Minibeasts live in the Ecolinc wetland and surrounding grassland. The term ‘minibeasts’ covers a wide range of small animal species including macroinvertebrates found in the Ecolinc wetland, and compost critters found in the Ecolinc compost bin. Sampling and identifying minibeasts provides opportunities for students to observe a range of animal species, features and behaviours.

Warning: Students will be handling compost in this program. Whilst students will be wearing gloves and all care is taken, students may come across egg shells, nuts and other food waste products. If students have a known allergy to any food items, please ensure that you advise the Ecolinc Education Officer taking this session.

What features do minibeasts have that enable them to survive in a variety of habitats?

In this activity students will:

• Understand the terms living things, minibeast and habitat
• Learn that minibeasts live in different habitats and have a variety of external features to survive in these habitats

Students will:

• Explore the Ecolinc wetland and grassland trail to find evidence of minibeasts
• Identify a range of wetland macroinvertebrates and their features
• Identify a range of compost bugs and their features
• Design a bug to suit a particular habitat and discuss the features that enable them to survive

Science – Science as a human endeavour

• Scientific knowledge is based on observations of the natural world using the senses, and scientific tools and instruments (VC2S2H01)

Science – Science Understanding

• Plants and animals have observable features that can be used to group them in different ways (VC2S2U01)
• Plants and animals have basic needs, including air, water, food and shelter; the places where they live meet those needs (VC2S2U02)
• Plants and animals have external features that perform different functions to enable their survival; in plants these features include roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruit, bulbs, trunks and branches while different features in animals enable them to move, breathe, eat and respond to their environment (VC2S2U03)

Science – Science Inquiry

• Experiences can be used as a basis for posing questions to explore observed patterns and relationships, and to make predictions (VC2S2I01)
• Observations are made using the senses and recorded, including informal measurements, using digital tools as appropriate (VC2S2I03)
• Data and information can be sorted and ordered using provided tables and organisers, and visual or physical models, to show simple patterns (VC2S2I04)

Mathematics – Statistics

• Acquire and record data for categorical variables in various ways including using digital tools, objects, images, drawings, lists, tally marks and symbols (VC2M1ST01)
• Acquire data for categorical variables through surveys, observation, experiment and using digital tools; sort data into relevant categories and display data using lists and tables (VC2M2ST01)

Geography – Geographical skills

• Represent and describe the information and data from observations in different formats, including sketches and labelled maps or photographs (VC2HG2S03)

Digital technology – Data, information and privacy

• Explore patterns in data and represent data as objects, pictures, symbols, numbers and words (VC2TDI2D01)

The following Learning Continuum is a guide for teachers to show the links between the programs Ecolinc offers onsite, online and through outreach. The Learning Continuum can be used to access Ecolinc resources to support the development of units of work.

Outreach programs are conducted by an Ecolinc education officer at your school. They are available to moderately disadvantaged primary schools in the Geelong, Ballarat and western suburbs areas (or within 100km radius from Bacchus Marsh)