Wet and Dry Environments

Stage 1 Program
Year 1

Castle Cove Public School

Overview:
This unit provides opportunities for students to explore life and features of wet and dry
environments. It allows children to focus on peoples interactions with and responsibilities
towards these environments. This unit is designed to be reinforced through the integration
of other KLAs. These include English (Writing, Guided Reading, Talking and Listening), ICT
and Creative Arts.
The outcomes are:
ENS1.5: Compares and contrasts natural and built features in their local area and the ways
in which people interact with these features.
ENS1.6: Demonstrates an understanding of the relationship between environments and
people.
These outcomes will be achieved through a series of learning sequences. These learning
sequences have been taken and adapted from the H.S.I.E Syllabus, together with the
indicators, these are listed on pp.72-74.
Assessment and Evaluation:
Teacher observations / anecdotal notes will be ongoing throughout the unit. These will
concentrate on group participation, effort, contribution to discussions, problem solving skills,
communication skills and achievement of unit outcomes. The teacher will record these as
well as dating and signing in the final column.

Week

Learning Activity

Assessment
and
Evaluation

- KLW chart What do the students know about various environments,

what do they want to know.
- As a class view the slides from the link below. Discuss and share
attributes of the different environments listed using the first 2 slides as a
prompt. Discuss attributes shown on the following slides, using the
images.
http://www.slideshare.net/sharris/wet-and-dry-environments-238719
- Youtube video to explain w/d env: Wet Dry Enviroments
by Anthonyhunt81
- Complete the title page for unit.

2-3

- What is an Environment?
Read along, play a game and watch an animation with the what is a
wet/dry environment on the following link:
http://www.skwirk.com.au/content/upload/Kiddies/HSIE/main.swf
- Use IWB, worksheets and clipboards to look at a map of Australia, locate
hot/dry areas and cooler/wet areas as a class.
-Introduce students to climate areas and names, (Desert, Ocean,
Rainforest, Wetland, Forest/ Dense Bush Areas, Grassland), matching
with photographs, identify and locate on map.
-Use brochures, magazines and newspapers to select images of built and
natural environments. Use these images to select and categorise these
environments as wet or dry.
- As a class, jointly identify all the wet and dry places in the local
area. Look at a map of Castle Cove (zoom in on a map of Australia using google
maps IWB). Prompt discussion by asking:
*Are there more wet or dry areas?
*Is our local area in a wet or dry part of Australia?
* How would you classify Castle Cove School?
* What features does it have because of its location in Australia?
- Using Castle Cove Public School as a reference point, create a
local map of the area using modeling materials (in groups). Students
must use geographical terminology to label their maps.
(Plastercine/ clay or other materials to make a 3D model of a map.)

- Explain that Australia is the driest continent in the world, yet has many

natural wetlands.
4

-Use the Wet and Dry Environments flashcards to revise and sort the
vocabulary related to the topic.
www.k-3teacherresources.com/wet-dry-environments.html#.UXjfe5EaySM
- Follow the lesson prompts on the following link:
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30168/wet-weather-in-cold-and-warmclimates?source=search
-Students write about and draw a picture of a rainy day where they live.
Make sure the children know how to draw clues to show what the weather
feels like.
-Have students read and share their work class discussion.

- Watch:
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30204/animals-that-like-wetweather?source=search
- Discuss answers to the question what do you think would happen if no
rain fell for a long time? How might animals change their behavior?
- Read through and discuss the 5 habitats as a class. Complete (where
possible) the Habitats Checklist Worksheet using orange for dry and wet
for blue Research together any unknown in ICT time.
Extension: Changes in habitats worksheet.

Watch:
http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/86152/how-plants-survive-in-differentplaces?source=search
Flora in Wet and Dry Environments.
-As a class student build an under water garden using underwater plants
and a dry garden using succulents and clay/sand. Have students select
locations around the classroom that provide the amount of sunlight the
plant would receive in its natural environment. Students observe and care
for these environments throughout the rest of the term.
-Students record this experiment in their books by writing sentences and
supporting them with labeled drawings.

7-8

-Use the link to learn about and discuss how people change the
environment, how our actions can ruin the environment and people in
wet and dry environments.
http://www.skwirk.com.au/content/upload/Kiddies/HSIE/main.swf
-Take a walk around the school or down to the Castle Cove Oval/bushland.
Students will investigate this local environment.

They will gather information through direct observation and secondary

Sources (photos, drawings, maps and diagrams).
They will be required to:
* locate the environment
* describe its features, animals, plants and people that occupy it
* explain the activities that people do
*discuss changes brought by humans or animals
*list the responsibilities for its care and,
*provide reasoning why the type of environment, wet or dry, has an
impact on what happens there.
-If possible an information report could be included here.
9

Talking and Listening Information talks.

Catch up and revision.

List of Texts:

At the Pool - Foundations 1 (Level 4), Macmillan, 1999

Aussie Outdoors (set) - Rigby English Middle Primary A, Rigby Heinemann, 1999
Depending on Each Other Unit - Insights series Level 2A, Rigby Heinemann,1996
Camping - Foundations 2, (Level 2), Macmillan, 1999
In the Desert - Momentum 1.1, Macmillan, 1999
Going Out - Foundations 1 (Level 4), Macmillan, 1999
Water - Gould League Environmental Studies
Habitat Communities - Primary Direct, Macmillan, 1999
Paddy's Island - Kemblawarra Primary School, Board of Studies NSW, 1996 (Big Mob Books For Little
Fullas kit)
Little Green Readers - Macmillan, 1999
Splish, Splosh, Splash (set) - Rigby Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1999
Splash (set), Rigby English Middle Primary A - Rigby Heinemann, 1999
The Bay Run - Foundations 1 (Level 4), Macmillan, 1999
The Trip To The Park - Foundations 1, (Level 7), Macmillan, 1999
Where Are You? - Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative College, Board of Studies NSW, 1996 (Big Mob
Books For Little Fullas kit)
Rain, Snow, Sunshine Wind, Watching the Weather - What is the Weather (series), Heinemann
Library, 1999
The Permaculture Courtyard - Wilcannia Central School, Board of Studies NSW, 1996 (Big Mob Books
For Little Fullas kit)
Partners - Atkinson, K., Insights Level 2A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996
Life In A Rotten Log - Atkinson, K., Allen and Unwin, 1995
Story of Rosy Dock - Baker, J., Random House, 1995
Working on Water - Blaxland, W., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann,1996
The Power of Water - Chapman, H., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann,1996
There's a Rainbow in the River - Cummings, P., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996 (Splish,
Splash, Splosh unit)
Autumn - Davis, S., and Evely, C., Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
Spring - Davis, S., and Evely, C., Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
Summer - Davis, S., and Evely, C., Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
The Dry - Davis, S., and Evely, C., Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
The Wet - Davis, S., and Evely, C.,Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
Winter - Davis, S., and Evely, C., Macmillan, 1998 (Outlook series)
Where Water Comes From - Drew, D., Addison Wesley Longman Australia, 1997 (Info Active)
The World - Drew, D., Addison Wesley Longman Australia, 1998 (Info Active)
The Lorax - Dr Seuss
Watching Every Drop - Gard, S., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996
Water for the World - Gard, S.,Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996
Making Maps - Kelly, A., Scholastic, 1997
Water - Keyt, T., Macmillan, 1998
Turtle Taxi - Kuchling, G., University of Western Australia Press, 1998
There Is No Water! - McVeity, J., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996
Life in the Mangroves, - Morrison, R., Insights Level 2A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996 (The Environment
and Us unit)
Splish, Splash, Splosh - Morrison, R., Insights Level 3A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996 (Big Book from
Splish, Splash, Splosh unit)
Waterways - Murdoch, K. and Ray, S., Macmillan, 1994 (Connections series) (ER)
Bridges - Nicholson, J., Scholastic, 1997
Wetlands - October, T., Hodder Children's Books Australia, 2000
What Are.....? (series) Lakes, Forests, Seas and Oceans, Rivers, Deserts, Mountains - Owen A. and
Ashwell, A., Heinemann Library, 1998
First Starts: Oceans, Pollution, Waste and Recycling, Animals in Danger - Palmer, J., Franklin Watts,
1991
City Mountains - Parker, J., Ashton Scholastic, 1995
The Environment and Us - Pritchett, J., Rigby Heinemann, 1996 (Big Book)
How Has It Changed? - (from Depending on Each Other unit), Pritchett, J., Insights Level 1A, Rigby
Heinemann,1996
My Home in the Universe - Pritchett, J., Insights Level 1A, Rigby Heinemann, 1996 (The Environment
and Us unit)
Lester and Clyde - Reece, J., Scholastic (reprint) 1997
Lester and Clyde Running Scared - Reece, J., Scholastic, 1995
Water for You - Sloan, P. and S., Macmillan, 1998 (Little Blue Readers series)

Geography Detective (series) - Deserts, Islands, Mountains, Rivers and Valleys, Grasslands,
Rainforests, Seas and oceans, Tundra - Sauvin P. and Steele P., Heinemann Library, 1997
Under the Sea - Talbot, F., Allen and Unwin, 2000
The Deep - Winton, T., Freemantle Arts Centre Press, 1998