Wetland Diorama Instructions

This activity is designed to give you the opportunity to build a wetland and learn to distinguish between natural environments and recognize the uniqueness of their environment.

Below are the instructions on how to build a wetland diorama as a small scale replica of the Western Swamp Tortoise’s natural habitat.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A box the size of a large shoebox Cardboard e Glue

 Scissors

Drawing and colouring materials (paints, pencils, textas, crayons)  Junk equipment e.g. old milk or juice cartons, cotton wool, card, paper, pop sticks, toothpicks, foil

• Pebbles, sand, rocks, grass, twigs etc Green cellophane

HOW TO MAKE IT

• Think about the things that you would find in a wetland and decide how you want the overall look to be.
• Draw the plants and animals that you want onto the cardboard, colour them in and then cut them out.
• Create a shallow, water-proof container by cutting out the bottom of a milk carton, or a small plastic container (this is to be used as a wetland) and covering with cellophane.
• Take the cardboard cut-outs and place them throughout your diorama. Glue the shallow container to the base and put the green cellophane in it to represent water. Glue a thin layer of sand or soil on the bottom. place it in the sand and fill it up with water to create a wetland. Glue small pebbles, rocks, grass, etc throughout the diorama to give it a more

natural appearance.

Western Swamp Tortoise 2005                                                56