Habitat Conditions and Survival: a full term of science

Ten ready-to-teach lessons for Year 6 Biological sciences. Print this pack and the term is prepared: every lesson comes with a step-by-step plan, the questions to ask, a student worksheet, cut-out cards or exit tickets, an assessment kit and every answer.

Start here: five minutes to Monday

1. Skim the term at a glance on the next page.
2. Print the lesson you need. Each lesson is three A4 sheets: plan, worksheet, cards or tickets.
3. Gather the few everyday items under “You need” on the plan. Nothing needs a science cupboard.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board or projector. Every plan tells you which picture to show and when.
5. Teach straight from the plan. Timings, talk prompts, misconceptions and answers are all on the one page.

No science background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each plan explains the science idea in plain words, lists the misconceptions children bring, and gives model answers. The big idea of the term: every habitat has physical conditions that can be measured, such as temperature, water, light and shelter, and every living thing grows and survives only within a range of those conditions. When the conditions change, through a dry spell, a fire, a flood or something people do, growth and survival change too.

Two ways to run each lesson

Every lesson works as one 60-minute block, or as two 30-minute sessions. The split point is marked in every plan. Look ahead: Lessons 1 and 6 need a sunny day, the seeds set up in Lesson 2 are read five to seven days later in Lesson 4, Lesson 3 needs hot water from a kettle handled by an adult, and Lesson 5 needs four dry days with a reading each morning.

Safety and care in one look

Outdoors, children look but do not touch animals, wear a glove to handle soil, and put everything back. Hats on for the sunny lessons. In Lesson 3 an adult pours and carries all hot water, and balloons are checked for latex allergies. Seeds, yeast, sugar and salt are never eaten. Everyone washes their hands after soil, seeds and plants.

The term at a glance

One lesson a week for a term. Each lesson stands on the ones before it, so run them in order where you can.

How the sequence builds

Lesson 1 measures the conditions of real habitats. Lessons 2 to 4 test how one condition at a time affects seeds, and Lesson 3 uses yeast to show that a living thing does best within a range. Lessons 5 and 6 measure how a habitat dries out and how shade and mulch slow it down. Lesson 7 meets Australian living things that survive drought, fire and flood, Lesson 8 turns a class’s results into a recommendation, and Lesson 9 matches plants to places by their ranges. Lesson 10 is the poster and the final check.

Curriculum links (Australian Curriculum V9)

The whole term teaches the Science Understanding descriptor AC9S6U01 quoted on the cover. The lessons also work these Science Inquiry and Human Endeavour descriptors:

Assessment in this pack

• Every plan ends with “Answers and look-fors”: what meeting the idea sounds like in a Year 6 voice.
• The assessment sheet near the front has a class observation checklist and a three-level rubric.
• Lesson 10 is the summative pair: a habitat-change poster with its evidence, plus the “Show what we know” check sheet.

Materials for the whole term

One gathering session covers all ten lessons. Everything on this page is an everyday item, comes from the kitchen or the school grounds, or can be borrowed; nothing needs a science cupboard. Set up the seeds in Lesson 2 five to seven days before Lesson 4, and check the forecast for four dry days before Lesson 5.

The one-trip list

• From the classroom: clipboards, scissors, rulers, coloured pencils, A3 paper, white paper, masking tape, markers, a timer.
• From the kitchen or the shops: radish seeds, paper towel, zip-lock bags, salt, dried yeast, sugar, balloons, small plastic drink bottles, ice-cream tubs, saucers, ribbon.
• To borrow: thermometers (one per group, plus four for the yeast stations), magnifiers, gloves, a funnel, a 100 mL measure, a 1 L jug, a kettle, a piece of shade cloth.
• In the school grounds: a garden bed, the open oval, a big shady tree, and a mulched bed beside a bare patch.

Safety and care in one look

• Outdoors, children look but do not touch animals, wear a glove to handle soil and mulch, and put everything back as it was.
• Hats and sunscreen for Lessons 1 and 6, and nobody touches very hot ground or metal.
• In Lesson 3 an adult pours and carries all hot water. Check for latex allergies before using balloons. Use spirit or digital thermometers, never mercury.
• Seeds, yeast, sugar and salt are never eaten; the salty water and the yeast mixtures go down the sink at the end.
• Everyone washes their hands after soil, seeds, mulch and plants.

Assessment without extra work

The term assesses itself. Every lesson plan ends with answers and look-fors, and Lesson 10 is the summative pair: a habitat-change poster with its evidence, and the check sheet. This sheet is the place to jot down what you notice along the way.

The three levels

Class observation checklist

A tick a lesson is plenty; the Lesson 10 check sheet fills the gaps.

Word wall cards

Cut out the cards and build the wall as the words arrive. Lesson 1 starts the wall with habitat and physical condition; add fair test in Lesson 2 and range in Lesson 3.

Dear families

This term in science, Year 6 investigates the physical conditions of habitats, such as temperature, water, light and shelter, and how changes in those conditions affect the growth and survival of living things. Every living thing grows and survives only within a range of conditions, and Australian plants and animals face some of the biggest changes of all: droughts, bushfires and floods.

Your child will measure the conditions in the school grounds, test what radish seeds need to sprout, find the temperature yeast likes best, watch trays of water dry out in the sun and the shade, measure what mulch does to the soil, and read about Australian survivors of drought, fire and flood. By the end of the term, they will make a poster showing how a change in conditions affects one living thing.

Try this at home

• Feel the soil under mulch or leaves, then bare soil nearby, on a hot afternoon. Which is cooler and damper?
• Find a house plant or garden plant together. What does it need? Where in your home or garden suits it best?
• Put a little dried yeast and sugar in warm water and watch it froth. What happens in cold water?
• Look at a pot plant that has not been watered for a while, then water it and look again later in the day.

What to ask your scientist

• What is a physical condition of a habitat? How did you measure it?
• Do seeds need light to sprout? What did your class find?
• Why did the shady tray of water last longer than the sunny one?
• How does a banksia, a eucalypt or a water-holding frog survive a big change?

A small note on care: at school we look at animals without harming them, an adult handles all hot water, and nothing we test is eaten.

Warm regards,

The Year 6 team

Printed from the free seegongsik Habitat Conditions and Survival teaching pack · seegongsik.com/au/y6/biological/AC9S6U01/pack

Measuring a habitat

A habitat is more than a place: it has physical conditions that can be measured, such as how warm it is, how much light and water there is, and how much shelter it gives. Groups survey three spots in the school grounds, a garden bed, the open oval and the shade under a big tree, measure five conditions at each, and count the living things they see. Then the class compares the spots: which conditions change most, and where do most living things live?

We are learning to

• name and measure the physical conditions of a habitat: temperature, light, water and shelter,
• record measurements with units in a table,
• compare places and link their conditions to the living things found there.

Success criteria

• I can measure at least four conditions and record each one with its unit or scale.
• I can say which spot had the most living things and name a condition that might explain it.

You need

• for each group: a thermometer (spirit or digital), a sheet of white paper, a ribbon tied to a pencil, a glove, a clipboard and a timer,
• the measuring cards (third sheet), one set per group, and the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• a sunny day, hats, and three spots chosen ahead: a garden bed, the open oval and the shade of a big tree.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the survey and keep the worksheets safe. Start Session B with the class table.

Watch for these ideas

• “The air and the ground are the same temperature.” In the sun, the ground is often far hotter than the air, which matters to a lizard or a seedling.
• “The thermometer shows the answer straight away.” It needs a minute or two to settle; read it once it stops changing.
• “One reading tells you what a place is like.” Conditions change through the day and the year; a reading is one moment.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: measure only the air temperature, the light and the living things, at two spots.
• Bigger: survey the same spots again early in the morning or on a cloudy day, and compare the two sets of readings.

Answers and look-fors

• Readings vary with the day. Usually the open oval is brightest, with the hottest ground, the driest soil and the most wind; under the tree it is dimmer and cooler, with damper soil and little wind.
• The garden bed or the tree usually has the most living things, such as ants, slaters, worms and birds, because plants give them food and shelter and the soil there stays damper.
• Part B, question 3: a slater moved to the middle of the oval at lunchtime would dry out and overheat, because the ground there is hot, bright and dry, and there is nowhere to shelter.

Three spots, three habitats

A. Our survey

The kinds of living things we saw:

B. What it tells us

Measuring cards

Cut out the cards. Take one set to each spot, and use every card at every spot so the readings can be compared.

Teacher note: look, do not touch the animals; wear a glove for the soil test and wash hands afterwards. Hats on, and nobody touches very hot ground or metal.

Plan a seed test

Seeds sprout only when the conditions around them are right. Each group investigates one condition, water, light, temperature or salt, with radish seeds on damp paper towel: ten seeds a dish, with only that condition changed from dish to dish. Groups plan from their test card, set up the dishes today, check them each morning, and read the results in Lesson 4, five to seven days from now.

We are learning to

• plan a fair test: change one condition, measure one thing, and keep everything else the same,
• make a prediction with a reason,
• set up a test carefully enough that another group could repeat it.

Success criteria

• I can name what we change, what we measure and three things we keep the same.
• I can predict which dish will sprout the most seeds and say why.

You need

• radish seeds (about 40 per group), paper towel, two to four saucers or shallow dishes per group, and a dropper or teaspoon,
• zip-lock bags for the temperature group, salt, a teaspoon and a 1 L jug for the salt group, and room in a fridge and a dark cupboard,
• masking tape and a marker for labels, the test cards (third sheet), one per group, and the worksheet (next sheet), one per child.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Plan in Session A, and set up in Session B on a Monday or Tuesday, so the five to seven days end on a school day.

Watch for these ideas

• “Seeds need light to sprout.” Many do not; the light group’s results will show it. Let children predict either way.
• “More water is always better.” Seeds need air as well as water; the dish under water tests this.
• A fridge test that is not fair: the fridge is dark, so the classroom dish must go in a dark cupboard too, or light changes as well as temperature.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: set up two dishes only, such as the dry towel and the damp towel.
• Bigger: add a second set of the same dishes, so each group has a repeat, and compare the two sets in Lesson 4.

Answers and look-fors

• Water group: we change the amount of water (dry towel, damp towel, under water); we measure how many of the ten seeds sprout; we keep the same the seeds, the towel, the room, the light and the day you count.
• Light group: we change whether the seeds have light (in the light, in a dark cupboard); we measure how many of the ten seeds sprout; we keep the same the water, the seeds, the room temperature and the day you count.
• Temperature group: we change the temperature (in the fridge, in a classroom cupboard); we measure how many of the ten seeds sprout; we keep the same the water, the seeds, the darkness and the day you count.
• Salt group: we change the salt in the water (plain water, 1 tsp a litre, 2 tsp a litre, 3 tsp a litre); we measure how many of the ten seeds sprout; we keep the same the amount of water, the seeds, the room, the light and the day you count.

Predictions vary. A good prediction gives a reason, such as ‘fewer will sprout in the saltiest dish, because salt makes it harder for a seed to take in water’.

Our seed test

A. Our plan

B. My prediction

C. Our set-up

D. The daily check

Test cards

One card per group. Ten radish seeds go on the paper towel in every dish. A seed has sprouted when its root is at least as long as the seed.

Teacher note: label every dish with tape. Seeds are not eaten, the salty water is poured away after the test, and everyone washes their hands after handling seeds.

Yeast and a range to survive in

Every living thing survives only within a range of conditions. Yeast, the tiny living fungus used to make bread rise, shows this fast. Fed sugar in water, active yeast gives off a gas, and a balloon over the bottle fills with it, so the balloon shows how active the yeast is. Groups test four water temperatures, two groups to each, and find the band where the yeast does best. Then a twist: warming the cold bottle wakes its yeast up, but cooling the hot one does not.

We are learning to

• investigate how temperature affects a living thing,
• use repeats and a graph to find a pattern,
• explain that living things survive within a range, with a best part in the middle.

Success criteria

• I can use our graph to say at which temperature the yeast was most active.
• I can explain the difference between yeast that is too cold and yeast that is too hot.

You need

• for each group: a small plastic drink bottle, a balloon (latex-free if anyone has an allergy), a level teaspoon of dried yeast, a teaspoon of sugar, a funnel, and a 100 mL measure,
• water at four temperatures on four labelled stations (see the worksheet), a thermometer at each, a kettle for the adult, and a ruler and a timer for each group,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child, and the exit tickets (third sheet).

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Run the test in Session A. Start Session B with the graph, and repeat the twist as a quick demonstration.

Watch for these ideas

• “Hotter is always faster.” Up to a point; above its range the yeast dies, and the balloon stays limp.
• “The cold yeast is dead.” Cold slows it right down, but it starts again when warmed; heat does the lasting harm.
• “The balloon is filled by the warm air.” Warm water alone barely moves a balloon; the gas comes from the living yeast.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: test only two stations, cold and warm, as a whole-class demonstration.
• Bigger: add a fifth station with warm water but no sugar. What does the yeast need besides warmth?

Answers and look-fors

• Readings vary. Usually the warm balloon fills and stands up within 20 minutes, the room balloon rises a little, and the cold and hot balloons stay limp.
• Part D: the yeast was most active in the warm water. Too cold, it was alive but barely active; too hot, it died. So yeast survives and grows only within a range of temperatures, with a best band in the middle.
• Exit ticket: the cold yeast started again when warmed because it was only slowed down, but the hot water had killed the yeast in the hot bottle, so it could not start again.

Yeast, warmth and balloons

A. My prediction

B. Our results: how high the balloon stands (cm)

A balloon that hangs limp stands 0 cm.

C. Our graph

Draw one column for each station: the middle of the two groups’ 20-minute heights.

D. What it tells us

Exit tickets

Cut out the tickets. Each child answers one before leaving.

Teacher note: an adult pours and carries the hot water. Yeast and sugar are not eaten, and the mixtures go down the sink at the end. Check for latex allergies before the lesson.

Read the seeds

The seed tests from Lesson 2 are ready. Each group counts the seeds that sprouted in every dish, measures the longest root, and notes what the seedlings look like. Then the groups report to each other, so the whole class builds one picture of what seeds need: which conditions stopped them, which slowed them, and which made no difference to sprouting at all.

We are learning to

• count and measure carefully, using a rule everyone shares,
• show our results in a table and a column graph,
• draw a conclusion about how one condition affects sprouting, and compare it with other groups’ tests.

Success criteria

• I can say, with numbers, which dish sprouted the most seeds and which the fewest.
• I can name the conditions seeds need to sprout, using evidence from the four tests.

You need

• every group’s dishes from Lesson 2, magnifiers and a ruler for each group,
• the report cards (third sheet), one per group, and the worksheet (next sheet), one per child.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Count, measure and graph in Session A. Start Session B with the reports.

Watch for these ideas

• “The light test did not work, because the seeds sprouted in the dark.” It did work: it showed these seeds do not need light to sprout, though the seedlings need light to grow green.
• “Our dish got 9 and theirs got 7, so one group was wrong.” Seeds vary; look at the pattern across the dishes, not one number.
• “Seeds need soil to sprout.” Every dish had paper towel, not soil; soil matters later, for the growing plant.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: count the sprouted seeds only, with no root measuring.
• Bigger: leave the dishes one more week, measure the seedlings again, and say which conditions now matter that did not matter for sprouting.

Answers and look-fors

• Water: None sprout on the dry towel and most sprout on the damp one. Under water only a few sprout, slowly: seeds need air as well as water.
• Light: About the same number sprout in both, so these seeds do not need light to sprout. But the seedlings in the dark are pale yellow, with long thin stems.
• Temperature: Most sprout in the classroom cupboard. In the fridge few or none sprout in a week, because the cold slows them right down.
• Salt: The saltier the water, the fewer seeds sprout and the shorter their roots. The saltiest is about half as salty as the sea.

Part D: seeds need water, air and warmth to sprout, and too much salt stops them. They do not need light to sprout, but the seedlings need light to grow green and strong; pale seedlings left in the light turn green within a day or two.

What the seeds tell us

A. Our results

B. Our graph

C. The class picture

D. What it tells us

Report cards

One card per group. Fill it in together, then read it to the class while you hold up your dishes.

Teacher note: after the lesson, rinse the dishes, pour away the salty water, and put the seedlings in the compost or garden. Everyone washes their hands.

The drying pond

In a long dry spell a pond loses water every day, and the fish in it can survive only while enough is left. Groups set up two identical trays of water, one in the sun and one in the shade, and measure the depth each morning for four days. Then they use a pond model to work out how many days of dry weather a pond’s fish could survive in full sun, and how much longer they could survive if trees shaded the water.

We are learning to

• measure a change in a physical condition over several days,
• draw a line graph and work out the change each day,
• use a model to predict how a change in conditions affects survival.

Success criteria

• I can say, with numbers, how much faster the sunny tray lost water than the shady one.
• I can use the pond model to work out how many days the fish could survive, and explain why shade helps.

You need

• for each group: two identical plastic containers (such as ice-cream tubs), a jug of water and a ruler that starts at 0 at its very end,
• a sunny spot outside or on a windowsill and a shady spot inside, and a dry week in the forecast,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child, and the dry-spell cards (third sheet), one set per pair.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Set up and model the pond in Session A. Run Session B on day 4, with the graph, the loss each day and the cards.

Watch for these ideas

• “The water goes into the tray.” It evaporates into the air; the hotter, sunnier and windier, the faster.
• “A pond only dries out in a drought year.” Every hot day takes water; a dry spell is when nothing puts it back.
• Reading the ruler from above or from the side. Read it at eye level, where the water touches the ruler.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: mark the water level on the side of each tray each morning, and measure the marks on day 4.
• Bigger: add a third tray in the sun with a fan or in a windy spot, and see whether wind speeds up the drying.

Answers and look-fors

• Readings vary with the weather. Usually the sunny tray loses several millimetres a day and the shady tray only one or two.
• Part D: 1. (600 − 200) ÷ 8 = 50 days. 2. (600 − 200) ÷ 3 is about 133 days. 3. Trees shade the water, so less of it evaporates each day and the pond lasts far longer, giving the fish a better chance of surviving until rain comes.
• Dry-spell cards, dries out faster: A, B, E, G, I. Lasts longer: C, D, F, H.

How fast does a pond dry?

A. Our trays: water depth (mm)

B. Our graph

C. The loss each day

D. Model a pond

A pond is 600 mm deep. Its fish need at least 200 mm of water. In a hot dry spell it loses about 8 mm a day in full sun, but only about 3 mm a day if trees shade the water.

Dry-spell cards

Cut out the cards. Sort them into two piles: changes that make a pond dry out faster, and changes that make it last longer.

Teacher note: the piles are not the same size. Keep the trays where they will not be knocked or drunk from, and tip the water onto the garden at the end.

Mulch and bare soil

People change the conditions of a habitat too. Gardeners spread mulch, a layer of bark chips, straw or leaves, over the soil. Groups measure the soil under mulch and in a bare patch around the middle of a sunny day: the temperature at the surface and 5 cm down, the moisture, and the small animals in one handful. Usually the soil under mulch is cooler and damper, with more small animals, which is why gardeners mulch before summer, and it links straight back to the shaded tray in Lesson 5.

We are learning to

• measure how a change to a habitat changes its physical conditions,
• take two readings at each place and use the middle,
• explain how changing the conditions can help living things grow and survive.

Success criteria

• I can say, with numbers, how much cooler or warmer the soil was under the mulch.
• I can explain how mulch helps plants and soil animals through a hot, dry summer.

You need

• for each group: a thermometer, a pencil or stick to make a hole 5 cm deep, a ruler, a glove, a white tray or sheet of paper, a magnifier and a timer,
• a mulched garden bed and a bare patch of soil nearby (or two large pots of soil set up in the sun a week before, one mulched),
• a sunny day, hats, the measuring cards from Lesson 1, the worksheet (next sheet) and the exit tickets (third sheet).

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Measure in Session A around the middle of the day. Start Session B with the comparison.

Watch for these ideas

• “Mulch makes the soil warmer, like a blanket.” On a hot day it keeps the soil cooler, by shading it; it slows heat moving in either direction.
• “The mulch itself is wet, so it adds water.” It mostly keeps the water already in the soil from evaporating.
• Reading the thermometer straight after pushing it in. Wait two minutes for it to settle.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: measure only the temperature 5 cm down and the moisture, at one mulched and one bare spot.
• Bigger: water two pots of soil equally, mulch one, and weigh both each day for a week to measure the water each loses.

Answers and look-fors

• Readings vary. On a sunny day the bare surface is usually much hotter than the mulched one, and the soil 5 cm down is usually several degrees cooler under the mulch.
• Under the mulch the soil is usually damper (a 1 or 2 in the squeeze test), and the handfuls hold more small animals, such as slaters, worms and beetles.
• Part C: mulch shades the soil and slows evaporation, so the roots stay cooler and damper and the soil animals have shelter, which helps plants grow and survive a hot, dry summer. It does for the soil what the shade trees did for the pond.

What does mulch change?

A. Our readings

B. The middle of each pair

C. What it tells us

Exit tickets

Cut out the tickets. Each child answers one before leaving.

Teacher note: wear a glove to lift mulch and soil, look at the animals without touching them, put everything back as it was, and wash hands afterwards.

Survivors of drought, fire and flood

In Australia the conditions of a habitat can change suddenly and hugely: a drought dries the land for years, a bushfire sweeps through, a flood covers the plains. Many Australian living things survive these changes because of a feature or a behaviour. Groups read six survivor cards, sort them by the change each one copes with, and explain how each survives. Then the class asks a harder question: what happens if the change comes too often?

We are learning to

• describe how big changes in physical conditions affect the survival of living things,
• explain how a feature or behaviour helps a living thing survive a particular change,
• reason about what happens when a change comes too often or lasts too long.

Success criteria

• I can sort the six survivors by drought, bushfire or flood and explain how each one survives.
• I can predict what would happen to one survivor if its change came too often.

You need

• the survivor cards (third sheet), one set per group,
• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child, and a device for a little extra reading (optional).

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Read, sort and fill the table in Session A. Start Session B with the banksia problem.

Watch for these ideas

• “Fire and flood are always bad for living things.” Some plants depend on them: banksia cones open after fire, and river red gum seeds sprout best on mud left by a flood.
• “The frog decides to grow a cocoon.” Features and behaviours like these are passed down from parents; one frog does not invent them.
• “If a living thing can survive a change once, it can survive it any number of times.” Changes that come too often can still wipe out a population.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: give each group two cards, one drought and one fire, and compare them.
• Bigger: find out about one more Australian survivor, such as a desert plant or a fish of the inland rivers, and make a seventh card.

Answers and look-fors

• Drought: water-holding frog, shield shrimp, budgerigar.
• Bushfire: eucalypts, banksias.
• Flood: river red gum.
• Part B: if fires come back before young banksias have grown cones and seeds, there is no seed left for the next fire, and the banksias can disappear from that place. The same goes for a drought that lasts longer than the frog’s water or the shrimp eggs can.

How do they survive?

A. The survivors

B. Too often, too long

Survivor cards

Cut out the cards. Read each one aloud in your group, then sort them under drought, bushfire and flood.

Teacher note: the cards do not name their change, so children decide it from the text. Cards for each change: drought 3, bushfire 2, flood 1.

Hot weeks in the garden

A class planted 20 lettuce seedlings under each of four covers in the school garden for a hot fortnight in December: no cover, and shade cloth that blocks 30%, 50% or 70% of the sunlight. They counted the seedlings still healthy at the end, and measured the soil surface under each cover on the hottest afternoon. Children graph the results, find two patterns that do not match, and write a recommendation for the garden committee.

We are learning to

• analyse how changing a physical condition affects the survival of living things,
• describe a trend that rises and then levels off,
• use evidence to make a recommendation.

Success criteria

• I can describe what happened to the soil temperature and to the healthy seedlings as the shade increased.
• I can recommend a cover, with the evidence and a reason.

You need

• the worksheet (next sheet), one per child, and the exit tickets (third sheet),
• a piece of shade cloth to pass around (optional), and the interactive unit on the board.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Graph and find the patterns in Session A. Start Session B with the recommendation.

Watch for these ideas

• “If some shade is good, the most shade is best.” Plants need light to grow, so beyond a point more shade stops helping.
• “17 is more than 16, so 70% shade is much worse.” One seedling is a small difference; the two covers did about the same.
• Describing only the graph’s look (“the bars go up”) without saying what changed and by how much.

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: compare only no cover and 50% shade, and write the finding in one sentence.
• Bigger: plan the class’s own test of shade on seedlings, with repeats, and predict the result for 90% shade.

Answers and look-fors

• Part C: 1. the soil surface got cooler with every step of shade (48 °C, 41 °C, 37 °C, 35 °C), but by less each step. 2. the healthy seedlings rose from 7 to 17, then stayed about the same (16): more shade stopped helping. 3. out of 100: 35, 70, 85, 80.
• Part D: we recommend 50% shade cloth over the lettuces in hot weeks: 17 of 20 stayed healthy under it, against 7 with no cover, and more shade did not help more. We are fairly sure; it was one fortnight in one garden.
• Exit ticket: shade cools the soil and the leaves, so less water is lost, but the seedlings still need light to grow; past about half shade, more shade gives no extra benefit.

How much shade?

A. The class’s results

B. Our graph

C. The patterns

D. Our recommendation for the garden committee

Exit tickets

Cut out the tickets. Each child answers one before leaving.

Teacher note: these are one class’s results, shaped like real ones. If you run your own shade test, use repeats and compare your numbers with these.

A home for each plant

The class has six plants to place around the school. Each one needs conditions within its own range: some need full sun, some must stay out of it, some need damp soil and some rot in it. Children compare the plant care cards with the conditions of four spots, choose the best spot for each plant with a reason, and then plan for a holiday heatwave, when the conditions change and nobody is there to water.

We are learning to

• analyse what a living thing needs and compare it with the conditions of a place,
• use evidence from a card and from our own measurements to make a choice,
• predict how a change in conditions will affect growth and survival, and plan a response.

Success criteria

• I can choose a spot for each plant and give a reason that matches its needs to the spot’s conditions.
• I can say which plants are most at risk in a heatwave and how to help them.

You need

• the plant care cards (third sheet), one set per pair, and the worksheet (next sheet), one per child,
• a thermometer and the Lesson 1 measuring cards, to check the spots (optional), and real plants if the school has them.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? Check the spots and match in Session A. Start Session B with the holiday heatwave.

Watch for these ideas

• “All plants want as much sun and water as they can get.” Each has a range; the fern burns in full sun and the cactus rots in wet soil.
• “A plant that survives a spot is in the right spot.” Surviving is not the same as growing well; a cactus in the dim corner lives for a while but grows pale and thin.
• Choosing from the plant’s name or looks instead of its needs. Ask: which need on the card does this spot meet?

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: match three plants only: the fern, the cactus and the basil.
• Bigger: write a care card for a plant that would grow in the dim corner, finding out what it needs.

Answers and look-fors

• Maidenhair fern: shady verandah, because it needs bright light without direct sun; stand it on a tray of wet pebbles for moist air.
• Barrel cactus: sunny windowsill, because it needs lots of bright light; water only when the soil has dried out.
• Basil: garden bed, because it needs sun for most of the day and warmth.
• Lettuce: garden bed, because it needs regular water, with shade cloth over it in hot weeks.
• Kangaroo paw: garden bed, because it needs full sun and sandy soil that drains fast.
• Mint: shady verandah, because it needs damp soil and part shade, so it dries out less.
• The dim corner suits none of the six: they all need more light than it gives. Other spots are fine with a good reason, such as basil on the sunny windowsill.
• Part C: the mint, the lettuce and the fern are most at risk, because they need damp soil or moist air. Before the holidays: water deeply, mulch the pots and beds, move pots out of the afternoon sun, and put shade cloth over the lettuces. The cactus and the kangaroo paw cope with a dry week.

The right plant in the right spot

A. The spots

B. The best spot for each plant

C. The holiday heatwave

In the summer holidays a heatwave arrives, and nobody can water the plants for a week.

Plant care cards

Cut out the cards. Each one gives what the plant needs, and the signs that a condition is outside its range.

Teacher note: the cards describe common garden plants. Wash hands after handling plants and soil, and do not eat any part of a plant in class.

Show what we know

The summative lesson, run as a celebration. Each child makes a habitat-change poster about one living thing from the term: a radish seedling, yeast, a pond fish, a survivor card or a plant care card. The poster shows its habitat and conditions, its range, a change in those conditions and what that change does to its growth or survival. Children gallery-walk each other’s posters, sit the final check alone, and close with the on-screen quiz as a class game.

We are learning to

• explain how the physical conditions of a habitat affect the growth and survival of a living thing,
• use evidence from our tests to describe a range and a change,
• show what we know on our own on the final check.

Success criteria

• My poster names a range, a change in conditions and its effect, with evidence from this term.
• I can show on the final check how changing conditions affect living things.

You need

• A3 paper and coloured pencils; the survivor cards from Lesson 7 and the plant care cards from Lesson 9 for ideas,
• the poster planning sheet (next sheet) and the final check (third sheet), one each per child,
• the interactive unit open for the closing quiz.

Lesson flow (about 60 minutes)

Running two half-sessions instead? End Session A after making the posters. Start Session B with the gallery walk, then the final check and the class quiz.

Watch for these ideas

• A change with no effect: the poster names a drought but not what it does. Ask: which condition changed, and what did that do to growth or survival?
• A range with only one side: “the fish needs water”. Ask: what is too little, and could there be too much of something?
• Evidence missing. Ask: which of our tests or cards shows this?

Make it easier, make it bigger

• Easier: give the living thing and the change, such as a pond fish in a drought; the child fills the other four parts.
• Bigger: show two changes on the poster, one the living thing copes with and one it cannot, and explain the difference.

Answers and look-fors

• Final check marking guide: 1 how warm it is. 2 any two, such as the temperature with a thermometer, the light with the shadow test, or the soil moisture with the squeeze test. 3 the water. 4 the warm water (about 40 °C); the hottest water killed the yeast, so its balloon stayed limp. 5 a hot, dry wind. 6 seeds do not need light to sprout, but seedlings need light to grow green and strong. 7 (400 − 100) ÷ 6 = 50 days. 8 any survivor card, such as banksias: a fire opens their cones and the seeds fall on the cleared ground.
• A score of 6 or more out of 8, plus a poster that names a range, a change and its effect with evidence, meets the descriptor. The rubric near the front of the pack turns this into a level.
• Meeting the idea at the gallery sounds like “our yeast was most active in warm water; too cold slowed it down and too hot killed it, so a heatwave could push it out of its range”.

My habitat-change poster

Sketch the change

Show what we know

Show what you know about habitat conditions, growth and survival. Read each one, then circle or write. Take your time.

Teacher note: read the items aloud one at a time. The marking guide is on this lesson’s plan; the rubric near the front of the pack turns the score into a level.