Mathematics and Science
During term four Hawker Are School science students going to learn about 'why is biodiversity important?'
Biodiversity provides us with clean air and water, soil for crops and forests, and to sustain the productivity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Students are going to learn about biodiversity in the classroom and the going to explore and observe the biodiversity of the school grounds. They going to conduct a biodiversity survey with a focus on plant variety and vegetative layers as plants are the foundation upon which most ecosystems are based. The activities are designed to get the students to view their playground from a different perspective, with a biodiversity focus, and establish a sense of place.
This topic of biodiversity is designed for year 8- 9 students to develop a deeper understanding of the interrelationships between plants and animals and the non-living elements of an environment Year 6 – 7s will learn about ecosystems and food webs, while the Year 3-5s are going to explore the ecosystem and the human role in sustainable living. In the school grounds, the students will look for small scale ecosystems, examples include the bark of a tree, under a log, in the mulch or leaf litter, even the accumulated leaves at the entrance to a drain or school garden. The students will gently explore the biodiversity within the small ecosystem. They will also take a digital photos or sketch their small-scale ecosystems and list or label the variety of species with it.