Biology Excursion

Healesville Sanctuary

On Tuesday 23rd February, our three Unit 1 Biology classes had an excursion to Healesville Sanctuary. The excursion was to help contextualise the first three topics of ecosystems, biodiversity and adaptations. The groups were given a guided tour including a session with a zoo educator on the adaptations that a Tawny Frogmouth had developed to help it survive.

The next stop was observations of the platypus and recording its behaviour to build ethogram. It was difficult to find the platypus but the students got an appreciation of the behaviour of its foraging and concealment activities.

After a short lunch break there was an entertaining half hour Spirits of the Sky show, where the adaptations of various native Australian animals to help them survive and reproduce were highlighted.  This included two of Australia’s largest birds of prey, the black breasted buzzard and the wedge tailed eagle.

The final session that the students had was a self-directed exploration of the sanctuary investigating the adaptations of three of Australia’s endangered animals. The entire day was well received by the students and their learning about adaptations of Australian animals deepened.

Peter Kos

We had a wonderful and informative excursion to Healesville Sanctuary Tuesday last week, to further tie down our knowledge of adaptations and ecosystems. We observed many of Australia’s native animals, including the Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides), which was able to change its shape to look like a branch! In the morning my group went on a guided tour with a representative from the Sanctuary to walk us through the many adaptations of creatures such as the helmeted honey-eater and some platypuses. After lunch at one of the Sanctuary’s cafés, the whole group of students went to see the presentation about “the spirits of the sky” which featured a talking parrot named Kevin. After the show, we were free to explore the campus ourselves, taking notes on various endangered animals such as the Tasmanian Devil, the Orange-Bellied Parrot and the Spotted Tree Frog.

Leyton Campbell 11B