Lord Howe Island - Invasive Species

Lord Howe Island - Invasive Species

Lesson 3 of 4 in this unit

  • Primary
  • Year 5 - 6
  • English
  • Science
  • Environmental
  • Biodiversity
  • Conservation
  • Land Management
  • ...

Lesson summary

Students investigate the impact of invasive species on Lord Howe Island. They begin by reviewing their prior knowledge of invasive species and how they can impact the environment. Students then look at the major invasive species on Lord Howe Island – rats and mice – and explore the rodent eradication program on the island through a case study analysis. Finally, students create a poster that shares the main details of the eradication program and explores the lessons from the program for other places hoping to remove invasive species. Students who have completed the previous lessons in this unit can scan or photograph their poster and upload it to their Lord Howe Island Library Padlet.

Learning intentions:

Students will...

  • understand what invasive species are
  • recognise the impact of invasive species on our environment
  • understand that programs can be and are being taken to remove the invasive species from Lord Howe Island.

Success criteria:

Students can...

  • read, analyse and reflect on a case study about invasive animals of Lord Howe Island
  • apply learnings about the Lord Howe Island rodent eradication program to create an informative poster
  • reflect on the success of the rodent eradication program and the reasons for its success
  • think creatively about their own island and suggest how the plant and animals on their island would be impacted by an invasive species (optional).

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Plan
Student Worksheet
Teacher Content Info

Lesson details

Curriculum mapping

Australian curriculum content descriptions: 

Year 5 Science:

  • Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043)
  • Identify, plan and apply the elements of scientific investigations to answer questions and solve problems using equipment and materials safely and identifying potential risks (ACSIS086)
  • Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093)

Year 5 English:

  • Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)
  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704)

Year 6 Science:

  • The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)
  • Identify, plan and apply the elements of scientific investigations to answer questions and solve problems using equipment and materials safely and identifying potential risks (ACSIS103)
  • Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

Year 6 English:

  • Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (ACELY1713)
  • Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714)

Syllabus outcomes: ST3-4WS, ST3-10LW, ST3-11LWEN3-2A, EN3-3A

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Literacy

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.3, OI.7, OI.9

Relevant parts of Year 5 Science achievement standards: Students analyse how the form of living things enables them to function in their environments. They communicate their ideas and findings using multimodal texts.

Relevant parts of Year 5 English achievement standards: Students create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for different purposes and audiences.

Relevant parts of Year 6 Science achievement standards: Students describe and predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things. They collect, organise and interpret their data and construct multimodal texts to communicate ideas, methods and findings.

Relevant parts of Year 6 English achievement standards: Students create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences

This lesson is part of the wider unit of work Lord Howe Island – Years 5 & 6

Time required: 60 mins

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – facilitate class discussion, oversee poster making activity

Resources required

Skills

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

  • Communication
  • Community engagement
  • Creativity
  • Critical thinking

Additional Info

If you would like to access additional information about Joshua Yeldham and the photographs of his wonderful exhibition 'Providence'. Please visit the Arthouse Gallery website: Joshua Yeldham - Providence (arthousegallery.com.au/exhibitions/joshua_yeldham/providence) and the artist's website: Joshua Yeldham (www.joshuayeldham.com.au) for exhibitions and his wonderful book: Surrender (joshuayeldham.com.au/the-books). Providence and Surrender were completed during and after his Artist Residency on Lord Howe Island and during his stay at the Capella Lodge (capellalodge.com.au) on Lord Howe Island. 

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