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

Cost, risk assessment and details

Cost	DoE $20 per student – GST free Non-gov $26 per student – GST free, min charge $750 per class Schools outside Greater Sydney – minimum charge $750 per class Program costs may change. Bookings are charged at the cost confirmed when you book.
Risk assessment	Risk management plan
Classes	Maximum 3 sessions per day. Recommended 2 or 3 classes per session with up to 32 students per class.
School preparation	Program length is 90 min or 2 hours. Schools to provide one extra large learning space, with a screen or projector, for all participating classes for the duration of the day. The space needs to accommodate multiple classes.
View	Watch it grow learning resource
Welfare	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 and rescheduling	Cancellation or rescheduling with less than 30 school days’ notice before the booking date – $650 Cancellation with less than 14 school days’ notice before the booking date – full program cost Cancellation due to unsafe weather or fire danger – $0

Activities

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

Invertebrate hunt

Students will work in small groups to find and collect invertebrates in your school grounds using a range of scientific equipment, such as leaf litter searches, tree shakes or sweep nets.

Invertebrate identification and life cycles

Collected invertebrates will be examined with personal magnifiers and identified using ID charts as well as life-stage charts. Select invertebrates will be magnified on a large screen, and their features and life cycles will be detailed and explained.

Students observe a live phasmid and learn its life cycle through an age-appropriate narrative. Students identify external features and discuss how these features help the animal survive, with an option for gentle, supervised handling.

Build a bug (2 hour sessions only)

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.

Explore related fact sheets

Use these student-friendly fact sheets before or after your Life cycles incursion to introduce invertebrate life cycles, growth, change and habitats found in school grounds.

• ⁠Invertebrate fact sheets – Explore small animals with different body features, habitats and life stages.
• ⁠Insects fact sheet – Learn about insect features, eggs, nymphs, larvae, pupae and adults.
• ⁠Fly fact sheet – Discover an insect with egg, larva, pupa and adult stages.
• ⁠Phasmid fact sheet – Learn about stick insects and leaf insects that hatch from eggs and grow through nymph stages.
• ⁠Leaf litter habitats fact sheet – Explore fallen leaves, bark and twigs where invertebrates, eggs, young animals and decomposers may be found.
• ⁠Habitat fact sheet – Learn how habitats support living things as they grow, feed, shelter and reproduce.

Suggested timetable

Time (90 min sessions)	Classes
9.30 - 11.00	Classes A and D
11.30 - 1.00	Classes B and E
1.30 - 3.00	Classes C and F

Choose between 90 min or 120 min sessions.

Please include your school's bell times in the notes section of your booking form.

Time (120 min sessions)	Classes
9.00 - 11.00	Classes A, B, C
11.30 - 1.30	Classes D, E, F

This timetable might require some classes to start recess or lunch early or late.

Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary

observe, identify, classify, record, sequence, compare, infer, life stage, egg, larvae, pupa, juvenile, instar, phasmid, leaf litter

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