School incursions
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden offers mobile incursions for preschool and primary schools across Sydney North and Northern Beaches. Our experienced and qualified environmental education rangers will visit your school with a collection of native fauna and flora and present on a range of topics. The session is 1 hour and can be divided into two 25-minute sessions.
Preschool incursions
Native animals and plants
A fun incursion to engage students by meeting some of our special collection of animals and plants at the Wildflower Garden. Students will learn all kinds of facts and have a sensory experience with some bush medicine plants.
Learning Outcomes: Children contribute and are connected to their world.
Curriculum content includes:
- Provide children with access to a range of natural materials in their environment.
- Model respect, care and appreciation for the natural environment.
- Find ways of enabling children to care for and learn from the land.
- Consider the nature of children’s connectedness to the land and demonstrate respect for community protocols.
- Share information and provide children with access to resources about the environment and the impact of human activities on environments.
- Embed sustainability in daily routines and practices.
- Look for examples of interdependence in the environment and discuss the ways the life and health of living things are interconnected.
Looking after the environment
Learn how to look after native plants and animals and take care of the land in this interactive lesson. You will get up close to some of the Wildflower Gardens collection of animals and learn how we care for them with an interactive habitat building activity.
Learning Outcomes: Children contribute and are connected to their world.
Curriculum content includes:
- Provide children with access to a range of natural materials in their environment.
- Model respect, care and appreciation for the natural environment.
- Find ways of enabling children to care for and learn from the land.
- Consider the nature of children’s connectedness to the land and demonstrate respect for community protocols.
- Share information and provide children with access to resources about the environment and the impact of human activities on environments.
- Embed sustainability in daily routines and practices.
- Look for examples of interdependence in the environment and discuss the ways the life and health of living things are interconnected.
Primary school 'Living World' incursions
Early Stage 1 - What do we notice about living things?
The focus for this incursion is on living things, their characteristics, needs, behaviours, and the environment in which they live. This will be explored by meeting and describing the external features of a variety of native animals at the Wildflower Garden and identifying the different places they live with a habitat building exercise.
Learning Outcomes: STe-1WS-S, STe-2DP-T, STe-3LW-ST
Curriculum content includes:
- compare the basic needs of some plants and animals;
- participate in guided investigations to identify living things and the external features of plants and animals in the local environment.
Stage 1 - What are the external features of living things?
The focus for this incursion is on the features of living things, their environment and how they change and reproduce. This will be explored by meeting and describing the external features of a variety of native animals at the Wildflower Garden and identifying the different places they live with a habitat building exercise.
Learning Outcomes: ST1-1WS-S, ST1-2DP-T, ST1-3DP-T, ST1-4LW-S
Curriculum content includes:
- describe the external features of a variety of living things;
- identify and group plants and animals using their external features;
- identify that living things live in different places that suit their needs.
Stage 2 - How can we group living things? What are their lifecycles?
This incursion focuses on the classification, life cycles and survival of living things. This will be explored by meeting and making observations about the animals at the Wildflower Garden and an activity where we look at the life cycle of the unique Scribbly Gum Moth.
Learning Outcomes: ST2-1WS-S, ST2-2DP-T, ST2-11DI-T, ST2-4LW-S, ST2-7MW-T
Curriculum content includes:
- collect data and identify patterns to group living things according to their external features, and distinguish them from non-living things;
- identify that living things have life cycles;
- conduct an investigation into the life cycle of plants and/or animals.
Stage 3 - How do physical conditions affect the survival of living things?
The exploration for this incursion focuses on the growth and survival of living things, and how their adaptations over time suit their environment. We will meet some native animals and describe how changing physical conditions in the environment affect the growth and survival of living things. The Ranger will take a sample of water from our ponds to consider its quality and how the animals survive and adapt.
Learning Outcomes: ST3-1WS-S, ST3-2DP-T, ST3-4LW-S
Curriculum content includes:
- plan and conduct a fair test to show the conditions needed for a particular plant or animal to grow and survive in its environment;
- describe how changing physical conditions in the environment affect the growth and survival of living things;
- test predictions by gathering data and use evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena.
Incursion cost
$212 for 1x 60-minute session or 2x 25-minute sessions for preschools or schools within a 15km radius of Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden. For preschools or schools outside of this radius, email kwg@krg.nsw.gov.au for costs.
Online incursions
Is your school outside our 15km radius? Our Environmental Education Rangers can also engage school children across the state through interactive online learning sessions.
The 'Living World' Incursion is based on the Science syllabus and includes meeting some of our native animals, learning about their interesting features and adaptations as well as taking a close look at where these animals live.
Sessions are suitable for years K-6 (see learning outcomes below) with entire school grades joining via zoom links, from home or from school.
Learning outcomes of 'Living World' science online incursions
Stage 1 - What are the external features of living things?
The focus for this incursion is on the features of living things, their environment and how they change and reproduce. This will be explored by describing the external features of a variety of native animals at the Wildflower Garden and identifying the different places they live with a habitat building exercise.
Learning Outcomes: ST1-1WS-S, ST1-2DP-T, ST1-3DP-T, ST1-4LW-S
Stage 2 - How can we group living things? What are their life cycles?
This incursion focuses on the classification, life cycles and survival of living things. This will be explored by meeting and making observations about the animals at the Wildflower Garden and an activity where we look at the life cycle of the unique Scribbly Gum Moth.
Learning Outcomes: ST2-1WS-S, ST2-2DP-T, ST2-11DI-T, ST2-4LW-S, ST2-7MW-T
Stage 3 - How do physical conditions affect the survival of living things?
The exploration for this incursion focuses on the growth and survival of living things, and how their adaptations over time suit their environment. We will meet some native animals and describe how changing physical conditions in the environment affect the growth and survival of living things. The Ranger will take a sample of water from our ponds to consider its quality and how the animals survive and adapt.
Learning Outcomes: ST3-1WS-S, ST3-2DP-T, ST3-4LW-S
Online incursion cost
$102 for 30-minute session.
Booking request form
Please fill in the details below and one of our friendly staff will be in contact to discuss your booking. Alternatively, please contact 9424 0353 or kwg@krg.nsw.gov.au for any further questions.