About
The biodiversity of an ecosystem often reflects its health and resilience to environmental change. The Narran Lakes system is known as a boom and bust system – when the lakes flood, the biodiversity booms and when it dries, the life in the area declines, or busts. For this topic, students in Years 5-8 will apply the Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM) to investigate the biodiversity in their school. Our teacher guide provides clear explanations of each IRM stage: Connecting with Country, On‑Country learning, Recording Knowledge, Toolmaking, and Reflection, while linking directly to the classroom presentation and student workbook. Together, these resources aim to help teachers confidently deliver meaningful, place‑based science education grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems.
The Indigenous Research Methodology resource collection was funded by and created in collaboration with the Drought Resilience Research team, Professor Bradley Moggridge from the University of Technology Sydney and the Narran Lakes Aboriginal Joint Management Committee.
Before you start
Respecting Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property
Please note that Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) is embedded within these Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (‘STEM’) Education Resources (the ‘Resources’). ICIP includes the knowledge and cultural heritage of Indigenous people, such as artwork, music, stories, language, and cultural objects and practices. For further information about how CSIRO protects ICIP, see Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Principles - CSIRO.
Use of ICIP for educational outreach only
These Resources are for high school educators or secondary school students to support Indigenous STEM. These Resources have been published with the permission of the ICIP owners and with certain conditions on their use. This is to assert the ownership, authority and control of the ICIP owners over their ICIP and associated rights as embedded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – Article 31
Cultural Considerations
An eLearning course designed to guide educators and STEM professionals in building inclusive learning environments through cultural awareness and community engagement.
Teacher guide
Teacher guide
The IRM Biodiversity teacher guide serves as the central planning and instructional resource, providing educators with background knowledge, classroom discussion prompts, structured activity steps and safety considerations that frame the entire biodiversity investigation. It outlines each IRM stage in detail while explicitly linking these stages to the corresponding slides in the classroom presentation and the associated pages in the Student Workbook.
Student and teacher resources
Classroom presentation
This classroom-ready presentation introduces the IRM to students and explores biodiversity through the context of your school. Through On-Country observations, Dreaming stories, and hands‑on biodiversity investigations, students will build scientific skills while deepening their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems through this presentation and accompanying resources. Use it in your classroom to lesson plan, explore key ideas through discussion and initiate a hands-on investigation.
Classroom presentation PowerPoint
Student workbook
The student workbook guides students through connecting with Country, conducting a field investigation, recording observations, and reflecting on their findings. Everything you need is built-in, including planners, investigation templates, testing procedures, reflection prompts, and engaging hands‑on activities.
The student worksheets have been designed for printing.
Student workbook - accessible version
About
The biodiversity of an ecosystem often reflects its health and resilience to environmental change. The Narran Lakes system is known as a boom and bust system – when the lakes flood, the biodiversity booms and when it dries, the life in the area declines, or busts. For this topic, students in Years 5-8 will apply the Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM) to investigate the biodiversity in their school. Our teacher guide provides clear explanations of each IRM stage: Connecting with Country, On‑Country learning, Recording Knowledge, Toolmaking, and Reflection, while linking directly to the classroom presentation and student workbook. Together, these resources aim to help teachers confidently deliver meaningful, place‑based science education grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems.
The Indigenous Research Methodology resource collection was funded by and created in collaboration with the Drought Resilience Research team, Professor Bradley Moggridge from the University of Technology Sydney and the Narran Lakes Aboriginal Joint Management Committee.
Before you start
Respecting Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property
Please note that Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) is embedded within these Indigenous Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (‘STEM’) Education Resources (the ‘Resources’). ICIP includes the knowledge and cultural heritage of Indigenous people, such as artwork, music, stories, language, and cultural objects and practices. For further information about how CSIRO protects ICIP, see Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Principles - CSIRO.
Use of ICIP for educational outreach only
These Resources are for high school educators or secondary school students to support Indigenous STEM. These Resources have been published with the permission of the ICIP owners and with certain conditions on their use. This is to assert the ownership, authority and control of the ICIP owners over their ICIP and associated rights as embedded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) – Article 31
Cultural Considerations
An eLearning course designed to guide educators and STEM professionals in building inclusive learning environments through cultural awareness and community engagement.
Cultural Considerations eLearn Module [Link will open in a new window]
Teacher guide
Teacher guide
The IRM Biodiversity teacher guide serves as the central planning and instructional resource, providing educators with background knowledge, classroom discussion prompts, structured activity steps and safety considerations that frame the entire biodiversity investigation. It outlines each IRM stage in detail while explicitly linking these stages to the corresponding slides in the classroom presentation and the associated pages in the Student Workbook.
Student and teacher resources
Classroom presentation
This classroom-ready presentation introduces the IRM to students and explores biodiversity through the context of your school. Through On-Country observations, Dreaming stories, and hands‑on biodiversity investigations, students will build scientific skills while deepening their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems through this presentation and accompanying resources. Use it in your classroom to lesson plan, explore key ideas through discussion and initiate a hands-on investigation.
Classroom presentation PowerPoint PPTX (245 MB)
Student workbook
The student workbook guides students through connecting with Country, conducting a field investigation, recording observations, and reflecting on their findings. Everything you need is built-in, including planners, investigation templates, testing procedures, reflection prompts, and engaging hands‑on activities.
The student worksheets have been designed for printing.
Student workbook - accessible version TXT (16 KB)