The students set up their own bread mould investigation to observe and record over the period of one week. This worksheet accompanies the investigative activity.

After viewing the Squawks in the Night powerpoint the students were given this worksheet. The task was to sort out the nocturnal and diurnal animals and then draw an animal of their own- preferably an Austrlaian animal.

The students work in teams with a torch to investigate if light penetrates through different materials such as bubble wrap, cardboard, clear plastic, coloured cellophane. Students record their findings on the worksheet. There is also a rubric to accompany the activity.

Students common household utensils and collage materials to imitate beaks and food as well as eye droppers and cups to imitate nectar. Students investigate by using the utensils to pick up various objects in their tray. The eye dropper is to collect water and deposit it in the other cup for nectar. Students match each beak on the worksheet to a common household tool. Challenge the students to use google images to find a bird that has the same beak as on the worksheet. Conclude by sharing their findings.

Assessing students prior knowledge and reflecting on what the students have learnt

I organised to borrow a fossils kit from Scitech Perth. The kit contained various fossils - pleuroceras,ammonite, tribolite. The students had to examine the fossils and then record their findings on the table.

Students were shown this powerpoint of rain images to stimulate a discussion about their experiences of rain. The focus question was - what happens when rain falls on different surfaces?

The students collected ants in the school yard to bring back to class and observe more closely. Students were given this text on ants to read. The students then, completed a written task about the ants text in their science journals. They had to write about the body structure of an ant, their habitat and how ants protect themselves from predators.

I teach a small group of students once a week and they work independently in teams of two to plan and conduct their own Science Inquiry question. to conclude the parents are invited to a presentation morning. The students prepare their own powerpoint presentations about their project. This powerpoint is a gude to setting up their presentations so that all components to their project are covered in the final presentation.

Teacher preparation - Collect two buckets of soil from two different locations. Put the students into teams. Each team takes a cup of soil and tips the contents onto a piece of large butchers paper. In each corner of the paper write - plants, animals, soil, other. Students use tweezers, paintbrushes and magnifiers to carefully examine their soil sample and move their findings into one of the four corners. Record their findings on the worksheet. Gather students together to conclude the activity by sharing their findings.

This is a rare sight - Uluru or Ayers Rock in the rain. The students viewed this powerpoint as part of a unit on desert biomes and how rain in the desert is a very rare event.

A rubric for assessing science presentations.

This is a powerpoint of fungi images found in Perth Bushlands in Western Australia. It accompanied the IWB lesson on mushrooms from the Children's University of Manchester. Students were given several specimens of &'shop bought mushrooms&'; to draw and label.

Students were taken to the school woodland and encouraged to take time to reflect and enjoy the woodland environment. Students completed four different tasks - a Y chart to draw on their senses, sketches of trees, leaves, bark etc and a search for habitats.

This is a resource to set up on display in your science classroom. Each fortnight a different photo is displayed. The students guess what the photo is and submit their entries. This resource includes labels to set up your Mystery Science Photo display poster, how to construct the poster and how to make the shoebox for the entries. The resource includes enough photos for a 10 week term or two terms if you choose to put up one photo per fortnight. Before placing you photo on display be sure to snip off the answer located at the bottom of the page and place it someone safe so that you will remember what the answer is.

Take students on a walk around the school to investigate what objects are made of and whether they are HOT or not when in the Sun

An award card for team investigations. Teams are encouraged to work collaboratively and follow their team roles in order to receive this award.

This activity is about the frogs in the area where you live. The students choose one frog commonly found where they live. In their journals or a piece of paper they divide their page into quarters like shown on the powerpoint. The students read through the text for their chosen frog and then sort the information into habitat, description, noise and food by recording the information into each box.

Commence the lesson sharing the story of the ‘little house with no doors or windows but with a star inside’. If you Google the story you will find plenty of versions on the internet. In this investigation each student is given one half of an apple and a ruler. The students complete the following tasks about the apple Label your drawing with these words leaf stem core flesh skin seed My apple has _____________ seeds. My apple is __________ high. My apple is ____________wide. Write two sentences describing your apple.

This activity was introduced to start off a new unit on birds and to generate discussion and ideas about the student’s prior knowledge about birds. Students were placed in teams of two to work collaboratively. Some of the question triggers - List animals who fly? List animals who have beaks? List animals who make nests? List animals who sing? List animals who can sing?