Learning Experience 1: Plant Knowledge Slideshow.

 

Learning Experience 1: Students will be able to create a slideshow that showcases information about the plant, its characteristics, and its cultural significance. 

 

Outcome to be achieved: GE2-1 – Students will “Describe the features and characteristics of places and environments, and the ways people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, interact with them.”

 

Key Inquiry Question:

 

How do the features and characteristics of plants at Mount Annan Botanical Gardens show the ways people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, interact with and care for their environment?

 

Activity 1:  Mount Annan Botanical Gardens Explorer Website.

A digital resource that teachers can use prior to visiting the community resource is the Mount Annan Botanical Gardens explorer website. This explorer website will assist teachers in promoting authentic learning, as it gives children a resource to utilise prior to their excursion. This will allow them to become familiar with different species of plants and how people interact with them. 

 

• Students will use the link provided to explore different plants using the interactive map
• They will be able to click on many different species of plants located in different areas of the Botanical Gardens. They will also be able to interact with many different photos of the plants and can also read information about them. 
• Teachers can instruct the children to note some of their findings down in their books, including dot points about the plants' features, where they can be found, and ways that people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, interact with them.

 

Activity 2 :  'My Fruit Loop Garden' Journal

This resource I created was designed to be used during the excursion. It will provide students with the learning ability to effectively document and keep track of what plant features they observe and respond to some scaffolded questions.

 

- Students will navigate the 'Fruit Loop Garden' with their journal.

- Students will observe and choose a plant they wish to focus their journal observations on. Students can be placed in groups, and all members can visit a different plant.

- Students will use their journal to document any sketches of the plants, and its surrounding environment, and any otherimportant information they deem necessary to note down

- To cater to different diverse learners and to build on complexity, there are additional challenge questions at the end of each page on the journal for students to be able to engage in further critical thinking questions. This isn't an essential part of the resource but can be great for high achievers or to prompt further discussion when you return to in-class teaching mode.

 

Why have I chosen these resources?

 

1. Explorer Website (Digital Resource)

I chose this reliable source as a fun and interactive way to build background knowledge before students embark on their excursion. The website allows children to explore the features of a wide variety of plants and understand how they are described, supporting both their geographical and scientific learning. By becoming familiar with the Botanical Gardens’ layout and plant species in advance, students will arrive on the excursion with a sense of curiosity and confidence. The Explorer Website builds an essential bridge between pre-learning in the classroom and first-hand experience in the Gardens, ensuring that students are well prepared to engage meaningfully with the excursion activities and later use their observations to create their digital slideshow.

 

2. 'My Fruit Loop Garden' Journal (Text/Visual Resource)

I created this printable resource to provide students with a hands-on way of documenting their observations during the excursion. The journal encourages students to actively engage with their surroundings by sketching plants, observing their features, and reflecting on how people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, interact with them. This makes learning more meaningful, as students are not just passively observing but actively recording and interpreting what they see.

The journal is also carefully scaffolded to support diverse learners. It includes guided questions that help students focus on key details, while additional extension questions provide opportunities for critical thinking and higher-level inquiry. This means all students are supported, from those who need more structure to high achievers who benefit from deeper challenges.

Most importantly, the completed journal will become a valuable resource students can return to when creating their digital slideshow project back in the classroom.

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https://australianbg.gardenexplorer.org

Above on the left is a screenshot taken from the Botanic Garden Explorer showcasing its great interactive features. It includes a map and information on the plant, images and where it's located within the park.

 

The file embedded on the right is the printable journal I created for students to use whilst navigating the 'Fruit Loop Garden' on the excursion!

Learning Experience 2: Mapping and Caring for Country

 

Learning Experience 2: Students will visit the Connections Garden and observe and map what type of environmental care is being done to preserve plants in Mount Annan Botanical Gardens. Students will be able to reflect and participate in a post-excursion class discussion on sustainability measures and how indigenous people respect and have a great deal of knowledge on how to care for and use plants effectively.

GE2-2 and GE2-3: Students will learn how people look after natural spaces and identify features of the environment that support plant and animal life.

Potential science outcomes can also be achieved through cross-curriculum because the task overlaps with observing environmental care which is prevalent in geography concepts (people and environment) as well as science concepts (living things, ecosystems, sustainability).

 

Key Inquiry Question:

 

What environmental care measures are used to protect plants and wildlife in the garden?

 

 

Activity 1: Annotatable Map Templates

• Students will use a blank map template to assist them in identifying environmental care measures around them as they navigate the Connections Garden. 
• Students will first sketch a section of the garden they are most interested in.
• They will then create their own key at the bottom of the map template to help them label what environmental care measures have been put in place. 
• For learners who may need additional scaffolding, I have completed a partially completed sketch of a focus part of the garden that homes the plants 'Brachychiton Acerifolius' and the 'Hymenosporum Flavum.' Students can use my sketch to assist them in focusing on observing the sustainable features and labelling them correctly using the key I have developed.

 

For higher achievers, they may also be challenged to suggest a new environmental care strategy that could be introduced to the garden, such as planting additional shade trees or improving water collection systems. This pushes students beyond observation into analysis and problem-solving, encouraging them to think critically about how people can care for natural spaces in sustainable ways.

 

Activity 2: Mount Annan “Plant Explorer” (Padlet)

Students will then work in groups  after completing their annotatable map template and will access a digital wall using iPads, known as Padlet. 

- Students will be able to post evidence of how people care for different plants and their surroundings by placing posts onto the digital wall. 

- Students can also upload videos and sketches and comment on their peers' posts to encourage groups discussion/collaboration. 

This serves as a fun interactive activity to finish off the excursion!

 

Why have I chosen these resources?

 

1. Annotatable Map Templates (Text/Visual Resource)

I chose this resource, as it engages many diverse students/learners in effectively mapping and annotating features of the Connections Garden, helping them meet geography outcomes (GE2-2, GE2-3). The resource will allow students to understand what environmental care measures have been put in place, and through observing sustainable ways, be able to understand the way in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have cared for them too. The maps act as a scaffold for observation, critical thinking, and reflection, which is a fundamental part of having a class discussion.

 

 

2. The connection's Garden Padlet (Digital Resource)
I also chose this digital resource, Padlet, as it transforms the excursion into an interactive experience, where students are able to curate and build knowledge in real-time by uploading their own discoveries, sketching and annotating pictures. It encourages active participation, supports multimodal learning (visual, auditory, and written), and builds a shared digital class resource that can later be used to support their digital slideshow project. This resource allows students to push themselves based on diverse learning abilities, as it gives them the opportunity to showcase their findings in a variety of ways. 

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The link for the Interactive Padlet board which you can share with your students to use is:

https://padlet.com/laratteves/connection-garden-evidence-portal-umrp4vx0cowlpgw2