Longneck Lagoon EEC can deliver programs in your school. These curriculum-based programs range in length from 40 minute hands-on workshops through to half day investigations. Contact the Centre for more information or to make a booking.
Sustainability/environmental education
Stage 2 and Stage 3 - schoolyard investigations
A range of schoolyard investigations can be carried out using a variety of fieldwork skills, equipment and techniques. Workshops can be tailored to suit a range of topics and timeframes from 1 hour to half day programs.
Stage 2 and Stage 3 - Environmental audits
Longneck lagoon EEC staff can work with your students to conduct investigations at your school site into:
- waste and litter
- biodiversity.
We will then assist your students to develop action plans to make a change for the better.
Stage 2 and Stage 3 - Biodiversity Guardians
About the incursion:
Incursion workshops run for 3 hours.
A group of students (maximum 25 students from Stages 2 and/or 3) will be selected by your school to participate in the program.
Participating students will:
· engage in a variety of hands-on learning activities as they conduct a habitat survey and biodiversity audit of your school
· be supported and guided to develop ideas about how your school grounds could be improved to encourage a broader diversity of plant and animal life.
STEM Incursions - scroll down to see the range of incursions
Longneck Lagoon EEC offers a range of incursions with a STEM focus. All incursions are based on quality children's literature.
Early Stage 1 The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 1 hour.
Group reading of the picture book The Best Nest by P. D. Eastman.
View a range of bird nests noting how nests are made and the materials used by birds. Watch a short time-lapse video of a bird constructing a nest.
Students work in small groups to construct their own bird nest.
Students test their nest in a model tree fork.
Incursion summary for printing (14KB)
Stage 1 Who Sank the Boat by Pamela Allen
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 1 hour.
Group reading of the picture book Who Sank the Boat by Pamela Allen.
Discuss what happened in the story and why things happened.
In small groups test a variety of containers to find the best boat.
Identify characteristics of a ‘good’ boat.
Design and make a boat to hold a minimum of five animals.
Re-enact the story with students as characters.
Incursion summary for printing (15KB)
Stage 1 The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 1 hour.
Group reading of the picture book The Very Ugly Bug by Liz Pichon.
Discuss observable features of the bug in the book. Discuss observable features of other bugs.
Observe resin bugs and identify observable features and identify body parts.
Create a unique bug using air-dry clay.
Incursion summary for printing (14KB)
Stage 2 The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashleigh Spiers
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Group reading of the picture book The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashleigh Spiers.
Undertake the challenge of designing, constructing and evaluating a marble run. Students will assess their design against pre-determined criteria and re-design, re-construct and re-evaluate their run.
Incursion summary for printing (14KB)
Stage 3 Engibear's Bridge by Andrew King
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 2 hours.
Group reading of the picture book Engibear’s Bridge by Andrew King.
Undertake the challenge of designing, constructing and evaluating a bridge. Students will assess their design against pre-determined criteria.
Incursion summary for printing ( 15KB)
Stage 3 The Encyclopeadia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly
About the incursion:
Incursion workshop runs for 1 hour.
Group reading of selected pages of the book The Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly.
Develop skills in scientific drawing and describing of adaptive structural and behavioural features using targeted pages from the book. Discuss how these adaptations support survival.
Incursion summary for printing (15KB)
Citizen science
Stage 2 and 3 - Cicadas in schools
There are three incursion lessons. Lessons 1 and 3 can be delivered by the classroom teacher and take approximately 1 hour. All learning materials are provided.
Lesson 2 is delivered by teaching staff from Longneck Lagoon EEC and runs for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. All learning materials are provided.
About the incursions:
Lesson 1 activities
Learn about the lifecycle, body parts, distribution and calls of Australian cicadas.
Lesson 2 activities
Review previous lesson content, wall of sound activity, fieldwork: locating cicada shells, live cicadas – taking photos, recording cicada song, marking sightings on map, upload sighting and recording to citizen science app.
Lesson 3 activities
Review previous lesson content, rotate through a range of tasks – use story scaffold to describe life cycle, design an informational poster, use tally sheets to record numbers and sex of cicada shells, scientific drawing labelling body parts.
Incursion summary for printing (15KB)
Early Stage 1/Stage 1
Storybook STEM programs
The Best Nest (ES1)
Students investigate how birds build their nests using a range of materials. Students work in small groups to build their own bird nest, using success criteria to ‘test their nest’.
Duration: 1 hour.
The Very Ugly Bug (S1)
Students examine the external features of insects and create their own ‘ugly bug’ using natural materials.
Duration: 1 hour.
Who Sank the Boat? (S1)
Students examine how the properties of materials determine their use and how forces are used for a purpose by building a boat that can float and hold toy animals.
Duration: 1 hour.
Aboriginal education (ES1/S1)
Activities include a cultural knowledge sharing session, traditional indigenous games, storytelling through sand drawing and creating clay art.
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Science (S1)
Bush bugs
Students identify and classify insects by examining their external features. Students label the body parts of insects and complete scientific sketches of bush bugs.
Duration: 45 minutes.
Geography (S1)
Features of places
Students examine the features of their school, creating sound maps and nature maps of the things they can hear and see. They take a close-up look at the features of insects and vegetation.
Duration: 1 hour.
Stage 2
Storybook STEM programs
The Most Magnificent Thing
Students undertake the challenge of designing, constructing and evaluating a marble run. Students will assess their design against pre-determined criteria and re-design, re-construct and re-evaluate their run.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Cicadas in Schools
Students participate in a Citizen Science project investigating cicadas in their school. This program includes lesson plans for two lessons that can be delivered by the classroom teacher and an additional fieldwork lesson delivered by a Longneck Lagoon EEC teacher
as an incursion.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Aboriginal education
Activities include a cultural knowledge sharing session, traditional indigenous games, and storytelling through sand painting.
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Science
Living World
Students undertake a ‘bush study’ of the vegetation on their school grounds in two different sites and compare and analyse their findings. Students develop an understanding of the interdependence of species by participating in a ‘Web of Life’ activity.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Soil and Stone
Students undertake investigations into changes to the Earth’s surface. They examine different soil types under the microscope, classify stones according to a variety of criteria and participate in an erosion experiment.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Geography
Biodiversity Guardians
Students investigate The Earth’s Environment by undertaking a biodiversity audit of their school grounds. They conduct a bird survey, invertebrate survey and habitat assessment of their school and make recommendations about what changes could be made to their school environment to promote biodiversity.
Duration 1.5 hours.
Environmental audits
Longneck Lagoon EEC staff can work with your students to conduct investigations at your school site into:
- waste and litter
- biodiversity.
We will then assist your students to develop action plans to make a change for the better.
Stage 3
Storybook STEM programs
Engibear’s Bridge
Students undertake the challenge of designing, constructing and evaluating a bridge. Students will assess their design based on pre-determined criteria.
Duration: 2 hours.
Cicadas in Schools
Students participate in a Citizen Science project investigating cicadas in their school. This program includes lesson plans for two lessons that can be delivered by the classroom teacher and an additional fieldwork lesson delivered by a Longneck Lagoon EEC teacher as an incursion.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Aboriginal education
Activities include a cultural knowledge sharing session, traditional indigenous games, and storytelling through sand painting.
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Science
Ugly Animals
After reading selected pages from The Encyclopeadia of Ugly Animals, students develop skills in scientific drawing and describing adaptive structural and behavioural features. They investigate how these adaptations support survival. Duration: 1 hour.
Geography
Biodiversity Guardians
Students investigate The Earth’s Environment by undertaking a biodiversity audit of their school grounds. They conduct a bird survey, invertebrate survey and habitat assessment of their school and make recommendations about what changes could be made to their school environment to promote biodiversity.
Duration 1.5 hours.
Using Geographical Tools: GPS Challenge
Students learn how to use a GPS (Global Positioning System) device and undertake a GPS Challenge within their school.
Duration: 2 hours.
Environmental audits
Longneck Lagoon EEC staff can work with your students to conduct investigations at your school site into:
- waste and litter
- biodiversity.
We will then assist your students to develop action plans to make a change for the better.
Leadership and team building
Students will participate in a range of activities and undertake challenges that aim to develop their leadership and teamwork skills. Two groups can operate in a day, with a maximum of 12 students in each group.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
