Background

Background

Plants are living things that need air, water, soil, and sunlight to live. When they grow their leaves capture light to make energy and their roots find water.

Key Learning Question

How do plants grow and survive?

Learning Intentions

In this program students will:

Background

Megafauna are big (mega) animals (fauna). These are animals that lived in Australia up to 100,000 years ago. They were at least 30% larger than any of their extant relatives. There is significant dispute as to whether the megafauna became extinct due to predation by humans or due to climate change.

The Diprotodon, the largest marsupial believed to have ever lived, was the first fossil mammal described from Australia in 1838. Fossil Diprotodon skulls have since been found in Bacchus Marsh and are currently on display at Museum Victoria.

Background

Common weather phenomena include wind, cloud, rain, snow, fog and dust storms. Almost all weather phenomena occur in the troposphere (the lower part of the atmosphere). Weather occurs primarily due to air pressure, temperature and moisture differences between one place and another.

Background

The Werribee River starts as a small river in the Wombat State Forest and flows south-east through Ballan, Werribee Gorge and Bacchus Marsh, where it meets the Lerderderg River. The River continues until its waters are held back by the Exford Weir creating the Melton Reservoir. The river becomes tidal at the Werribee Park Mansion, continuing to flow gently to Port Philip Bay. This completes a journey of approximately 110 kilometres.

Background

Background

Sugar gliders are small marsupials native to areas in eastern Australia. Their cute appearance has made them a popular choice as an exotic pet in some overseas countries such as the United States. There is an albino form of the sugar glider, which due to its recessive traits, is more rare and therefore more expensive. However, sugar gliders cannot be kept as pets in Western Australia, New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland or Tasmania due to animal welfare risks including neglect, cruelty and abandonment.

Background

Classification is an important tool for understanding and organising the diverse range of organisms inhabiting our planet. Living things are classified based on the organism's observable traits. Traditionally, this process involves the utilization of tools like dichotomous keys. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a novel tool for classification has emerged, presenting exciting possibilities.

Key Learning Question

What tools can be used to classify living things and why do we do this?

Background

Society relies on energy to survive. Regardless of how it is generated, our ability to reduce our use of energy is vital as we move into the future.

Saving energy is the term used to mean reducing our use of energy. In this program students will investigate ways that society has developed to reduce our usage of energy including smart building design, utilization of renewable energy resources, use of low energy appliances and future energy efficiency options for transport.

Background

Everyday human activities produce waste in a number of forms. Waste in the form of litter pollutes the land and waterways, while waste disposed as rubbish ends up in landfill which can contaminate groundwater, not to mention the need to find new holes as existing ones quickly fill. The “Three Rs”, namely Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, represent ways of minimising the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.