 (excluding HPGE programs in Term 1, Weeks 3–5) Weather or fire danger cancellation – $0

Activities

Investigation

Setting the scene

The students will be given a real-life environmental mystery to solve: the discovery of animal remains in the reserve. Working in small groups, the teams will be challenged to deduce what animals could be the victim (prey) and villain (predator).

Groups will be formed, preliminary information provided, predictions made, skills taught and equipment distributed. Groups will plan their team roles and investigation methods.

Gather the evidence

With a focus on animal adaptations, the teams will undertake a ‘clue-seeking’ quest through parts of the reserve observing and collecting data on evidence such as scratch marks, droppings, fur, feathers, bones, etc. The students will be guided by cryptic clues relating to special locations in the bush. Students record their route and animal evidence observed using maps, notes and the camera app on iPads.

Drawing conclusions

The teams will analyse and interpret secondary data provided by Field of Mars EEC and their collected or photographed evidence. They will research additional information using iPad apps and digital books, and use higher-order thinking skills to draw conclusions and provide explanations for their claims.

Presenting the case

Teams will produce scientific arguments to discuss their findings and justify any inferences they make. The students will present their ‘case’ to the other groups in a creative way incorporating digital technologies as appropriate. This may be in role as talk show hosts, a court case, a news report or a puppet show.

This program is only available to NSW Department of Education school students.

Timetable

Time	Activities
9.15	Arrival
9.30 - 10.00	Introduction
10.00 - 10.30	Recess
10.30 - 12.00	Bushwalk and clue investigation
12.00 - 12.30	Lunch
12.30 - 1.30	Evidence analysis and research
1.30 - 2.00	Presentations
2.15	Depart

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

deduce, predict, analyse, infer, justify, collaborate, conclude, investigation, field evidence, adaptation, predator, prey, ecosystem, secondary data, scientific argument

Syllabus outcomes and content

Syllabus outcomes and content

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
• Describe ways in which plants and animals depend on each other for survival

Creating written explanations of physical and living systems supports understanding of Science and Technology

• Use Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary and noun groups to enhance the specificity of texts
• Use notes, diagrams, flow charts and annotations to support understanding and explain processes
• Use compound and complex sentences to sequence connected ideas into paragraphs when explaining cause and effect

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

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
• Interpret a food web that describes the flow of matter and energy between plants and animals in an ecosystem
• Identify and describe how the loss or introduction of plants or animals affects an Australian ecosystem

Creating written texts in Science and Technology

Outcomes

• creates written texts to communicate understanding of scientific and technological concepts and processes ST3-CWT-01

Content

Creating written explanations of concepts and processes supports understanding of Science and Technology

• Use nominalisations to convey scientific and technological concepts and processes succinctly
• Add authority to written texts by using data to support an evidence-based explanation or argument
• Use compound and complex sentences and labelled diagrams to create a text that explains a process, concept or investigation
• Use notetaking, journalling, annotations and labelled images to create a multimodal text that documents the design processes involved in developing a solution
• Acknowledge sources of information used in own texts

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