~ an integrated science, technology and environmental
education program for talented Stage 4 science students
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| We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Government Community Coastcare
Grant for making funds
available for the teacher professional learning day
and subsequent student field work days. This grant covers the cost of
the ferry trip, science equipments, speicies for dissection, water
quality testing chemicals and teacher relief for the class teacher -
one per class. The only cost of the excursion is $40 for a
program pack. Grime Scene Investigation targets one or two high school teams of talented Stage 4 science students and requires them to undertake a planned set of pre visit tasks followed by fieldwork at Blackwattle Bay on Sydney Harbour or the Georges River Catchment at Sans Souci. The students take on the roles of real scientists working in teams of five assuming the roles of an ecologists, biologist, water quality chemist, environmental scientist and a microbiologist. Their research will be based on an environmental consultancy scenario. The investigation covers both pre visit tasks and fieldwork, leading to the teams reporting on the state of the environment for the fictional 'Bay City Council'. The Grime Scene Investigation project is based on quality teaching principals and promotes student investigations into the local environment and environment management issues. The focus is on syllabus outcomes 4.8 Features of living things, and 4.10 Factors effecting survival of organisms. Content in the areas of classification, adaptations, uni and multi cellular organisms and ecosystems will be covered. The integration of Technology and Environmental Education Policy objectives, are key components of the project. To be adequately prepared to undertake the field study component of the whole program, teachers need to allow three weeks for a web based research task for each team member, and for general organisation of the teams into their scientific roles. To view these pre-visit activities, visit the TaLe website at http://lrr.dlr.det.nsw.edu.au/Web/gsi/. There is also a comprehensive follow-up, using the results of the investigations in the estuary. Teams report on their findings, which then can be delivered as a powerpoint, vodcast or in other forms of media. Click the following link to view a Quicktime movie on the GSI study of Blackwattle Bay. You will need your school's user name and password to view the movie GSI project fieldwork day - movie FIELDWORK TASKS OF THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TEAM
TEACHER TRAINING DAYS The teacher attending the excursion with the students will need to attend a training day at either Sans Souci or Blackwattle Bay. Sans Souci - Georges River Catchment on Tuesday 24th February, 8.30am - 4pm Blackwattle Bay - Sydney Harbour on Wednesday 18th March, 8.30am - 4pm Teacher relief is covered, however teachers need to be aware that the purpose of the training day is to prepare them to be in charge of running some of the fieldwork activities on the day their school is booked in for the fieldwork, and be perpared for the post fieldwork commitment. FIELDWORK DAYS The fieldwork days for Sans Souci are: Term 1 Thursday 19th March - Booked out Tuesday 24th March - Booked out Thursday 2nd April - Booked out Term 2 Thursday 30th April - Booked out Thursday 21st May - Booked out Tuesday 16th June - Booked out The fieldwork days for Blackwattle Bay are: Term 1 Monday 6th April - Booked out Tuesday 7th April - Booked out Term 2 Wednesday 29th April - Booked out Wednesday 1st July - Booked out Term 3 Thursday 30th July - Booked out Further Program Information: Students undertaking the program, will take part in activities such as land use mapping, environmental issues eg stormwater investigations, fish dissections/adaptations, plankton studies, water quality testing, classification of species and food chain studies. Expert scientists and environmentalist may be on hand to assist students in their fieldwork.
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