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Waterways: clean-up

We all have the power to help keep our coastlines, rivers, lakes, swamps, creeks, floodplains, billabongs and estuaries clean by diverting rubbish from our waterways. This can be done with regular clean-ups, picking up litter when you see it, and changing our behaviour such as limiting our use of single-use plastic. This ...

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Whose Country: exploring First Nations peoples languages map (13-18yrs)

This activity introduces the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Nations peoples of this Country. They are the traditional custodians of the lands, waterways and skies across Australia and that it is important for us to recognise that. Learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages ...

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Creating your own potato chips: growing

This learning activity will teach children to grow, cook and market their own brand of potato chips. The first step is growing our potatoes! This learning activity is the first part of a sequence of 3 individual learning activities focused on creating your own potato chips. The order of these learning activities are: growing, ...

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Waterways: behaviour change

We have the power to help keep our coastlines, rivers, lakes, swamps, creeks, floodplains, billabongs and estuaries clean by diverting rubbish from our waterways. We can all be change makers. By altering our everyday habits such as limiting our use of single-use plastic items, we can also inspire others to do the same. This ...

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Creating an Indigenous plant-use garden: plant list

For thousands of years, First Nations peoples across Australia have been growing and cultivating plants. Plants are grown for many different purposes, including food, tools, medicine, shelter, clothing, hunting, carrying, water craft, ceremony and land management. Everything they needed to survive is provided by the bush. ...

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Create dichotomous keys lesson

In this lesson students engage in a hands-on exploration of local diversity. Students research and record local wildlife, learn about biodiversity in Australia, and conduct a ‘bush blitz’. They learn how to create dichotomous keys and translate their keys into a wildlife discovery app prototype. The resource includes links ...

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Creating a bee hotel: research

Explore the different types of bees common to Australia, their features including how they are different to flies and wasps. We will focus on native bees, specifically to learn about their nesting habitat. This learning activity is the first part of a sequence of 2 individual learning activities focused on creating a bee ...

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Understanding weeds: life cycle

Weeds compete with native plants in our natural environments, and can dominate both natural ecosystems and areas of agricultural production. This competition limits biodiversity, as well as the economic potential for farmers. This activity will look closely at three different weed forms and children will learn about their ...

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Catchment management: the story of a river

Water moves through the environment by the Water Cycle. This activity investigates the journey of a river through the catchment. It is part of a sequence of 5 individual learning activities designed to support understandings of catchment management. Follow water through the environment and explore the changes to water quality ...

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Creating a yarning circle: connecting to Landcare

This activity is designed to help you make connections with your local Landcare or environmental group and facilitate a partnership with these organisations. It is part of a sequence of 8 individual learning activities designed to support the use of yarning circles. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: make ...

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Industrial design challenge – separating materials lesson

is lesson provides a great introduction to the idea of separating mixtures and enables students to consider separation as a process that operates on macroscopic levels. Students also learn about waste management and recycling processes in Australia. The lesson provides students with an opportunity to engage in hands-on ...

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Making a large wicking bed

Wicking beds are a fantastic invention, allowing crops to be watered more efficiently. Making a large wicking bed does involve a few steps and some preparation, however the benefits of this extra effort are water conservation, improved plant growth and better crops. The design of the wicking bed also provides opportunities ...

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Growing your own pizza

In this hypothetical exercise, young learners will explore what they would need to establish if they were to grow their very own pizza. The OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: investigate where and how food is produced; appreciate the complexities of food manufacturing; expand their knowledge of food ...

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Catchment management: the drain is just for rain

Stormwater originated as rain and flows into creeks, rivers and other water bodies. Any rubbish or chemical pollution collected during this journey can end up polluting the waterways. This activity looks the impacts of stormwater and rubbish in our waterways. Outcomes of this learning activity are for students to: understand ...

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Catalyst: Would you eat insects?

A lot of resources go into the production of beef. For example, 20 litres of water is needed to produce just 1 gram of beef. In order to produce food more sustainably to feed an ever-growing population, some alternatives to protein have been suggested. What are some of these alternatives? Do you think they will ever replace meat?

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The physics of invisibility cloaks

Could an invisibility cloak actually work? Prashanth and Maria from MIT explore this idea and demonstrate the cool ways that light bounces, bends and mixes. How do the wings of the Morpho Butterfly give clues about how an invisibility cloak could work? How would light need to be channelled in order for something to seem invisible?

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Growing carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes are a very tiny but super strong material used in manufacturing to create strong, lightweight products. Besides sporting equipment, find out what other kinds of products are made using these tiny molecules. What other qualities (besides size and strength) do carbon nanotubes have that makes them even more ...

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Catalyst: Tsunami prevention in the Pacific

By investigating sediments and debris left by devastating tsunamis throughout history, Japanese scientists are making discoveries that change the way we understand disaster prevention in the Pacific. Watch as research teams examine rocks and mud layers; create digital simulations of past tsunamis; and investigate the seabed ...

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Sciencey: Five things you need to know about climate change

Find out how carbon dioxide makes the Earth warmer, how oceans store heat and the way we can see climate history in ice. What are the consequences of changes in the global climate? What can we do as individuals and communities to stop these negative changes?

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Sciencey: Will Australia have the last bees on Earth?

Bee populations around the world have started vanishing, in a process known as colony collapse disorder. Scientists have many ideas about what causes colony collapse, including one possible culprit: the varroa mite. Australia is one of the last places on Earth unaffected by varroa. Could this mean that Australia could have ...