1. Quick-fire brainstorm of as many animals as class can come up with that can be found in the Yandeyarra school grounds; write these on board.
2. Before you all go out into the school yard, discuss etiquette and safety rules of animal searching (see p14, Primary Science).
3. Run through animal categories on the ‘Animals in Your Ecosystem’ worksheet (might need to look up ‘mammal’  in the dictionary).
4. Get the ‘Animals in Your Ecosystem’ worksheet from Miss Tanya.
5. Instructions:
a. record every animal that you see during your observations – only write ones that you see;
b. you may search around (within reason) to find a greater range of animals;
c. try to sort your observed animals under the headings: mammals, fish, spiders, insects, birds, reptiles, and other;
d. (you can work with another classmate for this if you like – both students will need to complete your own sheet, though);
e. before returning to classroom, try to answer “why didn’t I see ________?” for any of the many individual species or even entire animal groups that you DIDN'T see – take into account things like time of day, climate, season etc.
6. Upon returning to the classroom, compare your list with those of other classmates: why the variations (if any)? Also, compare the class' lists against the brainstormed list from the start of the lesson. Why the differences? [this is where you can share ideas about the factors about why some animal types WERE there, and why others WEREN'T]

With thanks: 'Primary Science (G)' R.I.C. Publications.