Students will look at the biodiversity of their school grounds - focussing on invertebrates. They will collect and identify invertebrates around their school gardens. Dichotomous keys are used to identify the invertebrates through observation of their unique identifying characteristics. Through exploration of the gardens around, students identify the physical conditions of an environment and describe the requirements of the living things that exist there. The use of scientific equipment, like magnifying glasses, viewers and microscopes, allows students to observe, describe and identify the diverse range of organisms that call the garden/bushland environment home. As an extension, students may use professionally collected specimens and an age appropriate dichotomous key to identify them.
Key Concepts: Biodiversity, invertebrates, living things, environment, physical conditions, growth, survive, features, life cycles
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