Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

40 minutes	Part B: Where Can We Find invertebrates?
60 minutes	Part C: Why Are Invertebrates Important?
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: What Are Invertebrates?

Preparation:

Print and cut out the Animal Images. Keep the final reference pages handy to refer to during the animal image activity (Step 4). Also, print out the Vertebrate Invertebrate Signs (or create your own using scrap paper).

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by inviting students to work in pairs to discuss and answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is an invertebrate?
What is a vertebrate?

Explain to students that it’s OK if they don’t know the answer, but it is important for them to have a go and talk about the ideas they are having, to listen to each other and be inspired by what each other are saying.

You can then invite students to share their ideas with the class. Clarify student understanding by explaining:

Vertebrates are animals with a backbone (vertebrae) and bony skeleton
Invertebrates are animals without a backbone or bony skeleton.

Step 2.

You can then pose the question:

Are people vertebrates or invertebrates?

Give students a tip: “Have a feel around under the skin of your head, your back and your arms - can you feel anything hard that might be a bone?” (We hope so!!!)

Explain to students that this means that people are vertebrates. Can students think of any other animals that might be vertebrates? How can they tell they might be vertebrates? Invite students to suggest ideas and record these on the board. Prompt students to start by thinking of animals they have touched, like pets or chooks or stock animals.

Step 3.

Now pose the question:

If vertebrates have a backbone and a bony skeleton on the inside, what might an invertebrate have?

Allow students some time to speculate about this answer before explaining the following:

Invertebrates are animals that don’t have a backbone or a bony skeleton. Some invertebrates are soft and squishy, such as jellyfish or octopus. Some have a shell to give their soft bodies some protection, like a snail. Others have a skeleton on the outsides of their bodies; this is called an exoskeleton. This helps to protect their soft, squishy insides, a bit like armour. But unlike armour, they can’t just get the next size up when they grow; instead, they have to shed the old exoskeleton and grow a new one. Insects are invertebrates that have an exoskeleton.

Step 4.

Invite students to form a circle and place the cut-out animal images on the floor in the middle circle. Also, place the Vertebrate Invertebrate Signs on the floor.

Invite students to take it in turns to pick up one animal picture. For each image, the class can have a go at discussing which sign it should go on and why. In addition, invite students to think about:

What is this animal?
What features can you see on this animal that help you to identify it?
Where might this animal be found?
What might this animal eat?
Has anyone seen this animal?

You can use the final reference pages of the animal images to clarify student answers.

Part B: Where Can We Find Invertebrates?

Step 1.

Direct student attention to the invertebrates featured in the animal images of the previous activity. Which of these do you think you might find in the schoolyard?

Step 2.

Explain to students that they are now going to head outside and work in pairs to observe invertebrates in the schoolyard.

Before you go, remind students of your Outdoor Learning Tips, and especially to practice caution and care when observing invertebrates - you don’t want to get stung and you don’t want to harm any invertebrates.

Ensure each student has some paper and pen to record their observations.

Step 3.

In your outdoor learning space, invite students to settle and take a few moments to observe the world around them using their senses: what do they hear, see, feel and smell? Are any of these observations related to invertebrates (e.g. bees or a flies buzzing around, an ant walking around). Ask students to tune themselves into the smaller things living in the space around them.

Step 4.

Working in pairs or small groups, students find and observe an invertebrate. They shouldn’t need to go too far, and it might be that several pairs of students work together to observe one invertebrate. Students should try to identify and draw the animal they are observing and to make notes to their drawing about what they are seeing. The drawings don’t have to be perfect or expertly drawn; however, they should include as much detail as possible and have annotations to explain features in the drawing.

Students can also record details like:

Where they saw the invertebrate
What it was doing
The colour of the invertebrate
How many legs it had
Whether they could see any mouthparts of antennae
The shape and structure of the invertebrate (e.g. head, thorax, body for an insect, foot and shell for a snail)
How big the invertebrate is.

Step 5.

After some time, each pair of students should join with another pair to share their drawings and what they observed. If each pair observed the same invertebrate, did they make the same observations? If they observed different invertebrates, what was different and similar between the two animals?

Part C: Why Are Invertebrates Important?

Step 1.

Share the following clip with the class, explaining that it features the voice of Jess Marsh who is a scientist who studies invertebrates:

Jess Marsh, Kangaroo Island Invertebrate Scientist - The importance of invertebrates (https://vimeo.com/537480061)

Step 2.

Explain to students that they are now going to think about how they could improve habitats for the invertebrates at their school by making a place for them to live.

You could do this by working together to create one of the following:

Create an invertebrate zone in a school garden - Select an invertebrates zone at your school. This should be somewhere that doesn’t get disturbed too often (it might even be behind a building where there are few visitors). Place some old logs in the zone, along with leaf litter and bark. Think about planting one or two native flowering plants to attract native invertebrate pollinators, like native bees or wasps. Avoid placing a dish of water in the zone as they may fall in and drown - instead, you could make sure your invertebrate zone is watered regularly and the leaf litter isn’t disturbed so that the leaf litter doesn’t dry out. You could add a little fence and a sign to inform people what you’re doing.
Create an invertebrate zone in pots - If you can’t manage a zone in your schoolyard, you could always create your invertebrate zone in a couple of pots, keeping them close together, sheltered and watered. Again, add a sign to let people know what you’re doing.
Build an invertebrate house - Make transportable invertebrate houses out of small cardboard boxes or milk cartons. Cut a small entrance into the box and place it in the garden, add a stick to the top to stop it from blowing away. Alternatively, take an old ceramic pot, turn it upside down and prop one side up with a rock to let the invertebrates in and out. Students can take their houses home for their own yards.
Make a bee hotel - Many Australian native bees are solitary, meaning that they live and work alone to build a nest for their offspring. However, because of habitat loss there are fewer appropriate native plants and locations for bee hotels, so making one and positioning it in the perfect spot is a great idea. you can buy bee hotels but native bees have very particular requirements for nesting so it is often better to make your own to ensure it will be used. Find out more about bee hotels here: Solitary Bee Homes Factsheet.

Step 3.

Keep an eye on your invertebrate habitats over time. Without disturbing them, can you see any invertebrates settling in? Which ones and how many?

You could consider keeping a record of who is visiting and when - how do the seasons affect the types of invertebrates using your habitat?

Extension

You could repeat the observation and drawing stages of this lesson as many times as you like, trying your observations at different times of the day, during different seasons and in different locations to see if you find different invertebrates, thinking and talking about the reasons for these differences (i.e. different food and shelter sources and needs).

Students create a record sheet for recording the information about the invertebrates they see and when they see them (this could be a table or a pictograph).

Reflection

Finally, invite students to work independently to answer the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Three things I found interesting or important about invertebrates
Two questions I have about invertebrates (or something else we looked at in this lesson)
One thing I enjoyed about this lesson.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Know Your Invertebrates

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