Upper Primary Years 4-7 SOSE and Science

Unit 1: Wet Tropics – a unique, complex environment

Are you ready to investigate the unique ecosystem of our World Heritage listed tropical rainforest? There’s plenty of classroom activities to keep you occupied, but we also recommend getting out into the rainforest with a field trip or visit to a local Environmental Education Centre.

The inquiry approach is built around the need to:
• prepare for the investigation or the fieldwork
• broaden student experiences and understandings during the investigation or field trip
• consolidate and extend them following the study or visit.

Some tips to help the unit run smoothly

• Read through the Unit 1 Flowchart, looking at what students will be able to know and do at the end of the unit. The yellow boxes detail the assessment items.
• The flow of activities in the Unit 1 Bloom’s Gardner’s Matrix outlines the pathway through the unit to the assessable outcomes. This pathway covers a range of multiple intelligences and a range of thinking skills.
• All the resources, templates, assessment and teaching strategies are located in the Resources section.
• When you begin the unit, use the Assessment Guidelines to clearly explain to students what will be valued in their work.
• Use the websites listed in Resources as a starting point for student research. A general web search using key terms like ‘tropical rainforest’ and ‘wet tropics’ will also provide a lot of linked sites.
• Contact your local Environmental Education Centres to get an understanding of the types of activities and resources they can provide to enhance the unit.