The Resources
From Food webs to Debates; these engaging modules implement contemporary research ideas about Urbanisation and Powerful owls, allowing students to apply skills to investigate the interactions of organisms in ecosystems.
This resource is designed to support students in understanding the effect of urbanization on Powerful Owls research. The first three modules are in place to scaffold students in investigating the concepts underlying the research, including classification, dichotomous keys, and food webs. Using their understanding of these concepts, students are able to proceed with a deeper understanding when delving into the later modules.
The last two modules consider the effects of urbanization and use these ideas to support their argument during a debate. The final module (debate) lends itself to understanding what a scientist will have to consider when undertaking and publishing their research, and how ongoing research would be used in a community setting.
The learning intentions and key outcomes for each activity are located in the teachers' resources for each module.
Curriculum links/Science Skills
Science as a human endeavour.
Science and technology contribute to finding solutions to a range of contemporary issues; these solutions may impact on other areas of society and involve ethical considerations (VCSSU090)
Biological Sciences.
There are differences within and between groups of organisms; classification helps organise this diversity (VCSSU091)
Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs and can be affected by human activity (VCSSU093).
Analysing and evaluating.
Use scientific knowledge and findings from investigations to identify relationships, evaluate claims and draw conclusions (VCSIS111)
The People Behind The Resource
We created this resource as part of a 4th year university assignment during our Bachelor of Teaching. We worked with Nick Bradshaw to create a secondary school resource that would reflect contemporary research happening in the community around the students. The powerful owls provided us a lens through which we could guide students into understanding ecosystems, and to become familiar with what happens with the research and how it can be used by the community. The resource is designed to support both teachers and students, and was made with the aim that we would one day use it ourselves.
Lauren Griffith: Bachelor of Teaching (Science)/Bachelor of Science
Methods: Biology and Environmental Science
Peter Bailes: Bachelor of Teaching (Science)/Bachelor of Science
Methods: Chemistry and Biology
Alex Davis: Bachelor of Teaching (Science)/Bachelor of Science
Methods: Chemistry and Biology