Engage with science resources

Task: Answer questions about a planned wildlife reserve. Assessment focus: interdependence of animals with their habitat.

Students use their knowledge of the fire triangle to identify risk factors for a given scenario, and apply this to their own situation. They use rubrics to rate and improve some of their explanations.

Students design a low energy house.

Task: Describe problems caused by cutting down trees on a bank. Assessment focus: erosion.

Students list advantages and disadvantages of recycling. The assessment focuses on students' ability to identify impacts on the environment and its inhabitants (including people).

Task: Students suggest ways to stop sand dunes blowing on to farmland, and describe the predicted outcome of their suggestions. Assessment focus: application of knowledge of erosion to a specific situation.

For this task students are provided with some weather information that includes the UV index. Students interpret this information to answer three short answer questions.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found on a dairy farm, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a dairy farm environment.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found in and near a flax bush, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a flax bush environment.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found in an area of native bush and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a native bush environment.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found in or near an ocean, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in an ocean environment.

Task: Students identify which different events threaten our native birds or have done so in the past. Assessment focus: identification of the specific impacts of human actions.

Task: Interpret a flowchart and text to identify in what ways goats are pests. Assessment focus: identifying ways in which goats are pests and how they are controlled.

Some notes on the rabbit calicivirus are provided. Students use these and their own understandings of food chains to answer four questions.

Task: Students explain six things that would be needed to develop and maintain an offshore island habitat for endangered birds. Assessment focus: identification of needs of endangered birds.

Task: Match vocabulary and definitions, and select why these terms are useful to know when thinking about butterflies at risk. Assessment focus: understanding science texts.

Task: Students read a short written text to explain how the special features of wild ginger help it survive. Assessment focus: explanation of wild ginger's special features and why it is a pest plant.

Task: Complete a drawing of things found in a garden, and describe relationships between them. Assessment focus: interdependence in a garden.

Task: Using statements from four people decide and justify whether or not each person supports wind farms. Identify which person has a misconception about wind farms, giving a reason. Assessment focus: identifying different perspectives.