FREE PRIMARY SCIENCE · Year 4
Dung beetles to the rescue
Who cleans up after the animals, and what happens when there is no clean-up crew?
Students find out why cow dung piled up in Australian paddocks and how CSIRO scientists and farmers used decomposers to fix it, read data from a dung beetle trial, then go on a school-yard hunt for decomposers and evidence of their work. All three lessons need only a screen or printout, paper and pencils (and the school yard for lesson 3).
3 free lessons · Australian Curriculum v9
Lessons in this topic
Each lesson includes a teacher plan and activities. Check its materials label before teaching.
The dung problem
Why did cow dung pile up in Australian paddocks, and what could fix it?
Open free interactive lesson →Did the beetles work?
What does the data show about dung beetles, dung pads and flies?
Open free interactive lesson →Clean-up crew hunt
Which decomposers live in our school yard, and what evidence of their work can we find?
Open free interactive lesson →
How to use these lessons
Choose a lesson to open its instructions, slides, student activities and printable resources. Browsing is free without an account. Saving class work requires approved teacher access.