Students brainstormed living things in the garden and organised their thoughts into a Mindomo mindmap. See their Weeblies for the result.
Later in the day we looked at a simple food chain involving slaters.
Information was gathered from a Permaculture forum on the Internet.
Chickens
Students spent some quality time observing chicken behaviour as they free roam our garden area. They were discovered in the graden eating the broad bean leaves, our climbing peas and munching on our spinach.
They have dug up a couple of new agapanthus plants as well.
They have dug up a couple of new agapanthus plants as well.
Having the chooks out roaming is causing havoc to our newly planted garden beds and has created a need for some seious problem solving. A few groups of students took up the challenge to try to chook proof and bird proof our beds. Below are some photos of the groups at work.
Biodiversity
We searched our garden, under leaf matter,. looking for creatures and checked out samples of soil using digital microscopes. We found spiders, millipedes, snails and a dead wasp.
Food Chain Websites.
What happens when a food chain is broken?
Read 'Chain Reaction' to learn about the events that unfolded in Borneo in 1955 (on local network)
Check out other Ecological disasters from history. These were caused by humans.
http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Ecological-Disasters.php - Australian examples if introducing species to Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_disasters
Check out other Ecological disasters from history. These were caused by humans.
http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Ecological-Disasters.php - Australian examples if introducing species to Australia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_disasters
5 creatures we need to survive.
The role of insects in our ecosystem.
Horror stories in the Insect world.
Did you know..
- Lacewing larvae suck the body fluids of their victims.
- Some predatory wasps paralise their prey but leave them alive for their youngsters to feast upon.
- 'Lydella stabulens' hatch inside their mother and eat her from within..
- Some wasps lay their eggs inside aphids and grow until the aphid is mummified and then hatch out..
Research Time.
*Choose one of the following beneficial insects (for the garden ecosystem) and find out what makes them 'garden goodies'.
Lady Bug |
Tachnid Fly |
Minute Pirate Bug |
Hoverfly |
Lacewing |