Habitat for hollow-dwelling species

Year 9
Stem Unit Preview

Problem / Challenge

Human activity has reduced available habitat for animals. Tree hollows are an important but increasingly limited source of shelter and nesting space for wildlife in urban and agricultural areas.

Inquiry question: Can we enhance the space we have at Gordons Hill Reserve to provide more habitat for hollow-dwelling species?

Brief

In groups, your task is to design and build:

a camera monitoring device to observe the types of animals who inhabit the reserve
an appropriate artificial habitat for one of the identified species.

Resources

Unit Preview (PDF, 209KB)
Planning Template (Word, 2.37MB)

Australian Curriculum Links

Science

Science Understanding

Multi-cellular organisms (ACSSU175)
Ecosystems (ACSSU176)

Science as a Human Endeavour

Society influence on scientific research (ACSHE228)

Science Inquiry Skills

Formulate questions or hypotheses (ACSIS164)
Plan an investigation (ACSIS165)
Select and use appropriate equipment (ACSIS166)
Analyse data (ACSIS169)
Draw conclusions (ACSIS170)
Evaluate conclusions (ACSIS171)
Critical analysis of information for solving problems (ACSIS172)
Communicate scientific ideas and information (ACSIS174)

Design and Technologies

Engineering principles and systems

force, motion and energy (ACTDEK043)

Materials and technologies specialisations

Characteristics and properties of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment (ACTDEK046)

Design Process

Investigating and defining (ACTDEP048)
Generating and designing (ACTDEP049)
Producing and implementing (ACTDEP050)
Evaluating (ACTDEP051)
Collaborating and managing (ACTDEP052)

Digital Technologies

Processes and production skills

Analyse and visualise data to create information and address complex problems (ACTDIP037)
Define and decompose real-world problems considering functional and non-functional requirements (ACTDIP038)
Design and validate algorithms and programs (ACTDIP040)
Implement modular programs using an object oriented programming language (ACTDIP041)
Plan and manage projects (ACTDIP044)

Mathematics

Measurement and Geometry

Areas of composite shapes (ACMMG216)
Surface area and volume of cylinders and right prisms (ACMMG217)
(ACMMG218)
Time scales and intervals (ACMMG219)
Ratio and scale factors (ACMMG221)
Pythagoras’ Theorem (ACMMG222)
Trigonometry (ACMMG224)

Statistics and Probability

Numerical and categorical variables in primary and secondary data collection (ACMSP228)
Data representation (ACMSP282)
Measures of central tendency and spread (ACMSP283)

School Overview

Rose Bay High School is a co-educational government secondary school located in a hilltop suburb on the eastern shore of the River Derwent in Clarence in southern Tasmania, Australia.

Rose Bay High School has around 725 students and its school oval borders the Gordons Hill Bushland reserve, which has been the stimulus for this STEM unit