School Energy Audit Report

In June, the Findon Biodiversity Group conducted an all-school Energy Audit. A report was compiled by Planet Savers Australia and has been presented by the Biodiversity Group. The report found that the school emissions per student were slightly higher than the recommended levels for Primary Schools (based on State benchmarks). Major energy uses were heating / cooling, lighting during off-peak times and IT / computer needs.

The recommendations were divided into four key areas of energy consumption:

1. Lighting

• Switch off when not being used
• Label switches with signage encouraging students and staff to switch off when not is use
• Upgrade fluorescent lighting
• Replace incandescent, halogen and T8 fittings with LED 

2. Air-conditioning (heating/cooling)

• An agreed temperature set range from all staff (Recommended cooling temp 24-26 / heating 18-20 degrees)
• Install timed-control on electric Heaters and split systems
• Close evaporative vents during winter
• Solar air-conditioning
• Heat reflective paint for roof areas
• Future decisions with heating and cooling systems
• Building fabric, solar gain and heat loss

3. Appliances and hot water

• Timers for water boilers
• Timers for hot water services and water coolers
• Switch off refrigerators over school breaks
• Upgrade refrigerators to more efficient types

4. Information Technology

• Enable computer standby and hibernation
• Shut down at the wall or switchboard during school breaks holidays
• Use photocopier power save mode
• Switch off printers and copiers at the wall
• Switch off interactive whiteboards

Useful links:

www.planetsavers.com.au 
www.ceres.org.au 
www.coolaustralia.org 
www.energystar.gov.au 
www.epeat.net 
www.energyrating.gov.au 
www.greenpower.com.au

Hands on Habitats!

 

Hands on Habitats is an experience that the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary has offered for a few years. Recently we have been re-vamping this experience (amongst others) to make it more 'hands-on' and to align with the new Victorian Government curriculum (AusVELS).

 

Hands on Habitats

 

Overview of experience

‘Hands on Habitats’ is the ideal introduction to (or reinforcement of) the needs of animals, and interactions with their environment. Your students will investigate three habitats in an Australian River Red Gum Woodland – Terrestrial (ground), Arboreal (trees and hollows) and Aquatic (wetland); gaining insight into the native animals that live here, how these environments function and what is required to create habitats. Optional activities can direct habitat construction back at school.

 

Our expert presenters will take full advantage of anything your class might bump into. This could include a mob of kangaroos, an orb weaver spinning an intricate web, a swamp hen with gangly feet, or a flock of ducks landing on the water.

 

Your educational experience at the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary is designed to stimulate the imagination and curiosity of your students and provide them with ways to safely explore, learn about, and look after their environment.

 

Standard activities

A standard experience runs for 2 hours and includes 4 activities. Each class will accompany the same presenter as they rotate through the activities.

 

 

 

AusVELS Levels F-2:

1. ‘Introduction to Habitats’
• A classroom based activity that introduces students to the habitats of the LTWS and the animals that live here
• Students construct a food chain/web that links terrestrial, aquatic and arboreal habitats
2. Dip-netting
• Using dip nets to locate aquatic invertebrates from a wetland
• Note the habitat and interactions between organisms 
3. Arboreal Habitats
• Using teamwork students take on the challenge of assembling nest boxes
• Students experience what it’s like to build a home as a Sugar Glider
4. Rock ‘n Roll
• Students roll over logs and rock in the bush and catch the cratures that live underneath
• Note the importance of shelter (protection from predators) in habitats

AusVELS Levels 3-4:

1. ‘Introduction to Habitats’ (see above) OR ‘Whose Habitat that that?’ (see below)
2. Dip-netting (see above)
3. Arboreal Habitats (see above)
4. Woodland Walk
• Students explore arboreal, terrestrial and aquatic habitats
• On a walk through the LTWS, students investigate which animals call tree hollows their home
• Students identify the habitat needs of lizards and embark on a search for their perfect home

 

AusVELS Levels 5-6:

1. ‘Whose Habitat is that?’
• Students use an information booklet to identify the needs of native animals
• Using clues from the booklet they search for the perfect habitat for these animals
2. Dip-netting (see above)
3. Arboreal Habitats
• Students investigate the different types of nest boxes utilised in the LTWS
• Using nest box cameras, students gain an intimate view into the lives of some arboreal animals
4. Woodland Walk (see above)

Extended experience / Options 

‘Standard’ experiences can be extended by adding extra activities, some suggestions have been detailed below. If your topic focus does not suit the standard activities, we can swap them. Activities and experiences can be tailored to suit your needs – contact LTWSEducation@latrobe.edu.au for more information.

 

• Extended Introduction to Habitats
• Short presentations allow students to engage with minibeasts (invertebrates) and lizard lounges
• An intimate look into the lives of some of Australia’s native animals through the LTWS’s nest box camera feeds
• Frog Bog
• Students are introduced to the habitat requirements of frogsand the steps involved in creating a man-made wetland
• Students get to act out the steps using a model wetland (Please note: students do not get to create an actual wetland – see consultancies and incursions below)
• Lizard Lounge
• Students are introduced to the habitat requirements of lizards and the steps involved in constructing a ‘lizard lounge’
• Students get to act out the steps constructing their own lizard lounge in LTWS
• Close Encounters
• Using a video camera or one of our microscopes, students get ‘up-close and personal’ with minibeasts. Can be tailored to suit students at lower F-2 or higher 3-6 AusVELS levels
• Bee / Ant / Butterfly game
• A fun, team-building activity that focuses on the habitats of ants, bees or butterflies and their interaction with plants / flowers
• Nest Box construction
• For higher AusVELS levels with adequate adult supervision (1 adult per 5 students) only. In teams, students follow instructions and use tools to construct their own nest box. Allow more time for this activity. Additional costs may apply
• My Footprint
• Higher AusVELS level students are introduced to the concept of an ecological footprint and, as a class, calculate their own footprint. They discuss ways in which they can become more sustainable and reduce their impact on the environment
• Pull-apart-a-Poa
• Poa (native grass tussocks) provide habitat for many small animals. Students investigate this habitat by pulling apart tussocks and collecting any creatures they find. Best when combined with Potting-up-a-Poa
• Potting-up-a-Poa
• Poa can reproduce via division. Poa pulled apart can be potted and grown into indepedant tussocks. Students follow instructions to pot up their own Poa, which can be taken home or to school to be planted.

Habitat Creation consultancies and incursions are also available.

 

 

Pre- and Post-trip resources

 

La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary Resources

• Introduction to Habitats presentation (Levels F-6)
• Aquatic invertebrate identification sheet
• Compost invertebrate identification sheet
• Close Encounters activity
• Bug Info sheets
• LTWS DYI Nest Box kits
• Nest Box Footage (please contact us if interested in this footage)
• Butterfly pots activity

 

External Resources

• Australian Government ‘Hands on for Habitats’ teachers resource (Leveles F-7): http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/46de2525-fff1-4071-9682-9a98d034943c/files/teachersguide.pdf
• Australian Government ‘Discovering Wetlands in Australia’ teachers resource (Levels 3-6), includes animal origami, fact sheets, word games and videos http://www.environment.gov.au/resource/discovering-wetlands-australia
•  Australian Museum ‘Wild Kids’: information about different Australian habitats and animals http://australianmuseum.net.au/wild-Kids
• Habitat web / ecological connections (North American focus, but can be adapted to local plants and animals) http://happeninhabitats.pwnet.org/pdf/Habitat_Web_Activity.pdf
• Animal based activities (colouring in, dot-to-dot, word search etc) http://www.durrell.org/Kids/Puzzles--activities//Kids/Puzzles--activities
• Biomes imaginary creature packet and Biomes matching cards (North American focus) http://scienceforkidsblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/biomes-freebie-next-generation-science.html
• BBC habitats (information about British habitats and the animals that live there) http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats
• Interactive information about animals and their predators (international) http://www.whateats.com/
• Food web and animal identification key interactive online game (North American Focus) http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/foodchains.html
• Producer / Consumer / Decomposer interactive online game http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm
• Increasing complexity food chain interactive game http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm
• Nest box plans for Australian Birds (Birds in Backyards) http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/Nest-Box-Plans
• A range of activities, including possum nest box designs, at World of Animal Welfare: http://www.woaw.org.au/teachers/learning-resources/activities/
• Video ‘Australian Wood Ducks using a nest box’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6G71M7YEzY
• Garden activities for kids http://www.gardening4kids.com.au/category/garden-activities/
• Australian Government ‘Build a Lizard Lounge’ http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/db37051e-a47c-4475-b6a9-564a044ac569/files/lizard.pdf
• BugLife teachers resources (British focus) including activities, colouring sheets and information http://www.buglife.org.uk/activities-for-you/children-and-schools/bug-resources-schools
• Simple Bug Hotel for Kids http://www.redtedart.com/2013/06/26/simple-bug-hotel-for-kids/
• Corroboree Frog Education Kit http://wirraminna.org/wirra-projects/corroborree-frogs/Corroborree_Frog_Education_Kit.pdf
• Build a frog pond: http://www.fnpw.org.au/resources/habitats-for-australian-animals/native-frog-ponds
• Supporting Native fish in your garden http://www.backyards4wildlife.com.au/uploads/BFW%20FS%20-%20Native%20Fish.pdf 
• Parks and Woodland activities (Bristish focus) http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/supporter-resources/downloads/C4L_W4L_Fun_Games_for_ParksandWoodlands.pdf

From Dinosaurs to Kangaroos

I often refer to the ‘Dinosaur Principal’ when I speak about the complexities of language and problem solving that young (F-3) students are capable of exhibiting. Anyone who has a 6 to 8 year old (particularly boys) would know that there is a certain fascination around Dinosaurs. In the classes I worked with at Findon there was at least one student in each class who had an exceptional knowledge of Dinosaurs and a large proportion could name at least 5 or 6, as well as describe features of them.

So the teachers at Findon chose this lesson (From Dinosaurs to Kangaroos) as the ‘Carrot’ to develop a unit around understanding animals and their features, as well as how animals have evolved and adapted over time. These are quite complex concepts, but I figure, if a student can name and describe in detail a Tyrannosaurus Rex and their interactions with other Dinosaurs, then they are capable of understanding concepts of evolution, ecology, adaptation and complex interactions that occur in nature.

I delivered the lesson to four different classes with a 1 hour time slot for each group. There were two grade 2 classes, a 2/3 class and a grade 3 class so there was slight variation in the way each session was approached, with the predominantly grade 2 sessions focused more on activity, rather than the presentation.  If I do this lesson again, I would probably re-write the topic to cover two sessions; one on the classification of Dinosaurs and another on modern animals (with similar features). Another aspect worth reviewing would be how to establish a deep understanding of the concepts in individual students. So a follow up lesson could include a reflection on the session and a word match game that could clearly demonstrate a link between the features of animals and their behavior.

The lesson was delivered in three parts (See the Full Lesson Plan):

1. Expert talk (approx 30mins). I introduced the students to the concept of a dinosaur and how they are categorised. The students had an opportunity to express their own knowledge by answering questions such as "What does Bipedal mean?", "How many horns does a Triceratops have?", "How many toes does an Ornithopod have?" I related dinosaurs to the annual Inverloch Dinosaur dig and the students handed around a piece of mudstone and some examples of fossils.
2. Exploration (10-15mins) Students explored a variety of animal bones and asked questions about the particular features - especially different types of teeth.
3. Explanation / Elaboration (10-15mins) We played 'Animal Bingo'. The students worked in teams to match animals and features (such as sharp teeth, grinding teeth, long neck etc.) to the words on the bingo sheet (carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, arboreal etc.).

The 'From Dinosaurs to Kangaroos' presentation and 'Animal Bingo' sheets are available as resources for teachers.

Welcome to 2014!

Welcome to 2014!

Last week, Victorian school students returned to school for 2014. The education staff at the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary are getting geared up for upcoming experiences – both excursions to the LTWS and incursions to schools, including the work we will continue to do at Findon Primary and Charles La Trobe College (funded through the Victorian Government’s Strategic Partnerships Program).

2013 was a successful year for LTWS education. We had a total of 4041 students engaged in our education experiences from 58 schools across Melbourne and Victoria. As you might expect considering our location in Bundoora, the majority of these students (and schools) were from the northern suburbs. Somewhat surprisingly we had more visitors from the north-west than the north-eastern suburbs. We had more than twice as many visits from government schools than from Catholic and independent schools combined.

For the education staff, highlights of 2013 included the SPP funded experiences at Findon and Charles La Trobe College (which you can read about in previous posts), a Frog Bog habitat creation incursion to a school in Healesville and the review and improvement of the Discovering Ecology experience (with great feedback from the schools that participated).

We look forward to 2014 and the adventures to come!

-Juli Atkinson (education staff)

LTWS education staff get 'hands on' at a training day in 2013

Last session with CLT Kingsbury for 2013

Today was my last session with the CLT prep/one students for this year. We had a close-up look at some of the invertebrates the students discovered last week. Then we coloured and labelled pictures of invertbrates - introducing the students to the idea of invertbrate body parts (we may expand on this next year).
The students had trouble imagining how many wings and legs some of the invertebrates have - especially millipedes and bees.

These 'Invertebrate Info sheets' are available as a resource for teachers.

- Juli Atkinson (education staff)

Bug Scatter!

Today I introduced the CLT prep/one students to some of the invertebrates that live in leaf litter ('Bugs that live in leaf litter' is available as a resource for teachers). The students really loved naming the invertebrates and searching for them in the leaf litter. A few students were afraid of the invertebrates or had trouble finding bugs by themselves, but most were incredibly excited! One student, Josh, who is normally difficult to engage, was absolutely enthralled by the bugs and refused to stop looking at them even when the class had moved back to the classroom. He was very gentle with them.

- Juli (education staff)

Beneficial insects and Butterfly pots

In our last session with CLT OV for 2013, we explored why insects are important to people with the Beneficial Insects – how insects help people activity, evaluating their understanding of this with the Insect/Benefit worksheet, with the majority of students correctly linking insects to their benefit.

The 'Beneficial Insects – how insects help people' activity is available as a resource for teachers.

We harnessed the student’s love of crafty activities to elaborate on this with students Making Butterfly Pots which they potted up with indigenous “butterfly attracting” plants to attract these pollinators to their gardens.

'Creating Butterfly Pots' is available as a resource for teachers.

 

Students finished the year with a bit of friendly team competition being pollinators themselves in the Butterfly Game (which Andrew has also written about).

- Amanda Dare (Education Senior Officer)

Making an insect!

Today the CLT OV Grade 1/2 students had an opportunity the build their own insects out of art-and-craft materials. This activity really engaged the students whilst making them think about the body parts (e.g. how many pipe cleaners did they need to collect to make the legs).

'Make an insect' is available as a resource for teachers.

We further evaluated students understanding of body parts with a visit by a male and female spiny leaf insect for them to indicate body parts on a living insect. This gave students the opportunity to revisit their knowledge of body parts as well as exploring the differences between the male and female. Most students were keen to have a hold of the stick insects, but for others this activity was a bit of a personal challenge. To allay fears of being bitten we discussed what stick insects eat and the fact that when frightened their strategy is not to bite but to mimic a leaf blowing in the wind – which students were able to witness.

Juvenile Spiny Leaf Insect

- Amanda Dare (Education Senior Officer)

What do we know about minibeasts?

This week at CLT OV, the Grade 1/2 students reviewed their knowledge on minibeasts and we wrote it up on the whiteboard:

We then discussed some of the characteristics that determine insects from other invertebrates. We also went over the body parts of an insect (head, body (2 parts – thorax and abdomen), 6 legs, 2 sets of wings, antennae) in preparation for our activity next week...
- Amanda Dare (Education Senior Officer)

Plant Art and Craft

Today I worked with the Prep/One students at Charles La Trobe Kinsbury to reinforce their knowledge of plant parts. Using real plant parts, including leaves, bark, twigs and seed pods, the students built their own 'Plant Part Art'.

Some students were confused about how to build a trunk, some students put roots in the wrong place or grass in the tree tops (using them as ‘leaves’).

- Juli Atkinson (education staff)

Close Encounters

This week, Andrew visited CLT OV, as I was away. Using microscopes, they had an up-close look at some minibeasts that occur in wetlands at the Sanctuary.
For many students this was the first time they had used microscopes, and the students were very excited (and a bit disgusted) to see the minibeats up close. Andrew asked the students to pay close examine the minibeasts and answer simple questions, such as: What colour is it? How many legs does it have? Does it have any other appendages?
At the end of the session, the teacher asked Alana to stand up and talk to the rest of the class about what she had experienced…

I found a bit red worm that was called a blood worm… it sucks the blood of other animals (not people) and that is why it is red.

There is also another animal that looks like a lady beetle, but it is smaller and black with lots of blue legs – it was called a blue legged water mite.

The 'Close Encounters' activity is available as a resource for teachers

- Amanda Dare (Education Senior Officer)

Pull-apart-a-Poa

Today was my first visit to Charles La Trobe Olympic Village to work with the Grade 1/2 students, the future Sustainability Leaders of the school. After discussion with the teacher, and consideration of the topics the students have previously covered, I have proposed that we start with a focus on minibeasts (aka insects) as there seems to be a natural interest in this area. We can then tie this into veggie patch/other vegetation, and move on to veggie activities.

Today we got to know one another and played a game called 'Pull-apart-a-Poa'. In this game the students pull-apart a native grass tussock, which is a natural habitat for many insects and other invertebrates. The students then try and collect the invertebreates into observation containers for a closer look.

This activity introduced the students to the topic of minibeasts as well as the idea that plants may form their home (habitat).

'Pull-apart-a-Poa' is available as a resource for teachers.

- Amanda Dare (Education Senior Officer)

Introduction to plant parts and the plant life cycle

Today was my first session at Charles La Trobe Kingsbury. I spent about 20 minutes with each Prep/One class and ran through the same activities. I used large pictures to introduce the ideas of “trees”, “grasses” and “bushes/shrubs” and plant parts: leaves, branches, trunk, roots.

Students generally knew the names of plant parts but did not really know what shrubs or bushes were. When asked ‘what do you call a small tree?’ one boy responded “bonsai”. One girl commented that fig trees had their roots above the ground.

We played a modified version of "head, shoulders, knees and toes” as trees “leaves, branches, trunk and roots” and then "Simon says” also as trees e.g. “Simon says wave your branches in the air”.
The students really enjoyed these activities.

We then ran through the plant life cycle from seed, seedling, sapling to adult tree, introducing the idea that flowers indicate an adult stage. Correlations were drawn to the human life cycle: baby, toddler, teenager, adult. Students seemed amazed at the idea that flowers indicated an adult plant, and that very small plants could be adults as well as big trees.

We then play/interpreted the life cycle by acting out the plant life cycle, growing from seeds, sprouting leaves and growing into tall trees.

With one group there was time to touch some plants that I had brought in, including a paper daisy.

The images used in 'Introduction to Plants' is available as a resource for teachers.

- Juli Atkinson (education staff)