Download Teaching with Apps: Australian Curriculum (Science) Teaching with

Teaching with Apps: Australian Curriculum (Science)
Teaching with Apps: Australian Curriculum (Science): Year 7
Biological Sciences: There are differences within and between groups of organisms;
classification helps organise this diversity
Elaborations

Considering the reasons for classifying such as identification and communication

Grouping a variety of organisms on the basis of similarities and differences in
particular features

Considering how biological classifications have changed over time

Classifying using hierarchical systems such as kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, species

Using scientific conventions for naming species

Using provided keys to identify organisms surveyed in a local
habitat
Teaching with Apps: Linking GrowsAtGriffith to the ACS
elaborations
With over 300 species of plants and 900 high quality images,
GrowsAtGriffith allows students to clearly view the structural features
and adaptations of plants, particularly Australian plants.
These year 7 curriculum elaborations align perfectly with the aims of
GrowsAtGriffith. Using the extensive high resolution photos and the written information,
students can directly explore similarities and difference within and between groups of plants.
The scientific classifications of all plants are given so the students can compare the words
used to classify each plant and compare and contrast these terms. Students can compare and
contrast the physical appearances of plants and observe patterns. Specifically, students can
investigate the scientific names of plants and use the pictures to identify patterns within and
between plants of the same categories. Students can explore the shape, size and colour of
Australian native leaves, flowers, fruits and nuts or read and explore the written descriptions
of the ecosystems to which the plant belongs. Students can look at pictures from similarly
classified plants and/or compare and contrast the visual features of specific plants (leaf and
flower shape or colour, plant height or size) and read the descriptions to identify patterns
within and between the various scientific named plants. This provides a practical example for
student to understand how classification schemes help to organise and categorise native and
non-native plants.
Teaching with Apps: Navigating the GrowsAtGriffith App
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Open the app to the Welcome Page and in the top left corner type the name of a group of
plants, for example ‘Wattle’ into the search box (a).
A list of species of wattles will automatically appear below the search box (b).
Open one species of wattle by clicking on the name, for example Prickly Moses Wattle.
A profile about the plant will appear to the right, explore the description and the
photographs (c).
Pay particular attention to the scientific name of the plant. Continue to use the search box
to identify all of the plants identified as wattles.
b
a
c
Teaching with Apps: Notes for Teachers
GrowsAtGriffith provides a strong starting point for students to investigate the scientific
classifications of plants, compare visual characteristics of plants within the same category and
investigate the ecosystems in which plants of the same categories belong.