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Water for wildlife

With Australia’s changing climate we need to adapt to our altering conditions. This is challenging but also possible for humans through behaviour change and infrastructure change (too advanced?) but not quite so easy for our precious wildlife. While water is considered renewable as it functions as part of a water cycle, ...

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Creating an Indigenous plant-use garden: harvesting

The satisfaction of eating straight from the garden is one of life’s best learning experiences, however we need to be respectful and mindful to only harvest what we need to allow the plant to continue to thrive for generations to come. This activity involves the assessment and mapping of local environments to create a successful ...

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Creating a beneficial garden: planting

Planting flowers with food crops increases biodiversity, and is known as beneficial planting. Beneficial planting not only makes our garden beds look more attractive to us, it also makes gardens look more attractive to pollinators and predators, which in turn, help to fertilise and protect crops from pest invertebrates. ...

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Creating compost

Compost is created when organic materials such as twigs, leaves, dry grass and kitchen food scraps break down. Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of landfill that is produced, and also provides soil full of good nutrients that can be used on the garden. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for students to: ...

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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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Creating a yarning circle: background

This activity introduces children to the idea of a yarning circle and its importance in First Nations Culture. It is part of a sequence of 8 individual learning activities designed to support the meaningful use of yarning circles in learning environments. OUTCOMES of this learning activity are for children to: understand ...

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Geography: Landscapes and Landforms

Join Shona from Geoscience Australia and explore the formation of Australia's coastal, desert and mountain landforms and landscapes.

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Bathymetry of Australia

This video is a flythrough around the coast of Australia shows the major topographic features of the seafloor around the continent. Starting in the south west the viewer can see the continental shelf and slope of the southern coast followed by the seamount chains and the Great Barrier Reef to the east. Continuing around ...

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Introduction to fossils

This video demonstrates different types of fossils, explains how fossils form and discusses why fossils why fossils are so useful for learning about life on Earth.

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The Geology of Minecraft

This short video discusses bedrock, obsidian and redstone using real rock samples and references to the Minecraft game.

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Rocks from volcanoes

This short video introduces rocks from volcanoes and their features using some of the samples in the Geoscience Australia Education Centre. Students are shown different types of lava rock, bombs, obsidian and pumice. The video is suitable for middle primary and older students as well as a general audience; it introduces ...

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Why are river pebbles round? Sugar shake: erosion experiment

This short video introduces the concepts of weathering and erosion by investigating why river pebbles are often rounded. Students can undertake an activity which demonstrates the process of erosion using sugar cubes. They are asked to predict what might happen (a hypothesis) and then observe what does happen and relate ...

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Liquefaction In Action

This short video examines the process of liquefaction and its impact on buildings and other structures. The video encourages students to investigate some of the ways engineers lessen the impact of earthquakes on buildings and to make their own liquefaction demonstration and extend it into an inquiry activity.

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Built To Survive Learning Resource

The Built to Survive learning resource includes five lessons that explore different habitats and the animals that survive within them. To complete each lesson students become documentary hosts, drawing on their research and following the format of the Built to Survive documentary series. The resource also includes a module ...

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Understanding the National Earthquake Alerts Centre

This video introduces the National Earthquake Alerts Centre. The video explains that earthquakes are detected by a network of seismometers; each station sends seismic information for analysis and checking by seismologists on duty. The video describes the types of wave forms in earthquakes and the sequence of events in ...

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Introduction to tectonic plates (primary)

This short video is targeted at upper primary students but is suitable for a wider audience. It introduces the concept of tectonic plates making use of a tectonic plates puzzle. Students are asked to predict the direction and speed of plate movement and consider where and why earthquakes happen on the Australian Plate.

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Earthquake monitoring

This video introduces earthquake monitoring using seismometers and seismographs. It also features the National Earthquake Alert Centre. Students are asked to try making earthquakes at home using the accelerometers in their smartphones.

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Identifying Minerals - Streak Test

This short video demonstrates how to determine the streak colour of a mineral sample. The video shows how to rub a mineral sample across a streak plate, and how to use a streak colour chart to help identify a mineral. The video also shows the difference in streak colour for pyrite (fool's gold) and real gold.

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Identifying Minerals - Determining Density

This short video demonstrates how to determine the density of a mineral sample. The video explains how to calculate density, then shows students how accurately measure the mass and volume of a mineral sample.

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Exploring Australia's Seafloor

This video, presented by marine ecologist Dr Rachel Przeslawski, explores how marine scientists make maps of the seafloor and what these maps are used for. Dr Przeslawski talks about her experiences as a marine scientist involved with making maps from ships and discovering the depth, shape and hardness of the sea floor. ...