Secondary

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Penguin Parade

Learn about the lives of little penguins on land and at sea, and discover how our rangers are protecting them.

Years: 7 to 9 Duration: 2 to 3 hours Location: Penguin Parade

An award winning program recognized by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in the 2010 Maths and Science Excellence Awards.
In the unique Maths Matter program students are given access to the world’s longest running little penguin data set.

What does the program include?

• Weigh, scan and measure using real research equipment
• Investigate penguin profiles with weights of adults and growth data of penguin chicks
• Examine penguin chicks weights at hatch
• Graph adult bill depths to determine male from female
• Map penguin foraging trips.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Koala Conservation Centre

Take a guided tour of the Koala Conservation Centre where your students will learn about koalas in their natural environment.  
This ranger led activity focuses on the koala’s special features, their threats and how the Nature Parks assists in maintaining a healthy koala population.

Years: 9 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Koala Conservation Centre

Meet the koalas face to face on the tree top boardwalks and discover how they have adapted to their environment.
Learn about koala threats and how the Nature Parks is involved in the research and conservation of the koala population on Phillip Island. Students view current management strategies at the Koala Conservation Centre and create their own evaluation for future management of the area.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Koala Conservation Centre

Visit the Koala Conservation Centre after dark and meet the amazing nocturnal animals of our Australian bush.  Learn about the special features that help these animals survive and how we can protect them.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1.5 hours Location:Smiths or Summerlands beach

Explore Phillip Island’s rocky platforms and amazing rockpool creatures with the help of our expert rangers. Perform a quadrat analysis to discover where on the platform the different creatures call home. Investigate the special features, biology and threats facing these special animals and plants.
Extension activity: Students make comparisons between Smiths and Summerlands beach -  two beaches with different levels of human impact.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Smiths or Summerland beach

Through games and investigation students contribute to a national marine debris survey.
Help our rangers protect iconic marine species such as little penguins, Australian fur seals and short-tailed shearwaters. Discover the effects of pollution on our environment and protect local wildlife by surveying the beach.
Extension activity: Using the marine plastics collected during the program, students create art works to showcase their understanding of marine debris.    
Duration: 1 hour Location: School camps or Penguin Parade

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1.5 hours Location: various Phillip Island beaches

Some animals have 11 arms, others leave a trail of slime!
Join a ranger and explore the incredible marine life found on Phillip Island’s rock platforms. You will be amazed by the creatures you discover, their habitat, special features and how they survive in an ever changing environment.

Years: 9 to 10 Option 1: Field based – (30min presentation, 45min outdoors Penguin parade, 45min outdoor Summerlands) Option 2: Lecture based – (1 hour presentation, 1 hour outdoors Penguin Parade) Duration: 2 hours Location: Penguin Parade

How does Phillip Island Nature Parks manage its 500,000 visitors each year while protecting one of Victoria’s largest penguin colonies?

Students investigate how the Penguin Parade has changed over time from European settlement through to the present day. Students view current Penguin Parade management strategies and create their own evaluation for future management of the area. 

Years 9 to 10 Duration: 2 hours Location: Penguin Parade

Learn how the genetic research undertaken by scientists at Phillip Island Nature Parks is applied in the field to solve management questions.

During this ranger led activity, students will explore the role that DNA and genetic inheritance play in little penguin and red fox population management within Phillip Island Nature Parks.

Years: 9 to 10 Duration: 2 hours Location: Fishers Wetland – Churchill Island

Kayak along the edge of Churchill Island Marine National Park for an adventurous experience of Phillip Island’s wetlands and important marine habitats.
Students examine the unique properties of the waterway and its surroundings. Local and economic issues surrounding the park are also analysed during this ranger led activity.

Years 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour+ Location: Churchill Island Heritage Farm

Students travel back in time with a ranger to investigate the characters of Churchill Island – discover the story behind Samuel Amess’s cannon, learn about John Rogers the potato farmer and meet the gentle Clydesdale horses.

Program may also include demonstrations of sheep shearing, blacksmithing, working dogs and cow milking. Old time activities such as butter churning, bakers oven and old time games can be included on request.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: Fishers Wetland

Wetlands filter our water and provide a vital habitat for plant and animals.

In this hands on ranger led activity students explore the creatures living in our wetlands and the features that help these animals survive. Students then determine if the water is clean and how they can protect wetlands in their local area.

Years: 7-10 Duration: 1.5 hours Location: Rhyll Inlet

Phillip Island is home to wetlands of international significance.
Explore the wetlands with our rangers and discover the amazing plants and animals that inhabit them. Investigate how these creatures survive in the mangrove environment and how important mangroves are to our oceans.
Program can also include a wetland related game looking at the wetland birds and how they catch their prey. 

Years: 7 to 8 Duration: 1 hour Location: school camps

Our rangers come to you!
We’ll visit your school camp location and introduce your students to Phillip Island’s wildlife through storytelling and role playing.
With the use of taxidermed animals, your students will learn all about our native plants and animals and how they can protect them.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: the Nobbies Centre

Join rangers on this truly amazing exploration of the creatures that call Nobbies home. You may see penguins, crested turns, silver gull chicks, snakes and blue tongue lizards. This ranger led activity includes exploration of the Nobbies cliff top boardwalks and views of Australia fur seals through remotely operated seal cameras located in the seal colony.

Years: 7 to 10 Duration: 1 hour Location: the Nobbies Centre

The colony of Australian fur seals at Seal Rocks is now one of the largest in Australia. Use cameras to view the playful seals and discover their special features, biology and behaviours. Learn about the latest research being conducted and how this has changed our understanding of this species. 

Years: 10 Duration: 2 hours Location: Nobbies Centre and boardwalks

Discover how geological and coastal processes have shaped the Nobbies coastline, and view how humans have utilised the area from Indigenous to European settlement.