Background

The Ecolinc wetland and grassland is home to a variety of native plants and animals. All these living things depend on each other and the wetland and grassland ecosystem to survive.

Learning Intentions

In this activity students will:

• Understand the terms environment and biodiversity
• Demonstrate how plants and animals depend on each other and the environment to survive
• Explore how plants provide shelter, food and nest sites for animals
• Experiment with different seed dispersal methods, leaf types and propagation methods
• Investigate predator-prey relationships in food chains
• Group animals according to their features.

Activities

Students will participate in 4 x 45 minute workshops:

• Workshop 1: Animals in their environment
• Workshop 2: Modes of plant survival
• Workshop 3: Feeding relationships and interactions
• Workshop 4: Effect of urbanisation on native animals

Victorian Curriculum

• Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things (VCSSU057 [1])
• Different living things have different life cycles and depend on each other and the environment to survive (VCSSU058 [2])

Outreach

Ecolinc offers the following outreach options:

• Peter Pan's seeds [3]
• Macroinvertebrate adaptations
• Birds and beaks [4]