Nature Play QLD BioBlitz

Four easy steps to become scientists with the Nature Play QLD BioBlitz!

 

1. Create an iNaturalist Account (for your class or an individual account).      

2. Join the Nature Play QLD BioBlitz Project.     

3.  Take photos of living things (plants and animals) in your local area or school.     

4. Upload your photos and have them verified by the citizen science community!

 

The Nature Play QLD BioBlitz spans the entire state of Queensland – getting as many kids involved as possible so we can work together to collect scientific data. The best bit is it can be done every day of the year, wherever you are!

 

A BioBlitz is a period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area. This helps researchers and scientists paint a concise picture of living organisms all over Australia.

 

This is a program open to primary schools, early childhood centres, OSHCs, home schools, daycares and even parents at home. We wanted outdoor learning to be as inclusive as possible. The Nature Play QLD BioBlitz is designed to help our kids become part of something a lot bigger than their own classroom or backyard and really entrench a love of collaboration.

 

JOIN THE NATURE PLAY QLD BIOBLITZ! 

 

EDUCATION RESOURCES

We have put together a guide for educators and parents on how to participate in the Nature Play QLD BioBlitz. We also have lesson plans mapped to the Australian Curriculum and the Early Years Learning Framework, as well as some fun and easy ideas on getting you bioblitz started.

 

EDUCATORS’ AND PARENTS’ GUIDES

These are some handy guides for educators and parents on what iNaturalist is and how to use it.

 

WHAT IS INATURALIST   DOWNLOAD INATURALIST GUIDE   MAKE AN OBSERVATION ON INATURALIST

 

LESSON PLANS

These lesson plans are a great way to start your BioBlitz journey. All year levels are mapped to the Australian Curriculum and the pre-kindy and kindy plans are mapped to the Early Years Learning Framework. Click the level relevant to you to download the lesson plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IDEAS ON BIOBLITZ ACTIVITIES

We have put together a list of fun activities you can use to conduct your bioblitz.

 

BIOBLITZ LEARNING WITH DATA IDEAS

 

GELATIN LENSES

This is a brilliant experiment! You can make your own magnifying lens out of gelatin for your iPad or smartphone. This is great to get right up close to those small critters or the fine detail of a leaf. Check out the video on the process, or head to the Double Helix site from CSIRO for more detailed instructions and a rundown of what scientific processes are happening. It’s like a science experiment in itself!

ATLAS OF LIVING AUSTRALIA

The Atlas of Living Australia provides a great resource, especially for older kids, to further their research. The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is a collaborative, digital, open infrastructure that pulls together Australian biodiversity data from multiple sources, making it accessible and reusable.

 

The ALA helps to create a more detailed picture of Australia’s biodiversity for scientists, policy makers, environmental planners and land managers, industry and the general public, and enables them to work more efficiently.

 

It is an essential resource for:

• biodiversity, conservation, and environmental monitoring.
• sustainable ecosystem development.
• new species’ discoveries.
• systematics (relationships between living things).
• taxonomy (naming and classification).
• digitisation of biological collections.
• natural resource management and environmental impact assessments.
• ecoscience education and citizen science activities.

VISIT THE ATLAS OF LIVING AUSTRALIA

 

iNATURALIST RESOURCES

You’ll find everything you need here to get the most out of iNaturalist and become citizen scientists.