Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

45 minutes	Part B: Sketching A Habitat Landscape
60 minutes	Part C: Understanding Blending In Drawing A Habitat Landscape
60 minutes	Part D: Creating Species Detail
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by briefly explaining (or recapping if you completed the previous lesson) on bush blitz species.

Step 2. Differentiation -

If students have completed the previous lesson:

Review the identified species in the headband game.
Refer students back to their questions on the topic and invite them to adjust or add to their previous questions based on what students have discovered.

If students have not completed the previous lesson:

Explain to students about why community groups might conduct a bush blitz of habitats to search for critters that live there.
Watch this clip (from 1.47 to end) to understand the purpose of a blitz.
Show students the images from the Bush Blitz that Earthwatch Australia found. Tell students that this is the first time these species have been recorded. Emphasise the importance of a blitz to find unidentified species.

Step 3.

Invite students to review/consider what habitat these species might come from. Brainstorm habitats and what they might look like.

Part B: From Sketching To Painting The Habitat

Step 1.

Explain to students that one task of a scientist is to visually record what they find or observe. One way to do this is through drawing. Demonstrate to students what a sketch might be (using the terminology: rough or unfinished drawing, often made to assist in making a more finished picture). If time allows, invite students to do a quick five-minute sketch of a friend.

Step 2.

Display the following images, explaining that the image on the left shows a natural habitat, and the image on the right is a sketch of some of the features of this habitat. You could also demonstrate to students how to draw a sketch of a habitat and what key features that you might include.

Step 3. Differentiation:

Where students have completed other lessons in this unit:

Invite students to go back and sketch the school habitat zones where they found their species. For the purpose of this lesson, please include those found in flowers, leaf litter, tall grasses and plants near water. As students are sketching, you should take photos of the habitat sites students are sketching.

If students have not completed other lessons in this unit:

Invite students to look closely at the various habitats in their school grounds, and attempt to match these up with species found from Bush Blitz. Invite students to consider the following question: If these species do live in our schoolyard, where might we find them? Focus on flowers, leaf litter, tall grasses and plants near water.
Invite students to go out and sketch them. As students are sketching, you should take photos of the habitat sites students are sketching.

Step 4.

Now work with the whole class to brainstorm the sequence of sketches that can provide an overview to the school grounds (i.e. what order would you place them in to provide the most accurate picture of your school habitat sites?). You can then work together to assemble this sequence.

Step 5.

Using this assembled sequence, transfer your sketches onto a 180-degree panorama wall mural. Ideally, this will be done on the paper that is the same size of the wall. However, if you wanted to separate each habitat, this could also be done in the inside back wall of a cardboard box. This could either be done with the students or by the teacher. Your task, at this point, is to sketch the background only.

You can share this clip with students to help them with their landscape drawing:

How to Draw a Landscape (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9md-kUPv-Y)

Step 6.

Once complete, compare the enlarged sketch to original photographs. Reflect with students, does this accurately represent what is above and below the horizon line: Do adjustments need to be made? If so, complete these. If not, continue to the next step.

Step 7.

Invite a student/s to outline the sketch, using a permanent black marker to make this image clearer.

Part C: Understanding Blending In Drawing A Habitat Landscape

Step 1.

Invite students to view the photos of the habitat sites they sketched. Focus students' attention on the colours of the landscape above the horizon line. Discuss if these are primary colours, or if they have a lighter/ darker hue to them, or if they have been blended together to create a seamless change.

Step 2.

Now watch some or all of the following clip, explaining that it is about blending, a technique used by visual artists:

Acrylic Painting Tips for Beginners: Blending (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E0xsWf1nkQ)

Consider pausing and discussing the techniques presented in this clip as you watch. At each stage, invite students to practise on their paper.

Step 3.

Invite students to use their new knowledge of blending to paint to colour above and below the horizon line of the mural.

Part D: Creating Species Detail

Step 1.

Enlarge one photograph of the Bush Blitz Slides (or one of your own species from your school habitat). Encourage students to look at the dimensions of each part, as well the special features.

Step 2.

Take a large piece of clay/plasticine/playdough and divide this into small clumps (the size of a student's palm). Invite students to use all parts of this to create the (enlarged) photographed species within a certain time frame. An eight-minute challenge can be fun.

Hot tips:

The purpose of this is a tactile experience only. Students are more likely to join the pieces together in an animal form rather than a 2D image. It helps them understand the parts it takes to make the species move. Encourage rich questioning such as:
- How do the body parts move together so the species can jump?
- Where are the legs in relation to the body?
- Why are the antennae at the top of the head, rather than at the side?
The intention of this activity is an introduction piece before drawing. However, if students enjoy this you could divert from the remaining part of this lesson and create a diorama, where in front of the mural, you could place a table. Or students could place these clay figures inside a cardboard box.

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to share their species. As a class, reflect on each one, remembering to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback:

Some tips for providing feedback
*Be kind - it can be hard sharing your ideas with other people so make sure you remain kind and supportive.
*Be specific - be clear about what you think and why. Rather than saying "I like legs", say something like "I like the way the legs help create to show how the animal moves".
*Be helpful - try not to just say what is strong or weak, but also make suggestions about how things could be improved.

Step 4.

Now explain to students that the moulded clay species they created help them to create a 2D sketch drawing of this species. Explain to students that this is what a scientist would do when they record a new species.

Display (or distribute) the Scientific Drawing Guidelines and work with students to understand what is required of a scientific drawing, explaining that they will need to create a scientific drawing of a different animal species to the one they created a model of.

Step 5.

Give each student a different animal species photograph (making sure that all come from either the Bush Blitz slides or ones that were found in your schoolyard). If students need more support, invite them to keep the clay to create their species first, before sketching out their animal on paper.

Step 6.

Encourage rich reflections as students observe the photograph and draw in detail. If the species has a particularly great feature, such as dragonfly killing a mosquito mid-flight, encourage the students to draw this as part of the image. Invite students to outline using a permanent marker and to add labels to their drawing, as per the scientific drawing guidelines, being sure to name the species (including Latin and common names where possible).

You can then make a photocopy of each drawing and give students the copy. They should then cut out the animal and colour it in (they do not need to include labels or the name in this image). Pin (not glue) these onto the landscape mural in their distinct habitat zones.

Collate the original drawings with labels and names, stapling these together. This can be used as a key for those viewing the mural.

If students have any other information they would like to add about their species, they could create additional information sheets in support of the key.

Where students have completed this entire lesson series, invite students to add any cultural mapping, or scientific terminology or processes onto this mural of what we know in the various habitats. Write these up on the computer and add these into the mural.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to respond to the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What was the best part of this lesson and why?
What was the most challenging part and why?
Why do you think it's important to learn about microhabitats and the animals who live in them?

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Write up reports of what was found in each school habitat, discussing species name (using iNaturalist app), colour, shape and size, as well as unusual features/facts. Explain how/ why was this was relevant to initial wondering (from mural on Bush Blitz species).
Identify a landscape plan for school grounds - identify what plants/ trees/ grasses are needed to be added to the school environment to be species friendly.
Speak to local ecologists/landscape designers about how this could look.

Provisions for Learning Support –

If students are tactile learners, the creation of the landscape in Part B could be done in 3D using paper mache to make trees.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Backyard Bush Blitz - Drawing Insects

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