Throughout Term 3 the Year 3 class at St Mary’s has been participating in Outdoor Education sessions. Students are working through a Geography unit of work based on Australia’s environment, Flora and Fauna, the human impacts on their environment, and how Australia’s environment and population compares to that of an Asian country (Vietnam).

The outdoor aspect of our unit began with students collecting small objects from the ground in their immediate environment and analysing what they collected. They concluded that there are common colours that make up man made small objects (litter). Those are often blues, pinks, whites and blacks. From the students’ collections, they surmised that most natural products (found on the ground) consisted of shades of brown, yellow, greens and grey. These collections have been kept and were used within students’ artwork, which have been entered into the Threatened Species Art Competition through Shoalhaven Council.

The Year 3 students have spent some time in their classroom researching their chosen threatened species as well as the role of hollows as habitats in order to answer the following questions:

1. Why is the animal a threatened species?
2. How is their habitat (particularly a hollow) instrumental to their survival and safety as a species?

Students created a model of their chosen animal using clay, ready for use in their artwork. To complete their artwork, students used natural materials to create a hollow suitable for their chosen threatened species. Students were encouraged to include some of the man made objects collected throughout their learning to demonstrate some of the human impacts on our environment that our animals come across every day.

In line with our Outdoor Education philosophy, all natural materials will be returned to the environment after the completion of the unit, and any litter collected will be disposed of responsibly. 

Here are some photos of the students in action, and of some of their artworks entered into the Shoalhaven Council art competition.