Schoolyard Species Survival

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• creative thinking
• critical thinking
• collaboration
• communication
• curiosity

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description:

Year 7 and 8, Science

• explain how evidence or different perspectives can lead to changes in scientific knowledge (AC9S7H01, AC9S8H01).

Relevant parts of Year 7 and 8 achievement standards: Students identify and analyse how different factors influence the development of and lead to changes in scientific knowledge. 

NSW Syllabus outcomes:

• follows a planned procedure to undertake safe and valid investigations (SC4-WS-04). 

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Numeracy

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium - lead students in class discussion, and oversee biodiversity audit and analysis of results.

UN SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

• Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.

• Devices for taking photos
• Magnifying glass
• Paper and pens/pencils.

This is an original Cool.org lesson.

How To Teach Sustainability With Hope - Primary and Secondary

Quick Summary: This course is designed for teachers of all subjects to discover how to bring hope to challenging, upsetting or worrying topics around sustainability. 

What Makes Something Threatened?

Quick Summary: This course explores biodiversity and threatened species within Australia with Ecologist Thomas Nixon. The course will help you discover how biodiversity is regulated in Australia, and how you can take action to protect our unique biodiversity.