Human impacts and introduced species excursion program

Overview

This excursion program is an adventurous, engaging day of hands-on fieldwork that covers content from Module 4 of the NSW Stage 6 Earth and Environmental Science syllabus.

Students will:

• collect primary data and information at two sites using a range of quantitative and qualtitative survey methods

• investigate the direct and indirect biotic and abiotic effects of several introduced species such as lantana, small-leaved privet, red fox and Peruvian water-primrose

• investigate the effectiveness of current and past management/control strategies used by the City of Ryde and other governmental agencies.

Inquiry questions

The fieldwork activities have a strong focus on the syllabus skills for working scientifically.

The inquiry questions that guide this fieldwork plan are:

• What are the effects of introduced species on the environments in the Field of Mars Reserve?
• How have human activities allowed the spread of these introduced species?
• How can the effects of introduced species be controlled and mitigated in the future?
• What methodologies and data sources are required for a valid and reliable survey of the introduced species at the Field of Mars Reserve?

The map below outlines the activities conducted at each fieldwork site visited in the program.

Site 3 is the site of an old landfill that is being rehabilitated. At this site students examine a fox den, bush regeneration zone, and community planting area as well as learning about the impacts, control and management of local introduced species such as the red fox, lantana, privet, trad (wandering Jew), Madeira vine and more.

Sites 2B and 2C are alternative sites that may be visited and studied by request ,in place of sites 1 or 2. At these sites students learn about the priority management weed Peruvian water primrose.

Sites 1 and 2 are where most of the hands-on work occurs. Students work co-operatively in groups of two or three. Each group has their own bag of fieldwork instruments and other tools. 

Biotic factors surveyed include fauna evidence, forest structure, canopy cover and identification of dominant plant types – weed or native.

Soil factors surveyed include soil profile layers, parent material, soil texture, pH, moisture, colour and temperature.

Abiotic environmental factors surveyed are numerous and use instruments including hygrometers, compasses, clinometers, light meters and anemometers.

Students record their data and observations in two ways – first using their own worksheets and second using a shared online spreadsheet which they all access on their phones using the Google sheets app. This streamlines data collection, processing and analysis (and allows the teachers to spot and correct errors and suspicious data outliers as they occur)

Students identify and discuss issues with the survey method's validity and data reliability. This discussion includes explicit examples of different types of error and bias and strategies to minimise these.

Note: To get the most out of these activities your students need to watch these videos in the week before the excursion. Videos 5 - 11 are particularly useful.