Life cycles excursion | Stage 1 Science and Technology | Field of Mars EEC

Cost and details

Cost 2026	DoE $27 per student – GST free Non-gov $37 per student – GST free, min charge $750 per class Term 1 – Non-gov weeks 3 to 6 cost = DoE cost – GST free, min charge $750
Classes	Maximum 6 classes with up to 30 students per class.
Risk assessment	See location tile below.
Bring	Sports uniform, backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes, reusable name tag. A tote tray per class to bring back clay craft.
View	Preparing for your excursion Watch it grow learning resource Life cycles social story
Welfare	Rugged bushwalking, limited wheelchair accessibility. 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 numbers and classes 7 days in advance.
Cancellation fee	Less than 30 working school days – $600 Less than 7 working school days notice – full cost Weather or fire danger cancellation – $0

Activities

Activities may vary depending on student needs, timing and weather.

Bushwalk

On a guided bushwalk, students search for evidence of animals and plants at different life stages. Students use observation and simple recording to describe what they find and infer life stages from evidence.

Students will collect a small set of natural items, for example gumnuts, sticks, leaves and sand, and use them to sequence the life cycle of a plant. Through a guided story and hands-on modelling, students describe how a tree changes from seed to seedling to adult and produces new seeds.

Invertebrate investigation

Students investigate invertebrates using ground and vegetation survey techniques, such as leaf litter searches, tree shakes or sweep nets. Using simple ID charts and life-stage prompts, students identify external features and group observations by life stage: egg, juvenile, adult.

Students use modelling material and loose natural items to create an invertebrate model based on a species they observed. Students include key external features and identify the life stage represented, then share their model and explain how living things change as they grow.

Suggested timetable

Time	Class A, B, C	Class D, E, F
9.45 - 10.30	Introduction Toilets, crunch and sip or recess	Introduction Toilets, crunch and sip or recess
10.30 - 12.00	Bushwalk	Invertebrate investigation
12.00 - 12.30	Lunch and toilets	Lunch and toilets
12.30 - 2.00	Invertebrate investigation	Bushwalk
2.00 - 2.15	Pack up, toilets and depart	Pack up, toilets and depart

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

observe, identify, record, compare, investigate, explain, sequence, life stage, larvae, metamorphosis, invertebrate, phasmid, leaf litter, habitat, investigation

Syllabus outcomes and content

Syllabus outcomes and content

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024)

Investigations of changes provide knowledge and understanding

Outcomes

• Poses questions based on observations and information to investigate cause and effect ST1-PQU-01
• Measures and describes changes in living things, materials, movement, Earth and the sky ST1-SC1-01

Content

Living things change over time

• Collect data about the variety of living things in a local habitat, group them and justify the groupings
• Describe the changes in a plant as it grows using data and scientific models
• Describe the changes in an animal as it goes through its life cycle using data and scientific models

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