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Materials
Student Worksheet: Understorey and Vegetation Structure, laminated aerial map of the school covered by a grid, whiteboard markers, calculator.
The activity
- Obtain an aerial map of the school. Your school may already have one, you may need to contact your local council or you may be able to use Google Earth. The Google Earth mapping tool is found at http://earth.google.com
- Enlarge the map to A3 size, photocopy several times and laminate them so they can be used multiple times. Mark each map with a uniform grid and count the number of squares in the grid covering the image of the school ground.
- Break the class into small groups and provide each group with a laminated aerial map of the school covered by a grid, whiteboard markers and a copy of the student worksheet.
- Assist students to shade in on the map the location of understorey in the school ground. Students should then use the 'Student Worksheet: Understorey and Vegetation Structure' to calculate the percentage cover of understorey in the school grounds, determine a habitat quality ranking and score, and make recommendations for improvement.
Note: in bushland habitats the optimal percentage cover of native understorey is >75%. However due to the greatly altered nature of the school ground and the mixture of land uses, the optimal percentage cover of understorey has been adjusted to > 25% to reflect this.
Suggested actions to improve understorey and vegetation structure:
Short term (this year): Plant native understorey plants, protect areas planted with understorey plants from trampling and damage, plan, create and design signs to place around the school ground explaining the importance of understorey. Long term (next 5 years): Set up native plant propagation and a greenhouse within the school to grow your own plants.
Discussion questions
- Were you surprised with the results? Why/why not?
- Why do you think that it is important to have understorey plants in the school ground?
- What types of animals do you think that planting understorey plants would encourage into the school ground?
References
Landcare Farming (2008) Landcare Online website. http://landcareonline.com/page.asp?pID=29
Related LandLearn activities
Biodiversity in Bushland, Community and Agricultural Landscapes and Bush Foods & Biodiversity activity booklets available on LandLearn Resource Booklets CD. Activities include 'Forest Storeys' and 'Bushfoods in the school yard'.
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Biodiversity Up Close - Worksheet
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