Close message Due to maintenance between 17:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday 14th May 2024, Scootle website may face disruption in service. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Search results

Listed under:  Science  >  Life  >  Ecosystems  >  Food webs
Interactive

Environmental forensics at sea

The main screen shows a marine environment and research boat against a background of coastal hills and a fiord. There are two entry points for investigation: Phytoplankton clues and Sediment cores, containing five interviews with a scientist explaining how science investigations can be used as a forensic tool to investigate ...

Image

Marine scientist in the laboratory

This is a colour photograph of marine scientist Dr Miles Lamare. Dr Lamare is in his office at the Portobello Marine Laboratory at the University of Otago, New Zealand. On the desk behind Dr Lamare is the scientific equipment he uses to download data from electronic tags, which he attaches to sea stars.

Video

Cockles' role in food webs

This is a colour video clip of marine scientist Stephen Wing, from the University of Otago in New Zealand, discussing the role cockles ('Austrovenus stutchburyi') play in marine food webs in New Zealand. (Classification - Phylum: Mollusca; Class: Bivalvia; Order: Veneroida; Family Veneridae.)

Image

A leopard seal on ice

This is a colour photograph of a leopard seal ('Hydrurga leptonyx') lying on an ice floe. The seal is long and sinuous, and has a small head and a dark grey dorsal surface with a lighter grey underbelly. The seal has recently eaten, and blood from its kill can be seen on the ice.

Text

Above the snowline

This ABC In Depth feature article gives a range of examples of adaptations and responses of Australian alpine ecosystems, plants and animals to cold conditions.

Text

Indigenous Science: shell middens and fish traps

This is an article about Aboriginal shell middens along the Queensland coast and the information they provide about Aboriginal food collection practices. Written by Kudjala/Kalkadoon Elder from Queensland Letitia Murgha and intended mainly for teachers, it describes how shell middens were created over thousands of years ...

Interactive

Studying Habitats

Students use this resource consisting of four slides with diagrams, written explanation and voice-over to understand the type of observations and measurements that need to be made when studying an ecosystem. There is a two-question quiz and a summary slide.

Text

Sunfish seekers

This ABC In Depth feature article is an interesting and lengthy account of this highly unusual fish and the reason it is threatened, despite its enormous reproductive capacity. Issues with difficulty in tracking these animals and the need for further research are explained.

Text

Rainforest fruit power

This ABC In Depth feature article discusses human potential use rainforest fruit-bearing plants and the need to maintain biodiversity. Many biotic interactions that effect reproduction and dispersal are described. Issues about using seed banks to try to maintain biodiversity are discussed.

Text

Treetop kangaroos

This ABC In Depth feature article includes everything you wanted or needed to know about tree kangaroos. This article describes their reproduction, classification, adaptations and issues relating to their conservation.

Interactive

Competition for Resources

Students use this resource consisting of six slides with diagrams, written explanation and voice-over to understand that organisms will compete with each other if resources are limited. Examples cited are cane toads and green tree frogs, conifers preventing undergrowth and the adaptations of some plants such as vines in ...

Video

Argo floats

This minute video segment from Catalyst decade ago describes the Australian initiative, Argo, that has become a major international collaborative project to look at the world's oceans and help understand processes at depth - monitoring the pulse of the global heat balance and giving us vital information on the ocean's role ...

Interactive

Habitats

Students use this resource consisting of four slides with diagrams, written explanation and voice-over to understand the relationship between habitat and ecosystem and important factors in some habitats. There is a two-question quiz and a summary slide.

Video

Dengue Mozzie

This nine and a half minute video segment from Catalyst is an excellent example of current Australian science, the use of biological controls on a pest and modern techniques and approaches to fighting the spread of human disease.

Video

Farmland run-off into estuaries

This is a colour video clip of marine scientist Dr Candida Savage discussing nutrient run-off from farmland, and the effects it has on estuaries and other coastal environments. The clip shows Dr Savage, from the University of Otago, New Zealand, being interviewed. It also shows images of houses on the banks of estuaries, ...

Interactive

Sites2See: Aim to sustain

A page supporting learning for sustainability, with selected links to interactive resources, including videos, games and activities for K-6 students, teachers and parents. This resource relates to the 'Aim to sustain' resources produced for Stage 3 and 4 students.

Image

Ngan'gi seasons calendar

This is a seasonal calendar developed by the Ngan’gi people of the Northern Territory in collaboboration with CSIRO. The resource contains an introduction, a richly illustrated calendar and related links. The introduction includes information about the people’s wish to document traditional knowledge of their Daly River ...

Interactive

Aim to Sustain

Students identify and explore ways in which human activity can threaten biodiversity and the health of our planet. Students are encouraged to take positive action to promote sustainability. The four resources: Get the message, Help a habitat, Alien invaders and A world of difference include videos, SMART notebooks, worksheets ...

Video

Sea Urchins

This 7 minute video segment from Catalyst describes an excellent example of how biologists have worked to investigate and solve a problem of an invading species of sea urchin that was devastating a marine ecosystem. The scientific approach to develop a biological control needed to rely on technologies such as radio tracking ...

Interactive

Biodiversity – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

This biodiversity learning resource guides students through an extended school based investigation. Students develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.