Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

Experience Engage Enable

Telephone02 9816 1298

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

Water environments excursion program

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hands holding crabs
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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
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 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 four school week's notice will incur a $500 administration fee. This does not apply to cancellations due to weather or fire danger.

Suggested timetable for up to six classes

Time Classes A, B, C, D, E, F
9.45 - 10.20

Introduction at Buffalo Creek Reserve, toilets and recess
10.20 - 12.15

Bushwalk and activities
12.15 - 12.45

Lunch at Sugarloaf Point on the bank of the Lane Cove River
12.45 - 1.30

Bushwalk and activities
1.30 - 1.40

Crunch and sip and toilets at Buffalo Creek Reserve

1.40 - 2.00

 Nature map concluding activity 
2.00 - 2.15 Pack up and depart

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Learning activities

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

Inquiry questions

  • What are the features of and activities in the water environments of Sugarloaf Hill and Sugarloaf Point? 
  • How are Sugarloaf Hill and Sugarloaf Point used by people?
  • How can we care for these places?

Fieldwork

Students will investigate the features of the wet mangrove environments, bushland ponds and Lane Cove River and consider how they can care for these places.

The bushwalk will traverse the mangrove forest of Buffalo Creek Reserve, the eucalypt forest of Sugarloaf Hill and the riverbanks at Lane Cove River. Along the way students will stop for various sensory activities to discover the features of our unique Australian water environments. 

Each of the activities will incorporate people's interactions with, and responsibilities towards, these environments. Students will practise caring for these environments. throughout the walk.

We will acknowledge the practices of the Wallumedegal Peoples in sustainably managing these environments.

Lunch will be taken along the river bank at beautiful Sugarloaf Point which is an ideal location for semi-structured nature immersion activities such as exploring the tidal mudflat environment, tide permitting.

At the end of the day students will work in small groups to use natural materials to construct a memory map of the areas natural features. Students will explain the features and suggest actions for caring for the place.

 

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Syllabus outcomes and content

Human Society and its Environment K-6 Syllabus (2024) 

People are connected to places and groups 

Outcomes

A student:

  • describes ways people connect to and care for places, water environments and each other, using geographical information HS1-GEO-01 

Content 

People care for Australia's water environments

Students:

  • Observe and describe natural and human features of Australian rivers, lakes, beaches and oceans by collecting and representing data
  • Locate and describe freshwater and saltwater bodies in Australia
  • Compare the ways people use water environments in Australia by posing questions to collect data
  • Explain how people can use and care for water responsibly

Human Society and its Environment 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

Geography K-10 Syllabus (2015) 

Outcomes

A student:

  • 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

Students:

  • 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

A student:

  • 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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