VCE Biology Excursion to Queenscliff

As part of VCE Biology Unit 2: Ecosystems, the class travelled to Queenscliff to explore different marine life in the region. Facilities at the Marine and Freshwater Discovery Centre gave students the opportunity to pick up and touch sea creatures, as well as further examine sea worm tube colonies in a laboratory.

At the touch tank, students interacted with abalone, star fish, sea urchins, and crabs. The class was also treated to a feeding of seahorses and learnt of their unique reproduction process, whereby females deposit eggs into a male’s pouch.

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“While the rain kept us inside, it was so much fun to see all the marine life active in Port Philip Bay, such as touch crabs, sea urchins, and starfishes.”
Arabella D (Year 11)

“I really enjoyed feeling the different creatures, especially the starfish, as we watched it use its feet to flip itself over. In the Discovery Centre’s laboratory, we explored a section of tube worms. We worked in groups to break about the clumps of tube worms and find other creatures living in the environment, such as bristle worms and clams. It was interesting to see these creatures suddenly appear from the section of tube worms.”
Madeleine K (Year 11)

An incredibly diverse community of animals can be found living amongst a colony of native tube worms. Students investigated this community in the Discovery Centre’s laboratory, discussing the structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations needed for survival. Each student group was provided a tube colony to investigate the diverse community of organisms that share the worm colony. The numbers of the different organisms found by each group, were collated as a class, to obtain a snapshot of the community and discuss the food web relationships. This activity strengthened the students’ understanding of food webs and energy transfer. Following the study, the organisms were fed to the larger fish in the display aquariums.

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“I enjoyed the hands-on experiences, such as the touch tank and the in-depth examination of the tube worms, as well as seeing how live marine animals feed, reproduce and survive. This experience assisted in bringing to life the knowledge that we learnt in our biology classes at school and helped me understand the real-life application of the knowledge better.”
Elaine Y (Year 11)

What an exciting day out for our Year 11 Biology class!