A guide to setting up hydroponics using a 2 litre bottle. Materials e.g. cocopeat or clay balls, pH digital monitor and nutrient mix to be purchased at a hydroponics store. This is the first part in a series of three files. This as part of a unit of work looking at how humans will be providing food for the future. Students considered implications of growing our own food on Mars as in 2025 the first human settlement is planned for Mars through the Mars One project. Students can learn more about this by exploring the Mars One website. The first file explains the method involved in setting up a hydroponics system. The second file is a daily recording sheet to monitor water levels and pH. The third file is to conclude the activity after the students have been nurturing their plant for several weeks and it is a journal to record their findings. I referred to the Epic Gardener website for many of the ideas and found it most helpful.

This erosion investigation can be carried out in the school sand pit to investigate the effects of water on sand. Students can investigate what happens to a sandcastle when they pour differing amounts of water onto it. The powerpoint details the steps required for students to conduct their investigation. Students use the 'investigation planner' to determine variables and record their measurements and findings.

Students will examine images about Uluru to see how it has been affected by weathering, erosion and human activity. Students will carefully examine 6 images and describe the possible causes for the shape of the landform. Which type of weathering or erosion has caused the landform to change? Students record their ideas on the worksheet. Students draw a diagram predicting how the landform of Uluru might look 100 years into the future. At completion of the written task gather the students together to share their findings. This activity could be used as an assessment task to conclude a unit of work on erosion and weathering.

This is a lesson plan, powerpoint and an accompanying worksheet about water pressure. The first investigation is with the teacher demonstrating how water stops flowing out of a plastic cup that has holes in it when it is dropped from a height. In the second investigation the students conduct their own trial by allowing water to be released from a hole in the bottle one at a time and measuring how far the water comes out at. There is also a challenge activity for the students to discuss on youtube.

Students will learn that everyday tasks that seem easy to us are difficult for a mechanical robot to perform. Students will investigate this by using a robotic toy hand. As a class we will discuss the limitations and challenges that robots face in grasping tools and manipulating them. To conduct this lesson you will need to purchase up to 12 or 14 robotic toy hands. This can be purchased at Toys R Us for about $7(Australian dollars) each. There are plenty of youtube clips that you can show the students prior to the investigation that cover the use of robotic arms in industry and on the ISS. Once you have your equipment then you can use the powerpoint to guide the students through two investigations. Part 2 and Part 3 of this package is the worksheet to accompany the investigations.

Students set up a bug zapper in the evening at their own home to conduct their own 'fair test'. All the information you need is explained on the word document - investigation question, materials, procedure, analysing and explaining the results and extension ideas.

This powerpoint guide prepares students for a design task. Discuss with students what they have read or observed about robots helping to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, or for use in medicine or in hospitals. The task is to design a robot that can help someone. Students label each of the robot’s parts or features and then write a paragraph on how their design could have a positive impact on the quality of a human’s life. Students include a comment predicting whether humans will accept or reject the new robot and why.

This is a 15 slide powerpoint that takes students step by step through an investigation into lava viscosity. Students will work in teams to mix different viscosities of flour and water then pour their mixture onto a paper plate to investigate flow. This investigation leads into a discussion on how different volcanoes take their shape dependent on lava flow. The powerpoint concludes with a focus on the possibility of past volcanic activity in Australia.

The students were placed in teams to view Robots in Industry from this website (cut and paste this address) . This website has been crated and designed by Crickcrick which is me an author and seller on TES http://thescienceworkshop.weebly.com/year-6-robots-in-industry.html Each team viewed a set of youtube clips about a type of robot or drone. Some examples are - car manufacturing, drones, marine robots, surgical robots, autonomous vehicles, NASA robots and robots for manufacturing. After viewing the video clips students work in their teams to discuss the questions on the worksheet about the role and task of robots and the positives and negatives of robots in our society and for the future.

This is an activity investigating friction using remote control cars. For this lesson I purchased three different remote control vehicles from K Mart - a four wheel drive, a sports car and a jeep/buggy. Use the powerpoint to guide the students through the learning activities which include writing a prediction, conducting a fair test and recording their findings. The powerpoint also includes a procedure explaining how to set up the investigation on your school grounds. Accompanying the powerpoint is a worksheet for these students to record details of their investigation and to record their findings and data on a table.

1. Ask students to define stormwater. Record their ideas in the Class Science journal or on the whiteboard. 2. Show students a video clip explaining what is stormwater. Discuss the need to keep our waterways free from pollution. 3. Take students on a tour around the school to identify drains, gutter, downpipes and grates etc. 4. Use the powerpoint to guide students through their written responses.

This is powerpoint explains how a 2 stroke engine operates. It explains the difference between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke engine. There are definitions explaining the parts of a 2 stroke engine - spark plug, air filter, carburettor, crank shaft and piston.

There are 8 slides in this PowerPoint. The students are encouraged to look closely at a variety of images and make observations about the ancient rock art from different regions of Australia.

This is a great activity to follow on and consolidate my other resource ‘Jump for robots’. Students carefully examine the pictures and ONLY colour in those pictures that they think are a robot. Put an X on the pictures that are not a robot and circle the pictures that may be a robot.

The students were taken on a discovery tour of our Australian school bushland to identify evidence of animal habitats. The students had to circle ‘yes’ of ‘no’ as to whether there was evidence that the depicted animals lived in the bushland. We then returned to discuss their findings. This resource could be used in any Australian school yard or alternatively take your students on an excursion to a local park.

This is a powerpoint of 11 slides. Each slide has a true or false question about robots eg, humans can go anywhere a robot can go, a robot could save your life one day and most robots are working out in space. The question on each slide provides a stimulus to encourage students to think about the diverse role of robots in the 20th century world.

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?

This factual text contains the main features of ants. It includes body parts and structure release of pheromones how they use their different body parts the ant colony There are plenty of literacy and science activities that could facilitated with this text.

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.