Classroom
Drawing tools (pencils)
Scissors
Laptop/computer
Younger children may enjoy using natural materials when creating their drawings.
Older children may enjoy using 3D-design software to create their drawings. The class mural may be then composed in a virtual space.
Learning intention: Represent the Cumberland Plain Woodland by constructing a collaborative vegetation profile diagram.
Instructions:
Explore! Explore the woodland in 360º using the Virtual Woodland Wander and click on the hotspots to find out the plants and animals of the Cumberland Woodland.
Draw! Ask students to individually draw one feature of the Cumberland Plain Woodland they noticed from their exploration. This may be living or nonliving.
Write! Students create a label for their drawn feature, as well as 5 other labels of interesting features of the Cumberland Plain Woodland they encountered on the Virtual Woodland Wander. These may be living or nonliving.
Construct! Use students’ drawings to collaboratively construct a large mural of the Cumberland Plain Woodland in the classroom. Place trees in the canopy layer, shrubs in the understorey, grasses on the ground layer. Place animals in the vegetation layer in which they are found.
the canopy layer and lower tree canopy is used by bats, sugar gliders and larger birds
the understorey shrub layer is used by small birds for feeding and shelter
the ground cover layer is used by reptiles and invertebrates.
Label! Label the mural with the names of each vegetation layer, and key plant and animal species found in each layer. Students can add their own labels of any interesting features in the woodland.
Sample vegetation profile of Cumberland Plain Woodland to guide your mural:
Alternative task: Use the Virtual Woodland Wander to draw a vegetation profile diagram of the Cumberland Plain Woodland. Add labels, notes or sketches that indicate the animals that use the specific layers. Note how these animals use the different layers e.g. shelter, nesting, food.