School Holidays - Twilight Tours

A Sugar Glider in a Nesting Box

January is a great month to visit the Wildlife Sanctuary there's loads of things happening in the bush, especially with wildflowers in bloom. Our Twilight Tours have been great over the past few weeks, with this weeks being fantastic! Sugar Gliders (Petaurus breviceps) were seen gliding between trees and just as we were leaving a Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) was spotted in the trees around the office.

Twilight Tours are scheduled on Wednesday evenings during the school holidays and on the third Wednesday of every month outside holidays. The next tour is scheduled for 21st January.

Xerochrysum viscosum in flower.

Australian Animals Habitat Incursion F-2: Findon Primary School

The La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary offers exciting incursions to schools in Melbourne catering to specific curriculum content and outcomes. During the partnership between the Sanctuary and Findon Primary School, the early years program expressed their interest in an incursion based on Australian animals and their habitat.


The main learning outcome of this inquiry based, hands on and discovery incursion was for students to build an understanding of what a habitat is and what Australian animals need to survive and thrive in their habitat. This incursion also includes an exploration of some the unique physicality's of Australia's amazing animals and how people can help conserve their habitats.


Resources for this incursion includes live footage of Australian animals using nest boxes, discovery boxes about Australian animals, habitat slideshows on the types of habitats found in Australia, post trip habitat assessment exercise plus more!


The main curriculum links covered during the can be found below

Foundation Living things have basic needs, including food and water (ACSSU002) Share observations and ideas (ACSIS012) Respond to questions about familiar objects and events (ACSIS014)

Year 1 Living things live in different places where their needs are met (ACSSU211) Living things have a variety of external features (ACSSU017) People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things (ACSHE022) Participate in different types of guided investigations to explore and answer questions, such as manipulating materials, testing ideas, and accessing information sources (ACSIS025)

Year 2 Living things grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves (ACSSU030) Through discussion, compare observations with predictions (ACSIS214) People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things (ACSHE035)

Enjoy the detailed Incursion description here

Planting Complete!

As this term at Findon Primary school, a major focus has been planting and caring for developing gardens around the school.

On Thursday the 27th of November, the Planet Savers took advantage of the warmer weather to plant the remaining plants in the Butterfly Garden.

 

 

The students decided on their roles before planting without any instruction. One role they selected was to water the new and existing plants. The students noticed that this role had too many people and decided upon themselves to rotate through the different roles so it was fair. To begin with these roles included watering, taking out the plants from their pots and finding established holes. Half way through the planting session two year 2 students asked to join in. A year 4 Planet Saver was enthusiastic to get them started and showed them the process as well as explaining why they needed to wear gloves. He took it upon himself to be their buddy for the session, helping them taking out plants and making sure the holes for planting were deep enough. It was particularly special to see the older members of the Planet Savers take the initiative to lead younger students of the school.

 

 

All students expressed their sense of achievement in completing the planting in two areas of the school. All students commented on how important they felt it was to keep these gardens free of rubbish. The session ended in 'High Fives' for everyone involved in the planting. One student stated that since he was in year 4, he would be able to watch the gardens grow and continue to take care of them.

 

 

 

The Butterfly Garden

The Planet Savers at Findon Primary School have been focused on planting and maintaining some of the schools developing gardens.

In 2013 the Findon "Butterfly Garden" was designed and implemented by the Sustainability leaders. Since that time the garden has become dry and weeds have spread. To attract more insects and of course, butterflies the Planet Savers took the opportunity to weed and clean up this garden for the upcoming warmer months. Two students in particular have a growing concern for rubbish pollution in the developing gardens. The concern was raised at last Friday's school assembly to address fellow students, teachers and the wider school community.

During the clean up, large weeds were given as a tasty treat to the schools chickens. The left over weeds were put on to the compost. The Planet Savers have developed a conscious effort to think about how and where garden waste is distributed over the past few weeks of this project. Any rubbish that was found in the butterfly garden was sorted in to materials that could be recycled or not.

Once the garden had been cleared of weeds and rubbish pollution the team planted around the border of the garden. Next, they created holes for the new plants going in to the garden next Thursday. While the team of Planet Savers worked on the tidy-up, the remaining students watered the Bush Food Garden plants and returned to water the new plants in the Butterfly Garden.


Below are some images of the garden cleared and ready for more plants next week.

Watering Our Garden

Following Mondays planting, the Planet Savers took the opportunity to look at the new plants and provide some much needed TLC with the upcoming warmer weather!
The Planet Savers were thrilled to see all the new plants, even remincing on their first experiences with planting at Findon. One year five student remembered beginning the bush food garden in year 3 and was impressed to see how much it had developed.

Each student had a watering can or a bucket between two. As a team, we discussed how much water these new plants needed. A third of a bucket was a reasonable amount of water for each plant. The Planet Savers also discussed the impact of the recent hot days on the growth of the plants.

This session provided a great opportunity for reflection. Students were able to see the positive impacts of caring for plants over an extended period of time. The main concerns the Planet Savers raised for caring for these Indienous plants were eliminating any rubbish from the area and ensuring all new and existing plants were watered.

Planting Afternoon!

Three years ago Findon Primary School and La Trobe University started a Bush Food Garden  together at the primary school. Planted in the garden were indigenous plants. Many early years students use this space as a place to play and the vegetation has grown well.

On Monday the 3rd of November a group of students volunteered to tidy up and plant new plants in this garden. With the help of a Planet Saver leader the team of students planted over 50 plants. All weeds were removed, holes dug, plants watered and tree guard put up for the plants in danger of being stepped on. With leftover time, the team also spread new mulch over this area.

As most of the team were not a part of the Planet Savers group, a new interest was sparked and many children are now excited to help in upcoming planting projects around the school. As these plants are new, all team members expressed interest in checking on the garden throughout the term so the garden can have the best chance to flourish.

 As well as showing interest and care in planting and looking after the flora of the school, many children discussed making their own garden at home after learning how to plant. It was great to see the boys and girls working collaboratively and helping each other to use new tools. During the activity many students expressed how happy they were that they decided to attend school that day as many students were away due to Melbourne Cup weekend.

The children gained a valuable learning experience by enquiring about types of plants that like shade and those that like sun. They also used informal measurements of water to 'kick start' the growth of the newly planted. Many were surprised at how much water was required and were concerned it may be too much! Extending the sustainable program to children outside of the Planet Savers team has promoted caring for flora to the wider school.

Teacher Resources


La Trobe Wildlife Educational Experiences would like to provide teachers with resources to take in to their classroom.

In this post you will find a Water Invertebrates ID Sheet

 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5_XBzqEjEV-U3diRGNla1ZmWDg/edit?usp=docs_home