Legend

Unit embeds Design and Technologies
Unit incorporates Indigenous perspectives

We need them, but do they need us? Delve into the life of plants, look closely at what they need to survive, and how that compares to the needs of animals.

Air, food, water, shelter. This unit explores how animals, including humans, use their senses to find what they need to survive.

It's party time! Explore the observable properties of materials and how these properties influence the way a material is used. Design and create a party hat that can be worn in the sun or the rain.

What's the school made of? Explore the observable properties of objects in the school environment. Apply this understanding to design and create an object for the school that can survive outdoors.

People like to move it, move it. Toys like to move it, move it. How do they move? Which forces make objects move? Explore the factors, including size and shape, that affect how an object moves and look closely at how far objects can roll depending on their shape.

Clouds, temperature changes, wind and rain; explore how the weather and temperature influences our daily decisions, culminating in a weather report at the end of the unit.

My, what big teeth you have… Find out how the physical features of dinosaurs and other animals help them meet their basic survival needs. Use this new understanding to design a defence against a dinosaur attack!

Earthworms, snails, ants. How are they similar and different? Examine the habitats and external features of small animals to see how their basic needs are met.

Some things can be bent, some things can be stretched, some things can be folded, some things can be cut... How a material can be changed depends on what it’s made of. Explore how everyday materials can be physically changed.

Everyday materials can be changed in a variety of ways, and what’s more ‘everyday’ than food? Explore how heating and cooling creates physical changes to the observable properties of food.

Light and sound are all around us. What produces light and sound? Can you feel sound? Does sound travel through things? Do we need light to see? Are two eyes better than one? Let’s use our senses to explore light and sound.

Changes to the land and sky occur all the time - what do you see from day to day? Observe and investigate the effects of human interaction on the school environment.

Look out your window - do you notice a constantly changing world? The Sun rises and sets and the sky reflects many different hues over a day. Students sharpen their observation skills by conducting investigations in the school yard.

Animals grow, change and have offspring similar to themselves… In this unit, watch a mealworm grow and explore how animals grow and change.

Solids with solids, solids with liquids, liquids with liquids - which can be mixed together? How can the mixtures be used? And once they’re all mixed up, can they be separated again? Explore how materials are combined for different purposes.

The dominoes falling pushes the marble… The marble lands in the spoon and raises it… The spoon flips the switch… Ever seen a Rube Goldberg machine in action? In this unit explore the forces of push and pull and apply understanding to design your very own Rube Goldberg machine!

Pushing and pulling, and floating and sinking - how are they related? In this unit learn about the forces of push and pull and how they work in water and in the air.

Inquire about the ways we use one of Earth’s most precious resources - water. Explore the movement of water throughout the school and across a landscape. Investigate use of water in different occupations, and suggest responsible management of water at school and beyond.

Is it living or not living? Is it a plant or an animal? Explore how we group things together based on their observable features, to help us figure out what everything is!

Put the ice-blocks in the cupboard and the chocolate in the oven… Wait, what? That doesn’t sound right! Let’s investigate how adding and removing heat can change something from a solid to a liquid and back again, and never accidentally put your chocolate in the oven again!

If I hold something cold in my hands, why does it warm up? Where does the heat come from? And when I turn on the heater, where does the heat actually come from? Investigate how heat is produced, which objects make their own heat, and how heat is transferred.

What causes night and day? The rising of the Sun and the Moon are daily reminders of the awe and wonder, beauty and power of the universe. Studying the relationships between the Sun, Earth and Moon helps us understand how we experience day and night on Earth.

Give me a home among the gum trees, with koalas and honey bees…In this unit find out about the life cycle of Australia’s majestic eucalypts and the animals that depend on them.

Bees need flowers, and flowers need bees… In this unit find out about how flowers rely on animals to germinate and help disperse their seeds and how animals depend on plants for food.

We depend on plants for the oxygen we breathe, many foods, fibres, building materials, medicines and fuels, and for the pleasures of beautiful flowers. Agriculture, horticulture, forestry, conservation of natural habitats and gardening all require an understanding of plants.

We are living in a material world, and those materials have a range of physical properties that influence their use. Investigate the properties of things we use everyday and apply understanding to investigate how materials keep things warm.

Everyday, more and more packages are being sent around the world. In the context of design, explore the properties of materials that make them suitable for packaging, and construct a package strong enough to protect a fragile gift.

Can you feel the pull? It’s like an invisible force. It’s magnetic! In this unit, explore magnets and the force fields they create. Investigate what is attracted to magnets and how far a magnetic field extends. Apply understanding to design and create a game that uses magnetic forces.

Every single thing on Earth, living and non-living, can be affected by this external influence. It can change the motion, direction and shape of anything, by direct contact and even from afar! It’s force of course - pushes and pulls! Explore friction, gravity and compare how different sized forces can affect an object.

We live in a world that is constantly changing. Even things that might be considered immovable such as mountains or rocks are gradually changing. Create miniature landscapes to explore the impacts of natural processes and human activity.

Some animals are suited to live in the desert and other animals are suited for a forest home… In this unit, explore the structural features and adaptations that help an animal survive in its environment.

Solids, liquids, and gases - they are literally everywhere! What are their properties and how do they behave? Explore exactly that in this unit, and take a closer 'look' at air and how temperature can change its properties.

Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted. In this unit, conduct investigations that explore these ideas and discover the amazing behaviour of light for yourself.

Humans have always looked with wonder at the movement of celestial bodies in the sky. Investigate movement, size and scale by creating 3D models of the solar system.

Yeast is yummy and mould is medicinal… In this unit take a closer look at how the growth and survival of these tiny organisms are dependent upon the right conditions, and how humans have harnessed them to help.

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink… Why? Because it’s salt water of course! In this unit, investigate how salinity affects the growth of plants and examine what that may mean for the environment.

What a mess! Someone’s left out frozen milk, smeared melted chocolate around, spilt white crystals everywhere and what’s that smell? Investigate the elements of the mess scene and find out exactly what’s happening!

Electricity - where would we be without it? It powers almost everything we use. But how does an electrical circuit work? Why does it need a switch? How is electricity generated, transferred and transformed?

Investigate energy, how it is created and how it is transferred and transformed and foil the evil plans of Professor Pitch Black and her sidekick Short Circuit!

On average, a volcanic eruption occurs somewhere on Earth each week! Volcanic eruptions are often seen as devastating events, but they are also instrumental in providing rich fertile soils and mineral deposits.

Strong earthquakes can affect millions of lives by causing buildings to collapse, destroying roadways, and affecting basic necessities such as water supply. But did you know that the majority of earthquakes are barely noticed?