Hollow Heroes

Did you know that over 340 Australian native animals call tree hollows home?

Presented by Abbie Mitchell, the author of A Hollow is a Home, this workshop will develop understanding of how an ecosystem works. Students explore the roles, adaptations and needs of an eclectic group of mammals, birds, reptiles & frogs, united in their dependence on a tree hollow.

Watch presenter Abbie Mitchell discuss her book A Hollow is a Home on the second episode of Curious Creatures, Wild Minds at Taronga. A Hollow is a Home is an excellent supporting resource for pre and post learning to this workshop, you can purchase a copy for your school here.

Please note: This is a special program run by Kids Connecting Nature and has a different format to other Botanic Gardens of Sydney excursion programs. For each 2 hour booking you will receive approximately 1.5 hours of face-to-face presentation and workshop, and approximately 30-minutes for a self-guided walk in the nearby gardens to look for tree hollows and evidence of animals. A map and other activity resources will be provided for the self-guided part of the excursion.

• View a fascinating display of items including hollows, and animal evidence (scats, tracks and traces) to stimulate curiosity and reinforce essential environmental themes
• Build a nest box for specific hollow-dependent species to be taken back to school with you (one per class)
• Explore the Garden looking for tree hollows and other evidence of animal habitats

• Describing the growth and survival of living things (diversity, needs, behaviour, interdependence and life cycles)
• Using key vocabulary to describe the unique adaptations of living things (structural and behavioural features)
• Exploring how sustainably managing environments benefits all living things.
• Responding to essential environmental themes appropriate to each stage
• Selecting appropriate materials to meet design criteria for making a nest box

Focus Syllabus Outcomes

Geography

• Places are similar and different (GE2 – 1,2,3)
• The Earth’s environment (GE2 – 1,2,3)
• Factors that shape places (GE3 – 1,2,3)

Science

• Living world (ST2-4LW-S, ST2- 2DP-T)
• Material world (ST2-2DP-T)
• Living world (ST3-2DP-T, ST3-4LW-S)
• Material world (ST3-2DP-T)