Ecosystems beyond Earth
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- consider the importance of biosecurity measures required in a space settlement.
- model a biosecurity measure that can be used to detect an exotic pest.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- describe the process of testing in biosecurity.
- describe the consequences of false-negative biosecurity results in a space settlement.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Feedback might focus on:
- predicting the impact of introducing new species in an ecosystem.
- the importance of biodiversity to an environment’s health.
Potential summative assessment
Students working at the achievement standard should have:
- identified the evidence being cited to support a claim and evaluating conflicting evidence.
- demonstrated an understanding of how energy flows into and out of an ecosystem via the pathways of food webs.
- selected and constructed appropriate representations to organise data and information.
- processed data and information and analysed it to describe patterns, trends and relationships.
- identified possible sources of error in methods and identified unanswered questions in conclusions and claims.
- identified evidence to support their conclusions and constructed arguments to support or dispute claims.
- selected and used language and text features appropriately for their purpose and audience when communicating their ideas and findings.
Refer to the Australian Curriculum content links on the Our design decisions tab for further information.
Whole class
Ecosystems beyond Earth Resource PowerPoint
Each group
Bicarbonate soda powder (to sprinkle over two of the objects)
5 random objects to be tested (possibilities include shell, stone, old shoe, plastic toy, piece of sandwich or fruit etc.). The objects will need to be prepared prior to the class—refer to Lab Tech notes in the Preparing for this sequence tab for directions.
5 plastic bags
5 x swabs or tissues
6 x 50mL beakers
Access to tap water
Universal indicator in dropper bottles
Permanent marker
Each student
Individual science notebook
Safety glasses
Laboratory coat
Gloves
Biosecurity testing Resource sheet
Lesson
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRe-orient
Allow students time to make observations and take measurements of their plants.
Discuss how all the people in a moon settlement could be affected if the plants become infected with an introduced organism.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkBorder control
(Slide 29) Discuss some of the border control mechanisms that are used on farms or at the border, including shoe baths and brushes, special clothing covers and tests that detect potential contaminants or infectious agents.
Pose the question: How could border agents test if an exotic pest was on an object?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkBiosecurity agent
Explain that students will act as border control agents, to test if a contaminant is present on objects people want to bring into the space settlement. You may want to set up a full border control scenario in your classroom.
Show students the objects they will be testing and demonstrate the procedure outlined in the Biosecurity testing Resource sheet. The objects should have been prepared before the lesson according to the Preparing for this sequence instructions.
- Half-fill the 50 mL beaker with tap water.
- Dip a clean swab or cotton wool in the water so that it becomes damp. This will allow it to collect any dust particles, fungal spores, or bacterial spores on the items.
- Wipe the wet swab or cotton wool over every surface of one of the objects.
- Place the wet swab or cottonwool in the beaker of water. Gently mix the beaker to detach any particles that may have wiped off the object.
- Use the permanent marker to label the beaker with the object's name.
- Add 6 drops of universal indicator into each beaker containing the swabs or cotton wool.
Objects that have been dusted with bicarb soda will cause the universal indicator to become blue/purple. A negative result (with no contamination) will be green.
✎STUDENT NOTES: Complete the tests and record results on the Biosecurity testing Resource sheet.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkConsequences of false negative results
(Slide 30) Discuss and compare the results of the testing.
- Which objects tested positive for the fungus? How do you know?
- How sure were you that your testing was accurate?
- What are the consequences to the space settlement if you are wrong and some of the objects allowed into the settlement had a fungus on them?
- How could this be explained to people who wanted to settle on the Moon? How much science would they need to know?
Discuss the consequences of an introduced species that could affect all the plants growing as food on the Moon (3 days travel from Earth) or Mars (>9 months from Earth). Consider the added time taken to prepare rockets and food supplies.
✎STUDENT NOTES: Complete the Biosecurity testing Resource sheet.
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- write a formal scientific report on the growth of lettuce plants from Lesson 2.
- research ways that farms can disinfect shoes and equipment to prevent infections from spreading between farms.
- re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
- discuss how students were thinking and working like scientists during the lesson.