Learn about Kings Park bushland inhabitants and their habitats.
Kings Park is a very special place. It is home to many species of plants with over 3,000 species of the State’s unique flora growing in the Western Australian Botanic Garden.
Two thirds of the 400-hectare park is protected as bushland and provides a haven for native biological diversity as well as habitats for many animals.
Knowledge
One of our bushland residents is the bandicoot, known in Noongar as a quenda.
Watch 'Quenda Quest' video on YouTube
Would you like to learn even more about quendas? Read 'Quenda - Our Ecosystem Engineers' by Dr Gillian Bryant, a passionate science educator and ecologist from Nature Conservation Margaret River Region.
Action
Have a go at building an insect hotel. An insect hotel provides a habitat for insects which may increase the number of beneficial insects in the bushland, your garden or school yard. Check out the slideshow for inspiration.
View image slideshow
Materials:
- Decaying plant matter
- Dead wood
- Hollow stems
- Stones
- Dry grass
- Dry leaves
- Loose bark
- Dry sticks
Method:
- Choose a spot. To cater for as many insects as possible, select a location where some of the hotel will catch the sun and the rest in the shade of a tree or vegetation.
- Collect natural materials. The base of the hotel will ideally stay damp. Collect a mix of decaying plant matter, dead wood, hollow stems, stones, dry grass, dry leaves, loose bark and dry sticks.
- Build your insect hotel. Start with a solid base and build up the hotel with your collected natural materials.
- Plant some seeds. Plant native seedlings or sow seeds around the insect hotel to provide food for the butterflies and bees.
Notes:
- The decaying plant matter will attract centipedes and other bushland litter insects such as millipedes.
- Dead wood is an increasingly rare habitat and is essential for the larvae of wood-boring insects. It also supports many fungi which help to break down the woody material.
- Hollow stems such as old bamboo canes or holes drilled into blocks of wood, make good nesting sites for solitary bees.
- Amphibians need a frost-free place to spend the winter. Place stones in the centre of your hotel to give amphibians the cool, damp conditions they need.
- Dry grass and dry sticks provide many opportunities for invertebrates to burrow in and find safe hibernation sites.
- Dry leaves offer homes for a variety of invertebrates by mimicking the litter on the bushland floor.
- Beetles, centipedes, spiders and woodlice all lurk beneath decaying wood and loose bark.
Citizen
With your new skills and knowledge visit a site near your school to participate in a citizen science program.
- Butterflies Australia has an excellent app you can use to collect data that assists scientists to monitor the butterflies in our bushland.
- Look out for the Aussie Backyard Bird Count in October. Another great citizen science project to help monitor our native birds.
Cultural
Watch this short movie presented by Kings Park Education Officer Rickeeta Walley. Rickeeta is a proud Wadjuk Nyoongar yok (woman) with connections to seven of the 14 Nyoongar nations. She has a passion for Aboriginal language preservation and education.
Watch 'Barna Boodja' video on YouTube
Connection
We would love to hear from you and your class. Share your photos and findings with us via social media using the hashtag #STEMActionInKingsPark.
If your students have any questions email us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
View our other Primary School Bites activities and check out the other education programs we run here in Kings Park.
