Hayley Firth_18608638

Extension Approval Evidence

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A Series of Teaching and Learning:

Activities for Science and Technology

Developed by: Hayley Firth

School: Mount Annan Public School

Target Class: Year 2

Stage: Stage 1

Topic: Together We Thrive

Focus & Inquiry • How do humans use plants?

Questions • How can we improve a local environment to encourage
living things to thrive?

Value the importance and contribution of science and technology

Values & Attitudes in developing solutions for current and future personal, social
and global issues and in shaping a sustainable future.

Consideration It is recommended this unit is completed during Spring or

Summer to increase student success rates for final learning
experience. Otherwise, choose a mystery plant that suits colder
climates (ie. peas).

School Context
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Name of School: Mount Annan Public School

The significant facts, features and Implications for teaching and learning in
influences on the school and the class. the target class.

The School & Community • ‘Together We Grow’ derives from Mount

• Established in 1993 with 748 Annan Public School’s (MAPS)
students enrolled in 2018. foundation for their School Plan (2018-
• 33 classroom teachers. 2020).
• Most households are moderate • Emphasises the importance of
socio-economic earning between sustainability and connection with the
$2000-2500 a week.
Mount Annan community.
• Located in South-East Camden.
• School has a vegetable and fruit garden.
• Rural area with close access to
• Location allows year 2 students’ education
multiple reserves and the Australian
Botanical Garden(Figure 1). to travel beyond the school environment,
Figure 1: Location (Google Maps, 2020) contributing to their active citizenship.
• May require EAL/D learner support due to
students’ various cultural backgrounds and
experiences.

(MAPS, 2019; Camden Council, 2016)

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Strategic Direction 1: • Ensuring these perspectives are

• Students engage in opportunities to evident in lessons to achieve MAPS
think critically, create, collaborate School Plan (2018).
and communicate. • Implementing collaborative learning
for differentiation and strengthening
understanding (Vygostky, 1978).
• Integrating strategic direction with
pedagogical practices through
inquiry based learning, whereby
students will construct knowledge
through meaningful, hands-on
(MAPS, 2018) experiences (Alexander, 2012).

Strategic Direction 3: • Utilising resources and nearby

• Promoting collective learning within visitations to strengthen year 2
and beyond the school community knowledge and understanding.
to ensure optimal outcomes for • Implement excursions and outdoor
students. activities relating to learning
outcomes.
• Engage with educational programs
available from the community, such
as Australian Botanical Garden ‘Eco
Detective’ program (NSW
Government, n.d.).
(MAPS, 2018)

Cultural Diversity • Appropriately utilising Aboriginal

• Acknowledges the importance of resources within and beyond the
enhancing knowledge and school for inclusive and extensive
understanding of Aboriginal history education.
and culture. • Contacting and organising
• Aboriginal Garden completed in educational experiences for year 2
2018. that incorporate Aboriginal
• 80% of students reported a positive education, such as learning about the
sense of belonging in 2018. Yarning cycle by educator Josh
Brown from the Australian Botanic
Garden (NSW Government, n.d.).
• Meaningful and inclusive
experiences aim to increase the sense
(MAPS, 2019) of belonging rate.
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Assessment • Implementing learning goals and

• Teachers prioritise the success criteria throughout all
implementation of formative classroom lessons to comply with
assessment. school legislation.
• Evidence showed 100% of teachers • Allows students to recognise learning
used learning goals and success focus and how to be successful
criteria within classrooms for (MAPS, 2019).
formative assessment. • Ensuring multiple formative
assessment strategies are
implemented for ongoing,
progressive learning (Dixson &
(MAPS, 2019) Worrell, 2016).

Students • Allow students to work in pairs or

• Classes consist of approximately 30 mixed ability groups to promote
students each. collaborative learning and support
• My year 2 class has 26 students. differentiation.
• Four students are of Aboriginal and • Classroom space is appropriate for
Torres Strait Islander background. learning experiences, however tables
may be re-arranged for group
(Personal Observation, 2020) activities.
Technology • Always charge devices when not in
• Technology rich environment use. This ensures all students have a
• One Chromebook per student within device when required.
each classroom and 10 iPads per • If using iPads, group students into 3
classroom. (one iPad per group).
• 79% of teachers utilise Seesaw for • Implement Seesaw for effective
engaging student learning and communication with students and
parent/carer communication. parents/carers.
• Utilise Seesaw to gather evidence of
(MAPS, 2019) student learning.

Curriculum Areas • Future and Science focused School plan

• Partnership with Curran Park Public encourages students to thrive as active
School for effective implementation of the citizens in the Mount Annan community.
new Science K-10 Syllabus (2018). • Can extend student’s Enlgish and literacy
• Literacy & Numeracy are taught every skills as they create informative texts using
morning session, rotating between each growing knowledge.
other every week. • Gradually progress from teacher-directed
• Other Key Learning Areas (KLA) are to student-centred learning experiences, as
predominantly taught during middle year 2 students have minimal experience
sessions. with conducting scientific investigations.
• Students are studying informative texts for • Scaffold learning activities to ensure
English. development of new skills.

(MAPS, 2019)
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Concepts for Science and Technology

Core concepts
Core Concepts Definitions derived from Core concept re-defined in a form
authoritative sources and appropriate to the cognitive and
referenced language development of students in the
target class

Data Information that can be used Collecting information and representing it

to derive patterns, inform in images, notes or graphs.
decisions and draw
conclusions (NESA, 2017,
p.99). For example; images,
annotations and
observations.

Evidence Evidence is valid/reliable Similar to data. We use this to prove

data that can be used to something exists or is successful.
support a particular theory,
prediction, idea or
conclusion (NESA, 2017,
p.100).

Indigenous Internationally recognised The term we use in Australia for

term for the first people of a Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
land. In NSW the term peoples, as they were the first people on
Aboriginal person/Peoples this land.
is preferred (NESA, 2017,
p.100).

Inquiry Involves a process of Researching a specific topic to find

exploring the natural or information, solve problems and answer
material world, and that questions.
leads to asking questions,
making discoveries, and
testing those discoveries in
the search for new
understanding
(Exploratorium, 2020).

Investigation A scientific investigation is Activities that require exploring problems

a systematic inquiry and finding solutions through using your
applying the processes of scientific knowledge and understanding.
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planning a course of action,

safely manipulating tools
and equipment in collecting
and interpreting data,
drawing evidence-based
conclusions and
communicating findings
(NESA, 2017, p.101).

Living Things A living organism that has Anything that is alive, such as plants,
the ability to reproduce, humans and animals. Even though plants
grow and/or develop in a and animals may not live the same way,
series of stages or life cycle they are still alive. For example, trees do
(Australian Academy of not have lungs to breathe but they are
Science, 2012). alive.

Observation The action or process of Focusing on what you are seeing,

closely observing or something you might notice by looking.
monitoring something
(Oxford, 2020).
Prediction Forecast a happening or Assume something is going to happen
event (NESA, 2017, p.102). before it does.

Sustainable Supporting the needs of the Making sure we look after our
present without environment to create a better, healthier
compromising the ability of future.
future generations to
support their needs (NESA,
2017, p.103).

Other Terms
Terms Definitions all derived Associated concept/s re-defined in a
directly from Oxford form appropriate to the cognitive and
Dictionary (2020). language development of students in
the target class

Bush Tucker Food, typically uncooked, Food from bush plants that are native to
from plants and animals Australia. This is common term used by
native to the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
outback. peoples to describe plants and animals
used for food and medicine.

Carbon Dioxide A colourless, odourless gas Plants soak up carbon dioxide during
produced by burning photosynthesis.
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carbon and organic

compounds and by
respiration.
Climate The weather conditions The weather of a location which changes
prevailing in an area in through each season.
general or over a long
period.
Fertiliser A chemical or organic Something we add to soil for extra
substance added to soil or nutrients.
land to increase its fertility.
Glucose A simple sugar which is an Sugar that plants use for energy.
important energy source in
living organisms.
Greenhouse A glass building in which A man-made house for plants. This
plants that need protection protects the plants from pest and cold
from cold weather are weather and allows in sunlight and
grown. warmth.

Nutrients A substance that provides There are different types of nutrients

nourishment essential for which can be used to help plants thrive.
the maintenance of life and
for growth.
Natural Existing in or derived from Comes from nature. For example, apple
nature. are natural because they grow from trees.

Photosynthesis The process by which green How plants turn use sunlight to grow.
plants and some other
organisms use sunlight to
synthesize nutrients from
carbon dioxide and water.
Sprout Appear or develop When a seed produces shoots, it is
suddenly and in large sprouting.
numbers.
Thrive Grow or develop well or To grow bigger and better.
vigorously.
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Syllabus Outcomes

S&T Syllabus Indicators specifically related to the teaching and

Outcomes learning experiences. Students:

ST1-4LW-S • Recognise that people use science and technology in their

Describes observable daily lives, including when caring for their environment
features of living things and living things.
and their environment. • Explore how plants grow.
• Design and produce an environment to encourage the
growth of a plant.
• Records the changes in growth of a common plant to
understand how living things thrive.

ST1-5LW-T • Explore plants used in in customary practices for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Identifies how
• Identify some plants used for ‘bush tucker’ within
plants and animals
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
are used for food • Identify some plants within the school used for food
and fibre products. production.
ST1-1WS-S • Collaboratively explore and answer questions through
Observes, questions participation in guided scientific investigations.
and collects data to • Represent information using digital representations and
communicate and annotations.
• Compares ideas from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
compare ideas.
cultures against own food production contexts.
• Makes predictions about possible findings.
• Compares observations with those of others.
• Develop collaboration skills to effectively conduct
investigations.
• Test and evaluate design ideas.
• Collects data from observations.

ST1-2DP-T • Generate ideas for design solutions for a defined purpose.

Uses materials, tools • Consider sustainable use of resources in planning design
and equipment to solutions.
develop solutions for • Develop design ideas in response to a problem, eg. some
a need or plants do not grow in cold climates.
opportunity. • Collect, sort, organise and present data to communicate
information.
• Identify the positive and negative impact of a design solution
within an environment.
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Assignment 2
Teaching and Learning Experience
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING EXPERIENCE 1
Exploring Our Community

Teaching & Learning.

Students apply their prior knowledge of living things to investigate how humans use
plants for food (NESA, 2017). Through guided scientific inquiry, students will ‘Think,
Pair, Share’ (Kaddoura, 2013) their ideas as they explore the use of plants within the
Australian Botanical Garden. Teacher and students will also jointly construct a ‘Know-
Want-Learn’ chart (KWL; (Zouhor, Bogdanovic & Segedinac, 2016) to showcase their
learning journey.

Students will use various, familiar ICT to engage with activities that do not require
internet. Additionally, students develop an understanding for the cross curriculum priority
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and histories as an educational
representative explains to students how particular plants are used for ‘bush tucker’. This
will allow students to value Indigenous customary practices within their community and
make connections between traditional and Western scientific knowledge (NESA, 2017).

Prior Considerations
According to MAPS legislation, students are allowed to take iPads on excursions within
close proximity of the school (personal communication, November 2019). Teacher will
need to borrow three extra iPads to suit excursion requirements and ensure all devices are
completely charged before going. Permission slips and risk assessment should be
completed prior the excursion to ensure student safety. Although the gardens have free
entry, costs and educational services will need to be organised before the excursion.
Teacher should also visit the location to create Adventure map and take images for the QR
codes prior learning experience*.
*Due to COVID-19, a sample map could not be made.

Duration: 1 Day
Teacher and students will need to leave school premises at 9am to arrive by 9:15am.
Students will have 2 hours to engage and explore before given a 30 minute lunch break.
After this, students engage with educational activities coordinated by the Environmental
Education Centre for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Teacher and students then have
approximately 1 hour for evaluation (extra time may be required for completing
evaluation experience).

Outcomes Indicators
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ST1-5LW-T • Explore plants used in in customary practices for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Identifies how plants and
• Identify some plants used for ‘bush tucker’ within
animals are used for food and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
fibre products.
ST1-1WS-S • Collaboratively explore and answer questions
Observes, questions and collects through participation in guided scientific
data to communicate and investigations.
compare ideas. • Represent information using digital representations
and annotations.
• Compares ideas from Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander cultures against own food production
contexts.
Organisation
Students to remain under teacher supervision at all times. Group students into ‘adventure
buddies’ (pairs) before leaving the school so they have a partner at all times. At the
location, teacher will direct students with a prepared interactive map, ensuring all
destinations are of close proximity to observe and maintain student safety. Students will
be seated all together whilst listening to the teacher/educator speak and during breaks.

Engage Take students to the Australian Botanical Garden

located a 10 minute walk away from Mount Annan
Public School. Once arrived, the teacher will ask
students:
• Why do we think we are visiting here today?
• What do we notice about the environment?
• What living things can you see?

This will stimulate student thinking and engage

interest towards the learning focus (Margetts &
Woolfolk, 2019) whilst immersing them within a
realistic environment. Jointly construct a KWL chart
by discussing with students what they know and want
to know about the garden’s plants. Teacher to record
responses on device and upload to Seesaw (Figure 2).

Figure 2: KWL Chart

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Explore Teacher organises students into ‘adventure buddies’

and will share one iPad together. This will allow them
to ‘think, pair, share’ their ideas as they explore the
hands-on activities. This will involve:
• Teacher guides students to specific locations on a
prepared map containing QR codes.
• Each QR code is to be scanned once a destination is
reached. This will download images of plants
students must find within that area under teacher
supervision.
• Once students find a plant, they are to video record
one another describing what they found and what
they think the plant is used for.
• After 10 minutes, students return to teacher, discuss
their findings and move to the next destination.

If QR codes do not work, air drop the images to

students once reached each destination.
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Explain Educational Representative

The Australian Botanical Garden in Mount Annan
offers multiple learning services coordinated by the
Environmental Education Centre. By organising an
educational speaker, students can learn about the
Indigenous customary practices of the plants they
identified earlier. It is vital to have the appropriate
representative explain this to students to acknowledge
and respect the local Aboriginal culture and history
(Queensland Government Department of Education
and Training [QGDET], 2011).

Students
Annotate the images downloaded from the QR codes
using the knowledge they learned. This can be done
with the Explain Everything application, as it has an
easy interface and is suitable for year 2 students. This
allows students to make sense of their discoveries
through meaningful experiences (Abruscato &
DeRosa, 2010).

Elaborate Educators from the Environmental Education Centre

also provide hands-on experiences for children to apply
new-found knowledge to realistic contexts.

Students are given opportunities to elaborate their

knowledge as they engage in various activities
including cooking, weaving and plants as medicine
after the explanation.

After each activity, engage students in whole class

discussion about:
• What they liked about the activity.
• How the experience may be similar to their own (ie.
bush tucker comes from native plants and is used for
food and medicine. I also eat food from plants, such
as fruit and vegetables).

Discussion may require scaffolding through guided

questioning, such as:
How might you use plants for food or medicine?
(I use plants for their fruit and vegetables).
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Evaluate Once return to the classroom, discuss as a class what

their favourite plants were and why. Students then
work with the same partner to create a video for what
they learned in order to complete the KWL chart.
Students will:
• Choose a plant they liked the most.
• Record themselves talking about why they liked this
plant, what they learned about it and how it is similar
to their lives.
• Using iMovie, combine this recording with the short
clip that ‘explored’ the favoured plant.

This is a suitable process for year 2, as iMovie only

requires uploading pre-existing videos and combines
them for the creator(s). These videos are then uploaded
to Seesaw whereby student responses of know and
want are found. This showcases their learning journeys
for parents to see and provides an evaluation of
learning.

Use of ICT’s • iPad.

• Explain Everything application.
• QR code scanner.
• iPad camera (for video recording).
• iMovie.
• Seesaw.
Resources • iPad (one per pair, total of 13 required).
Students are to keep in bags until requested.
• iPad for teacher use.
• Applications installed (Explain Everything &
iMovie).
• Booking for educational service.
• Hat, sunscreen, bottle of water and lunch.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING EXPERIENCE 2

How Plants Grow
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Teaching & Learning

Students apply their previous experience with living things and bush tucker to continue
investigating how humans use plants (NESA, 2017). Students collaboratively construct a
mind-map identifying natural foods in order to make learning connections and understand
how “traditional and Western scientific knowledge can be complementary” (NESA, 2017,
p.39) in relation to plants for food. Students will collaboratively investigate these
predictions within the school’s vegetable garden, as they engage in a scavenger hunt to
find natural foods based on how they grow.

Following explanation, students will compare observations and ideas as they apply
learned skills to collaboratively plant their own potatoes. This provides students with
opportunities to authentically learn the content and develop an awareness of sustainable
practices for the responsible management of natural resources (NESA, 2017).
Furthermore, the use of a learning goal and success criteria allows students to explicitly
recognise how humans sustainably use plants and what skills are required to achieve this
(Chronin & Cosgrave, 2013). The employment of self-assessment further deepens their
learning experience by utilising reflection as a formative assessment strategy to inform
future teaching and learning for both students and the teacher (Dixson & Worrell, 2016).

Duration: 3 hours

Outcomes Indicators

ST1-5LW-T • Identify some plants within the school used for

food production.
Identifies how plants and
animals are used for food and
fibre products.
ST1-4LW-S • Recognise that people use science and technology
Describes observable features of in their daily lives, including when caring for their
living things and their environment and living things.
environment. • Explore how plants grow.
ST1-1WS-S • Makes predictions about possible findings.
Observes, questions and collects • Compares observations with those of others.
data to communicate and • Develop collaboration skills to effectively conduct
compare ideas. investigations.

Organisation
Initially, students will be sitting on the floor in front of the IWB. Students will be
randomly organised into groups of three using name-sticks to ensure fair and
differentiated groupings. Once in the garden, students may explore under teacher
supervision. However, students must sit closely to hear the explanation of their scientific
phenomenon due to possible outdoor ambience (ie. lawn mowers, nearby birds, etc.).
Students with gather around an empty garden bed with the teacher to then plant their
potatoes. Teacher will have resources prepared next to the garden bed to avoid disrupting
the learning experience.
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Engage Encourage students to have their ‘crunch and sip’ as the

teacher introduces learning goal and success criteria for
formative assessment required by school policy
(MAPS, 2019):
• Learning goal: Identify how humans use plants.
• Success criteria: We will be able to grow our own
natural food.

Brainstorm and discuss with students what the term

‘natural’ might mean. Once identified, collaboratively
construct a mind-map naming ‘Natural Food’ ideas on
the IWB.This will assess and engage students’ prior
knowledge of Indigenous Australian bush tucker whilst
providing opportunities for students to apply new ideas
relevant to the learning focus (ie.what they are eating
for crunch and sip).

Explain we will be investigating some of these foods

outdoors today and brainstorm where we might find
them (ie. the school’s vegetable garden).

Explore Teacher takes students to explore the school’s

vegetable garden and organises students into groups of
three, with the exception of four due to 26 students.
Each group will have an iPad and a scavenger hunt list
prepared by the teacher (Figure 3). The list requires
students to find fruit and vegetables from the garden
based on descriptions of how they grow (ie. ground,
tree, underground, etc.). Each description has multiple
answers to differentiate learning and provide
opportunities for success to all students.

After 20 minutes, students come back to the teacher

and discuss as a class their findings.. For instance, a
student identified a vegetable that grows from the
ground as carrot.

Figure 3: Scavenger hunt.

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Explain Teacher
Explains to students what plants need to grow.
According to Generation Genius (2019):
• Plants gain energy to grow from sunlight. This
process is called ‘photosynthesis’.
• Plants, like all living things, need water to survive.
Water helps plants maintain their structure and
produce glucose (sugar) when combined with carbon
dioxide for food.
• Soil provides an anchor for the roots of a plant to
grow in. The richer the soil, the better the plant will
grow.
• Rich soil holds more water and provides nutrients
that allow the plant to grow bigger and stronger. Soil
can be made richer by adding fertiliser.
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• Plants are seasonal, meaning some grow better in

warmer climates but will not grow when it is cold
(and vice versa).
Elaborate Teacher guides students in planting a new vegetable
into the garden; potatoes!

Before planting, ask students where they think the

potatoes might grow (in the ground). As the teacher
assists students in planting their own potatoes, ask
students “what should we do next” to encourage
independent thinking. This will allow them to
elaborate learned knowledge within a new, hands-on
situation and develop a deeper understanding for
science and technology is used everyday for growing
natural food (Bybee et al., 2006).

Take photos of students planting their potatoes to post

on Seesaw for parents and provide evidence of success.
Before posting, ensure faces are covered of students
who’s photos are not allowed to be taken.

Evaluate Once returned to the classroom, revisit the ‘Natural

Food’ mind-map and ask students which ideas they
found in the garden today. Ask students “What were
some ways we could look after these plants using
science?” to revise new knowledge and self-assure
them of their learning success (Margets & Woolfolk,
2019).

Finally, ask students to self-assess their learning by

signalling a thumbs-up (confident), thumbs-side
(somewhat confident) or thumbs-down (confused) to
indicate how competent they feel in achieving the
learning goal and success criteria. Teacher discusses
evaluations with students to understand why they
think they are successful and consider future learning
implications (Chronin & Cosgrave, 2013).

Use of ICT’s • iPad (scavenger hunt & camera)

• Seesaw.
• IWB.
Resources • Gardening gloves, hat, seed potatoes, watering
can, fertiliser.
• iPads.
• IWB.
Hayley Firth_18608638

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING EXPERIENCE 3

Better Plants, Better Food.

Prior Considerations
Teacher and students to collect empty 1L to 4L bottles and bring them to the classroom
for this learning experience. Everyone is encouraged to bring numerous bottles to allow
all students to participate and attempt multiple times. At least 35 bottles are required
before commencing learning experience. Students also have an understanding for what
‘recyclable’ means and extra iPads need to be borrowed from other classrooms.

Teaching & Learning

Students apply their scientific knowledge and understanding from previous learning
experiences to investigate how they can encourage living things to thrive (NESA, 2017).
By immersing students within a life-size greenhouse, they are able to critically analyse
what they ‘see, think and wonder’ (Reynolds, 2019) in relation to what they have
previously learned. Implementing ‘think, pair, share’ (Kaddoura, 2013) further extends this
understanding as discussing ideas out-loud encourages students to reflect upon and
rehearse their knowledge (Tan & Zammit, 2018; Margetts & Woolfolk, 2019).
Additionally, exit slips will allow the students and teacher to recognise their learning
evolution and what to teach next (Leigh, 2012).

Teacher provides learning goal and success criteria to guide students through their inquiry
based learning. Inquiry based learning is a student-centred approach to teaching that
allows students to develop metacognitive skills through posing questions and investigating
solutions (Reynolds, 2019). For instance, students collaboratively generate ideas and
explore solutions when given the task of creating a miniature recyclable greenhouse. Once
scientific phenomenon is explained, students elaborate their knowledge to modify and
improve their greenhouse designs. Overall, this allows students to “participate critically
and act creatively in determining more sustainable ways of living” (NESA, 2017, p.39).

Duration: 3 hours

Outcomes Indicators

ST1-4LW-S • Recognise that people use science and technology

Describes observable features of in their daily lives, including when caring for their
living things and their environment and living things.
environment. • Design and produce an environment to encourage
the growth of a plant.
ST1-1WS-S • Collaboratively explore and answer questions
Observes, questions and collects through participation in guided scientific
data to communicate and investigations.
compare ideas. • Makes predictions about possible findings.
• Test and evaluate design ideas.
Hayley Firth_18608638

ST1-2DP-T • Generate ideas for design solutions for a defined

Uses materials, tools and purpose.
equipment to develop solutions • Consider sustainable use of resources in planning
for a need or opportunity. design solutions.
• Develop design ideas in response to a problem, eg.
some plants do not grow in cold climates.
Organisation
Ensure students are in two lines when walking to the school’s greenhouse, whilst teacher
carries iPads in a trolly. When distributing iPads, call the names of students displaying
good behaviour to avoid congestion and maintain behaviour management. During
exploration, ensure tables are separated to provide ample space for students to trial and
design their greenhouses. Students may choose their partner. During explanation, students
to return to the floor to ensure they are listening and not distracted by their materials. This
will allow them to focus on the teacher’s model and effectively scaffold their learning.

Engage Take students to the school’s fruit and vegetable

garden. Here, students will find and enter the
greenhouse with the teacher. Teacher to engage
students in a ‘see, think, wonder’ (Reynolds, 2016).
This involves students recording on their iPad:
• What I see (natural foods, soil, plants, etc.)
• What I think (plants are growing, being cared for,
etc.)
• What I wonder (what is the greenhouse for? what
does it do?)

Students are to use Padlet to enter their wonderings.

Once they have wondered, students are to ‘think, pair,
share’ (Kaddoura, 2013) their ideas before discussing
their learning implications as a whole class.

Explore Return to the classroom to explore the learning goal

and success criteria:
• Learning goal: We are learning about strategies that
help plants thrive.
• Success criteria: Design and produce a greenhouse
from recyclable materials.

Teacher is to pair students and inform them of their

task: How could you make a miniature greenhouse out
of a recycled materials?

Students can choose from a variety of bottles; 1L paper

milk cartons, 2L milk bottles, 4L milk bottles and 2L
juice bottles. This will allow them combine their
wonderings and previous knowledge to test and
evaluate what ideas are most suitable for their purpose.
Hayley Firth_18608638

Explain Teacher
Explain what a greenhouse does and why this
encourages the growth of a plant. According to Vernon
(2019):

Greenhouses are designed to provide a consistent,

comfortable environment for plants to grow bigger and
better. The greenhouse acts as a barrier for keeping out
pests and cold temperatures whilst allowing in the light
and warmth needed for plants to grow. This enhances
the growth of plants that require warmer climates and
may not grow outside during winter. However, we still
need to make sure we provide water for the plants.

Teacher & Students

Teacher to brainstorm with students how they can
apply this knowledge to their greenhouses in order to
improve their design.
Hayley Firth_18608638

Elaborate Teacher is to model how to make a greenhouse using

‘think alouds’ (Reynolds, 2019). This involves the
teacher modelling success to students whilst talking
aloud the thought process involved in each decision
(Reynolds, 2019). For instance, “I am choosing the 4L
carton because I can fit more rich soil, which will
provide more nutrients and hold more water for my
plant to grow”.

Once completed the model, leave it at the front of the

room for students to refer to as they build one in pairs.
This experience allows students to elaborate on their
initial ideas as they improve and modify their original
creation due to their new knowledge (Bybee et al.,
2006). Providing a model also scaffolds students’
learning whilst guiding them through authentic,
scientific investigation (Bybee et al., 2006).

Once completed, students may fill their greenhouse

with soil, take a photo of it and post it on Seesaw.
Possible designs could include:
• Cutting the bottle in half and leaving it open.
• Only cutting part of the bottle but leaving the lid off.
• Poking holes underneath to let the water drain.
• Taping their bottle back together.
• Swapping their bottle for a bigger size (although not
necessary).
• Choosing a clear plastic bottle for more sunlight
access.

Evaluate Students to share with the class their designs as they

discuss how and why they modified their greenhouse.
This will evaluate their extent of knowledge towards
the learning focus and how they applied it to real-world
contexts.

Afterwards, students complete an individual exit slip

using Padlet (Figure 4). Exit slips should include:
• Something they learned today.
• Something they want to learn next time.

Figure 4: Exit slip sample.

Hayley Firth_18608638

Use of ICT’s • iPads.

• Applications (Seesaw and Padlet).
Resources • Various recycled bottles.
• Various arts and craft supplies (scissors, glue,
tape, string, etc.).
• iPads (extra borrowed).
• Greenhouse to visit (MAPS garden).

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LEARNING EXPERIENCE 4

Together We Thrive
Hayley Firth_18608638

Prior Considerations
No students have allergies to cherry tomatoes. Students understand how to appropriately
use the integrated ICT.

Teaching & Learning

Students apply their scientific knowledge and understanding from previous learning
experiences to investigate how their greenhouse encourages the growth of a plant (NESA,
2017). Students will constantly ‘think, pair, share’ their ideas as they encourage the growth
of a mystery plant using their previously designed greenhouses. Students’ investigation
will be scaffolded and assisted by creating checklists with the teacher to guide their
scientific investigation. Over ample time, students will record and analyse the growth of
their plants as they report images, observations and ideas at the end of each week using
Penzu (virtual journal). Additionally, this will allow students to recognise positive and
negative impacts of their greenhouse design upon the plants growth. Furthermore, the
application ‘Plant Monitor’ assists students in recognising their plant’s needs whilst
integrating authentic, twenty-first century learning to “participate critically and act
creatively in determining more sustainable ways of living” (NESA, 2017, p.39).

Future Implications
Students briefly learn how seeds change and grow within this learning experience.
Although this understanding strengthens their ‘care plan’, it also prepares them for
learning about plant life cycles in stage two (NESA, 2017).

Assessment
A rubric is implemented for the summative assessment of student learning. Students are
expected to produce a virtual journal demonstrating their knowledge, understanding and
capabilities of encouraging a plant to grow and thrive. The virtual journals should indicate
students’ application of knowledge from previous learning experiences, as they must have
an understanding for how humans grow and use plants for food production in order to
engage appropriately with the final learning experience. Therefore, the rubric will evaluate
evidence of this from student journals. Although learning goals and success criteria are
commonly formative assessment strategies, they will be utilised as a summative
assessment strategy for this learning experience. This will indicate how well students
understood the overall unit content.

Duration: 3 Months
Each stage of the 5E model will require at least one whole lesson. Additionally, the
mystery plant will take 65-70 days to produce cherry tomatoes and thus, be identifiable to
students.

Outcomes Indicators
Hayley Firth_18608638

ST1-4LW-S • Design and produce an environment to cater for the

Describes observable features of needs of a plant.
living things and their • Encourage the growth of a living thing
environment. • Records the changes in growth of a common plant
to understand how living things thrive.
ST1-1WS-S • Makes predictions about possible findings.
Observes, questions and collects • Develop collaboration skills to effectively conduct
data to communicate and investigations.
compare ideas. • Collects data from observations.

ST1-2DP-T • Record, report and analyse data to communicate

Uses materials, tools and information.
equipment to develop solutions • Identify the positive and negative impact of a design
for a need or opportunity. solution within an environment.
Organisation
Initially, students will be gathered in front of the teacher whilst the checklist is being
created on the IWB. Afterwards, teacher to distribute resources by calling names of each
greenhouse model to avoid congestion. Teacher can buy 75 seeds for two dollars from
Bunnings Warehouse. Each student will receive two seeds in a small cup (four per
greenhouse). Ensure tables are separated to provide ample space for students to plant their
seeds. Once seeds are planted, students to line up in front of teacher to collect device (iPad
or Chromebook). Ensure to wait for all students before beginning first journal entry.
During explanation, students to return to the floor to ensure they are listening and not
distracted by their materials. Plants will be grown wherever students think best (indoor or
outdoors) and will be transferred into the school’s vegetable garden once too large for
greenhouses.

Engage Teacher introduces learning goal and success criteria:

• Learning goal: We are learning to encourage and care for the growth of plants.
• Success criteria: Successfully grow and identify the mystery plant (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Success criteria

Hayley Firth_18608638

Introduce mystery seeds students will be planting in their greenhouses. Students

‘think, pair, share’ what they think the seeds will grow to and how they might
achieve this. Teacher then discusses how students can achieve the success criteria
by collaboratively creating a checklist for what might be required (Figure 6).
Teacher is to guide student thinking during the checklist creation by asking open-
ended questions, for example:
• What might be required to grow the plant? Rich soil, water, fertiliser, seeds.
• How often would you water your plant? Once a week or once a day, etc.
• Where would be a good place to put your greenhouse? Why? In the sun,
because greenhouses trap light and warmth for plants to thrive.

This allows students to engage with and apply

previous learning to a new, authentic learning
experience. The checklist will remain displayed on the
IWB to assist learning throughout explore and explain.

Figure 6: Checklist.
Hayley Firth_18608638

Explore Teacher pairs students with the same classmate they

collaborated with to build the greenhouse. Before
planting seeds, students must predict what natural food
it may produce. Students then plant the seeds using
resources provided by the teacher and guided by the
checklist.

Once completed, students will place their greenhouse

in an appropriate spot and take a photo to post on
Seesaw. This will also be used for their individual
Penzu journals, which can be accessed on iPads and
Chromebooks.

Teacher will guide students in creating their first

journal entry by giving it a title and date (Day 1, date is
automatically recorded), brief description (planting the
seeds) and recording their prediction for what it will
grow into (strawberries). Students then upload their
image to their journal, either directly from iPads or
airdropped to a Chromebook from an iPad. Result
should resemble figure 7.

Figure 7: Penzu entry.

Hayley Firth_18608638

Explain Teacher
Explain to students how seeds change as they grow.
According to Australian Academy of Science (2012):

Seeds will begin sprouting by growing roots and one

shoot. These roots will expand to collect more nutrients
and water from the soil to grow more and bigger
shoots. These shoots then sprout leaves which
eventually produce a fruit, flower and/or vegetable.

Students
This is vital for students when determining whether
their plant is growing successfully. Students may also
use the application ‘Plant Monitor’ (Chug, 2017) that
scans the plant using the camera and identifies whether
a plant needs more/less sunlight, fertiliser and water.
This is necessary for year two students, as they require
scaffolding and guidance throughout scientific
investigations.

Teacher & Students

Teacher scaffolds student learning by creating with the
class a ‘Do and Don’t’ list for what indicators they
might look for during the growth of their mystery plant
(Figure 8). This will be displayed on a wall for students
to refer to throughout their investigation over time.

Figure 8: Do & Don’t

Hayley Firth_18608638

Elaborate Students use and modify the checklist (Figure 7) to

design their own ‘care plan’ with their existing partner.
Students’ knowledge of how seeds grow will elaborate
and strengthen their care plan due to understanding
how and why seeds grow.

These care plans will be uploaded as a new entry

within their journals and will be utilised throughout the
entire investigation (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Sample care plan.

Over time, students will develop their Penzu journal as

they record, report and analyse the growth of their
plants at the end of every week. Additionally, this will
Hayley Firth_18608638

allow students to consistently care for and maintain the

growth of their plants. Students will also recognise the
positive and negative impacts of their greenhouse
design upon plant growth.
Summative Evaluation Once the plants have grown, students will be able to
identify the mystery plant; Cherry Tomatoes! Teacher
will assist students in transferring these plants into the
school’s vegetable garden whereby they can continue
to grow. Here, students are given opportunities to
observe and provide feedback of their peer’s work.
Students will also recognise the positive and negative
impacts of others greenhouse designs upon growth of
plants.

Students are to take a photo of their transferred plant

and upload as a final journal entry. Students then share
their journal links with the teacher for evidence of
learning. A rubric will be used for the summative
assessment of their learning (Figure 10). Evidently,
their journals will indicate their understanding of how
‘Together we Grow’.

Figure 10: Marking Rubric.

Hayley Firth_18608638

Use of ICT’s • IWB.

• iPads & Chromebooks.
• Applications (Penzu, Seesaw & Plant Monitor)
Resources • IWB.
• Cherry Tomato seed packet (75 seeds).
• Soil, water, fertiliser and small shovel.
• Greenhouses from previous learning
experience.
• iPads & Chromebooks with installed
applications.
• Marking rubric.

Word Count: approximately 5,600

Hayley Firth_18608638

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