Specialists
Sustainability
The Kitchen Garden
The Kitchen Garden is in full bloom, and the students have been busy all week weeding, mulching and adding climbing frames for our produce. The native garden has exploded, attracting beneficial insects and wildlife to our garden. The pollinators are loving the beautiful flowers, and the kids are having a great time getting their hands dirty!
Foundation
Foundation students have been investigating the characteristics of plants and animals across a range of biomes and analysing their adaptations that help them survive in their habitats. Students have been practising their scientific drawing skills, investigating the properties of succulents.
Level 1
Level 1 students have been learning about the scientific method and the importance of clearly communicating the process of experiments to make them reproducible by other scientists. Each grade in Level 1 wrote instructions for another grade to follow when conducting an experiment on the impact of microplastic on aquatic environments.
Level 2
Level 2 students have been learning about taxonomy and how organisms are classified by their biological features. Students have practised using a dichotomous key to organise animals by vertebrates or invertebrates, endothermic or ectothermic, their observable external features, life cycles and habitats.
Level 3
Level 3 students have been learning about how to plan and map out a crop in the Kitchen Garden using a range of tools. Students used planning calendars, companion planting charts and pest and disease information to decide on what to plant and where to plant it. Students have also been exploring mapping techniques to help them clearly communicate their crop ideas. The Level 3s will plant their crops in the garden through Term 4.
Level 4
Level 4 students have been investigating how access to electricity impacts quality of living on a local, national and global scale. Students have designed renewable energy tools that could be used by people who live beyond the energy grid. The tools have been designed to meet a Sustainable Development Goal such as Quality Education, Good Health and Wellbeing, No Poverty and Zero Hunger. The Level 4s have been using design thinking tools such as SCAMPER and have represented their industrial designs using orthogonal and isometric drawing techniques.
Level 5
Level 5 students have been exploring Ecology - how organisms interact with other living things and their physical surroundings to survive. Students explored their own needs in line with Maslow’s Hierarchy, and investigated how these needs are met in their habitats to help them survive and thrive. Students have designed suburbs that they feel would perfectly meet their deficiency and growth needs and considered BOLTSS while mapping them out.
Level 6
Level 6 students have been investigating paper and designing Circular Economy solutions to prevent paper waste at HEPS. Students have been learning about the paper production process and have been making recycled paper out of scraps from the classroom. We hope to use this paper to make some sustainable goods to sell at HEPS Harvest.
