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Back to our Educational Incursions complete List
Learn why an elephant snail forages for food at night, why a sea-horse has a curly-wurly tail, why some crabs have ‘pop-up’ eyes, and why the sea apple is red, like a street stop-sign. Many of the animals we bring along have very peculiar lifestyles indeed. A few creatures have special colours to scare away predators, some animals decorate themselves with seaweed to avoid detection and others have their mouths on their bottoms and their bottoms on the top of their bodies! WARNING! Your children will get their sleeves and hands wet. That’s all part of the fun of a rock-pool discovery with Wild Action.
In this program children will get ‘up close’ with live marine organisms. Most of the live animals come from around Melbourne’s rocky shores (intertidal zones). Students will develop first-hand skills in observing, identifying and handling local intertidal creatures. Emphasis will be placed on counting and grouping morphological characteristics. Particular niche environments will be discussed pertaining to each organism. Relevant habits, which are vital for survival will also be focussed on.
Students will examine each animal’s ability to survive in it’s environment. What senses does the organism have to relay survival information? Why does the animal behave the way it does? Students will discover that life in a rock-pool is complex. Organisms compete, predate and depend on each other. We will discuss each animal’s fascinating struggle for survival, and the relationships between living things in the inter-tidal environment. On completion of this session students will be able to draw and understand simple food chains. We will also look at some introduced visitors, which are upsetting the balance in Port Phillip bay.
Students will examine the biological basis for classification of marine organisms and discover how each animal interacts in a diverse ecosystem. Investigation will be made of the major structural characteristics of specimens. By using dichotomous keys , students will be able to classify a range of marine organisms into the major groups, in the hierarchy of the five-kingdom system. Students will focus on the effects of introduced biota and pollution on Port Phillip Bay.
Sessions Costs prices Current January 2010 (melbourne metro prices)
1 interactive session $350 inc. GST
2 interactive sessions $650 inc. GST
3 interactive sessions $870 inc. GST
4 interactive sessions $1050 inc. GST
5 interactive sessions $1200 inc. GST
6 interactive sessions $1350 inc. GST
A maximum of 30 students are permitted in each lecture. Due to insurance reasons, Wild Action staff reserve the right to cancel the presentation if class sizes exceed this number. Prices for multiple lectures are based on lectures performed on the same day. Lectures run for one hour in duration
