Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

Experience Engage Enable

Telephone02 9816 1298

Emailfieldofmar-e.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Features of places excursion program

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Teacher checklist

Main location

Buffalo Creek Reserve, 117 Pittwater Road, Hunters Hill

Wallumedegal Country

Google maps - Apple maps

Supply bus driver with Buffalo Creek bus information.

No bus entry into Buffalo Creek Reserve carpark.
Buffalo Creek Reserve risk management plan

View the YouTube track overview videos.

Sugarloaf Point loop track
Alternate location

Field of Mars Reserve – Pittwater Road, East Ryde

Wallumedegal Country

Google maps - Apple maps
Supply bus driver with Field of Mars Reserve bus information
Field of Mars Reserve risk management plan

View the YouTube track overview videos.

Buffalo Creek track

Doyle and Warada loop track

Strangers Creek loop track
Cost

2025 DoE $25 per student - GST free

2025 Non-gov school cost $35 per student - GST free, minimum charge $750

Term 1 - Catholic school Weeks 3 to 7  cost = DoE cost - GST free, minimum charge $750

Schools are to confirm the number of students and classes at least 7 days prior to attending. Schools will be charged based on the number of students confirmed or number of students who attend on the day (whichever is greater). 
Welfare

Participants will be bushwalking during the day in rugged terrain.

Not wheelchair accessible.

This excursion may not be suitable for people who have recently been unwell.
Bring

Backpack, medication, low-waste food, water bottle, sunblock, raincoat, hat, sturdy shoes.

Students wear reusable name tag and sports uniform.
View

Preparing for an excursion
Supporting resources

Student activities

Social story – Features of places

Animal and plant fact sheets
Bin access

All student waste to be taken home by students.
Parent/carer helpers Optional one parent per class, no siblings. Closed shoes essential. 
Medical or special needs

Notify Field of Mars staff prior to excursion. 

Students, staff and visitors must not attend if unwell, even with mild symptoms. 
Extreme or wet weather

Days predicted to be above 35ºC, high winds, extreme bush fire danger and dust storms may result in the excursion being modified, postponed or cancelled. 
Cancellations

Cancellations with less than 30 working school days notice will incur a $600 administration fee. 

Cancellations with less than 7 working school days notice will incur the full cost for the program based on the original booking. 

Cancellations due to weather or fire danger are exempt from fees. 

Suggested timetable for up to six classes

Time Classes A, B, C, D, E, F
9.45 - 10.30

Introduction, toilets and recess
10.30 - 12.30

Bushwalk and activities
12.30 - 1.00

Lunch and toilets
1.00 - 1.30

Bushwalk and activities

1.30 - 2.00

 Nature map concluding activity 
2.00 - 2.15 Pack up and depart

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Features of places

HSIE geography

Program

Students investigate the natural and human features of the bushland, riverbank and mangrove areas and how they are used and cared for.

Learning intentions

  • We are learning to identify the features of and activities in Sugarloaf Hill and Sugarloaf Point.
  • We are learning about how we can care for Sugarloaf Hill and Sugarloaf Point.

Activities

Students will bushwalk through mangrove and eucalypt forests to the banks of the Lane Cove River.  Along the way they will stop for various sensory activities to discover the unique natural and human features of these places, how they are used by animals and people and how they can be cared for.

Students will use a variety of hands-on fieldwork tools and sensory and immersive experiences such as invertebrate hunts, exploring the mangrove forest, creating banksia creatures, crab hunting (tide permitting) and creating a memory map of their day’s journey using natural materials.

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Syllabus outcomes and content

Geography K-10 Syllabus (2015) 

Features of places

Outcomes

  • describes features of places and the connections people have with places GE1-1 
  • identifies ways in which people interact with and care for places GE1-2 
  • communicates geographical information and uses geographical tools for inquiry GE1-3 

Content

Features of places

  • investigate features of places and how they can be cared for, for example: 
    • description of the natural and human features of places
    • discussion of the natural features of places identified in Aboriginal Dreaming stories and/or Legends of the Torres Strait
    • consideration of how a place can be cared for

Other syllabus links

Learning experiences will also support but not explicitly teach the following outcomes and content:

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017) 

Outcomes

  • describes observable features of living things and their environments ST1-4LW-S 

Geography K-10 Syllabus © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2015

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, 2017

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Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

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We’d like to acknowledge the Wallumedegal Peoples of the Darug Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we stand and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

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