Experience Engage Enable
T: Telephone02 9816 1298
| Location | Field of Mars Reserve, Pittwater Road, East Ryde Wallumedegal Country |
| Bus access | Supply bus driver with Field of Mars Reserve bus information No bus entry into Field of Mars Reserve. |
| Cost | DoE $24 per student - GST free Non-gov school cost $34 per student - GST free, minimum charge $600 |
| Risk assessment | Risk management plan COVID-19 safety plan |
| Tracks | View the YouTube track overview videos. Buffalo Creek Track Doyle and Warada loop track |
| Welfare | Participants will be bushwalking during the day in rugged terrain. Limited wheelchair accessibility. |
| 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 | |
| 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 weeks' notice will incur a $500 administration fee. This does not apply to cancellations due to weather or fire danger. |
Time |
Classes A, B |
| 9.45 - 10.30 | Introduction, recess and toilets |
| 10.30 - 12.00 | Fieldwork |
| 12.00 - 12.15 | Introduction to data analysis |
| 12.15 - 12.45 | Lunch |
| 12.45 - 1.40 | Analysis of evidence |
| 1.40 - 2.00 | Presentation of conclusions |
| 2.00 - 2.15 | Pack up and depart |
Students investigate evidence of nocturnal vertebrates, herbivores and carnivores in a quest to sort, classify, label and explain their evidence of the reserve’s ‘night raiders’.
Inquiry questions
Fieldwork
Following a soundscape as stimulus, team member roles will be allocated, the quest explained, skills modelled and equipment distributed.
Working in collaborative teams, students will collect clue cards along the track through the bushland in the Field of Mars Reserve. Students will unravel the rhyming riddles to locate evidence and follow positional directions. Using specimen jars and tongs, students will collect some examples of moveable evidence and use iPads to photograph evidence that can’t be collected.
Analysis and communication
Back in the 'lab', students will sort and group their evidence. They will use identification sheets and a multitouch informative book on the iPad to classify their evidence into herbivore and carnivore and to identify animals from the evidence collected. Students will label their evidence and add notes and arrows showing the relationships between animals.
Evidence charts will be prepared for display to the other teams. Teams will examine other teams’ evidence and make amendments to their interpretations and conclusions. Students will create claims based on all the evidence presented by the class.
To conclude the day students will present their claims and supporting evidence in a news report style presentation moderated by Field of Mars teachers. This can be recorded and given to teachers for assessment purposes.
Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017)
Outcomes
A student:
Content
Survival of living things
Students:
describe how living things depend on each other and environment to survive
Learning across the curriculum
Sustainability
Opportunities to develop an awareness of sustainable practices, careful and responsible management of natural resources.
Critical and creative thinking
Students develop critical and creative thinking skills as they pose questions, make predictions, engage in firsthand investigations ... make evidence-based decisions, and analyse and evaluate evidence.
Personal and social capability
Expanding a student's capacity to question and solve problems.
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
address
Field of Mars Reserve
Pittwater Road
East Ryde NSW 2112
telephone 02 9816 1298
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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