The DEP has developed a range of classroom activities and an outdoor interpretive walk focused on saltmarsh and tidal flats with support from the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country. The material is most suitable for primary school students. A single classroom activity or the interpretive walk can be presented alone. However, the material has been designed to complement the interpretive walk, and if delivered together will enable students to gain a good understanding of the ecology and importance of saltmarsh and tidal flats to the broader estuary.
Classroom activities
Saltmarsh introduction Grades 1–10
The DEP website provides a general introduction to saltmarsh habitats in the Derwent Estuary. In small groups ask students to explore the website to answer a range of general exploratory questions.
Get the Saltmarsh introduction guide PDF.
They can get information and explore the interactive map on our saltmarsh and tidal flats page.
What animal is that? Grades 1–6
Students will learn about plant and animal species that are common to saltmarsh and tidal flats, and research the internet to find their niche, relationship with other organisms, and sensitivity to changes in their environment.
Get the What animal is that? activity PDF.
Discovery cards Grades 1–6
If planning an excursion to a saltmarsh or tidal flats (e.g. at Lauderdale or Old Beach) undertake this classroom activity before and after the field trip to promote scientific enquiry. Write questions about the habitat to be visited, revisit them in the field, and also when back in the classroom to see if they found the answers.
Get the Discovery cards activity PDF.
Create a food web and integrated diagram Grades 1–6
Within any ecosystem there is an intricate web of relationships between living things. Activity guidelines are provided for different age groups to guide student through the creation of their own food web to demonstrate how energy passes through an ecosystem and the feeding relationships between organisms.
Get the Create a food web activity PDF.
Outdoor activities
Lauderdale Saltmarsh Discover Trail (all ages)
This saltmarsh Discover Trail is walked along the Tangara Trail around the Lauderdale saltmarsh. The trail can take between 50 to 75 minutes with Discovery Point stops and activities. The guide contains information relevant to each Discovery Point along the trail. Activities listed below can be undertaken as park of this trail to further engage students/participants.
Get the Lauderdale Saltmarsh Discovery Trail guide.
Wildlife Detective Grades 1–4
At a local saltmarsh (e.g. at Lauderdale or Old Beach), students/participants can make sketches and take notes about what they find and where on a field sheet. By being a detective everyone can try and piece together the users of the saltmarsh by the traces they find. Clues may come in the form of footprints, feathers, shells, or maybe animal scats/poo.
Get the Wildlife detective activity PDF.
Sensory Exploration Grades 1–6
Animals found within saltmarshes and tidal flats use unique adaptations to survive within these harsh environments. By getting students to engage a range of senses while visiting a saltmarsh, they can broaden their perspective of saltmarshes and how animals survive in these wet and salty environments.
Get the Sensory exploration activity PDF.