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.

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.

The students were taken on a discovery tour through or school woodland. Each pair of students were given the worksheet and a clipboard. The students were to look for evidence that the animals featured on the worksheet may inhabit the woodland. We returned to class to discuss their findings.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Heat producers or heated by something else?? This lesson package includes 1. A powerpoint presentation to identify and discuss with students when an object producers it's own heat or is heated by something else. 2. A hands on team investigation to identify various heat sources set up around the classroom using objects sourced in the classroom or brought in by the students or class teacher. 3. This task is the assessment component. Students need to identify images that produce their own heat and images that are heated by something else and sort them onto their T chart. 4. An assessment rubric to accompany the worksheet component.

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

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 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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.