Living World - Survival in a Wetland

Step inside the largest stand of Mangroves on the Parramatta River to discover our ecologically diverse environment.

Students will immerse themselves in the natural world by stepping into the shoes of a mangrove ecologist to study the biotic and abiotic features of a protected intertidal wetland environment. Their objective will be to increase their understanding of how this ecosystem functions, by conducting a range of scientific investigations, so they can better protect it from harm in the future.

Throughout the day students will work in small groups to gather data and observe biotic and abiotic interactions within 40 hectares of protected wetland. Each activity will focus on plants, animals or bacteria that live in the mangroves. Each activity has 2 components, one that relies on observation skills and the other involves primary data collection using hands-on fieldwork techniques. All of the data collected will be recorded by the students and the results can then be used to answer the inquiry question “How do living things survive in this intertidal ecosystem?”

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Living World (LW) – students develop their understanding of living things. They investigate the diversity of living things, including plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as their interdependence and interactions with each other and their environment. They explore their life cycles and structural features and how these aid survival.
• SC4-14LW - relates the structure and function of living things to their classification, survival and reproduction
• SC4-15LW - explains how new biological evidence changes people's understanding of the world

Content:

LW1 - There are differences within and between groups of organisms; classification helps organise this diversity. (ACSSU111)

LW2 - Cells are the basic units of living things and have specialised structures and functions. (ACSSU149)

LW3 - Multicellular organisms contain systems of organs that carry out specialised functions that enable them to survive and reproduce. (ACSSU150)

LW4 - Scientific knowledge changes as new evidence becomes available, and some scientific discoveries have significantly changed people's understanding of the world. (ACSHE119, ACSHE134)

LW5 - Science and technology contribute to finding solutions to conserving and managing sustainable ecosystems. (ACSSU112)

Skills:

• Develop knowledge, understanding of and skills in applying the processes of Working Scientifically
• SC4-4WS identifies questions and problems that can be tested or researched and makes predictions based on scientific knowledge
• SC4-6WS follows a sequence of instructions to safely undertake a range of investigation types, collaboratively and individually
• SC4-7WS processes and analyses data from a first-hand investigation and secondary sources to identify trends, patterns and relationships, and draw conclusions