A day among the trees

By Miss Kirsten Waddell, Junior School teacher

On Tuesday, 30 April the Year 3 students went on an excursion to the Australian National Botanic Gardens. In their How We Organise Ourselves Unit of Inquiry the students have learned about mapping and recently explored the climate map of Australia.

Their excursions to the Botanic Gardens provided the opportunity to explore the native flora our country has to offer as they toured ‘around Australia in an hour’. Under the guidance of the educators at the Botanic Gardens the Year 3 students learned about the different plants that grow in each climate zone, before having some time to choose one area of the garden to learn more about, sketching the plants and describing the way the flora looks in that climate zone.

Upon returning to school, students from 3KW reflected on their time at the Gardens, describing the excursion and highlighting their favourite parts.

We went to the Botanic Gardens and we looked at the climate zones like desert, rainforests and grasslands The first one I looked at was the grasslands known as the Banksia plants. We thought there would be lots of grass, but it was all rocks. Next, we went to the desert. In the desert there was a big statue of a Thorny devil. The tour guide told us about how it can disguise itself to not get eaten. The rainforest we did not have time for but there was lots of moss trees and lots of shade and I know there is mist. After we did that, we went to eat food and we played tips until we left there. Also there was this very cool small river, and then we left on the bus. – Riley, 3KW

At the Botanic Gardens we saw different climate plants, for example, we saw the desert section. At the desert section we saw lots of red sand. My favourite part with the red sand is if you rub it in your hands, your hands turn red! Next, we went to the rainforest and we saw fake mist and it was fun to walk in! – Anastasia, 3KW

At the Botanic Gardens there were about 8000 varieties of flowers, plants and trees! Not only that, the climate zones are arid, desert, grasslands, temperate rainforest and wetland. All of these zones are all in the Botanic Gardens! So, you should come to the Botanic Gardens. – Kieran, 3KW

It was a fantastic day which all of the students and teachers enjoyed. Year 3 classes will continue to learn about climate zones this term and the natural flora and fauna that thrives in each.