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Science and Technology K–6 · Years 1–2

Which side do snails choose: damp or dry

Living World (NSW 2017); Science understanding, Biological sciences (ACARA v9)

PracticalLow risk

The idea

An animal moves to the conditions its body needs, and a choice chamber lets the animal show its need.

Safety card

Low riskAn adult supervises

Hazards

  • Snails can carry rat lungworm (NSW Health); snails escaping

Controls

  • Hands washed well after handling; snails returned the same day; tray watched

Note

Live animals: the 2017 syllabus Animal Welfare section and the NSW Department of Education science safety and compliance page (which points to the Animals in Schools site) apply; return every animal to where it was found. Record the activity on Primary School RiskAssess (riskassess.com.au).

What you need

  • A shallow tray 40 cm by 30 cm with a line across the middle
  • Damp paper towel on one half, dry paper towel on the other
  • Six garden snails collected that morning and kept in a ventilated container with a lettuce leaf
  • A timer; a tally sheet for counts at 2, 5 and 10 minutes

How to do it

  1. Place all six snails on the middle line, three facing each way.
  2. Start the timer. Do not touch the tray.
  3. At 2, 5 and 10 minutes count how many snails are on the damp half and how many on the dry half.
  4. Swap the sides (damp half now on the other side) and run again, so the choice is not about the room's light.
  5. Return the snails to the garden.

What you should see

Active snails tend to move onto and stay on the damp half; snails left on the dry half often withdraw into their shells. The counts at 2, 5 and 10 minutes in both runs are the class's result, and swapping the sides shows whether the choice follows the damp towel rather than the room. If the snails stay in their shells and do not move, the run tells nothing: mist them lightly, wait for them to come out and run it again. The learner knows it worked when both runs were counted at the same three times and the class can say whether the damp half held more snails in each run.

What changes

What you change
condition of the half (damp or dry)
What you measure
number of snails on each half at 2, 5 and 10 minutes
What you keep the same
  • same six snails
  • same tray
  • sides swapped for the second run
  • no handling during the run

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

  • Snails wander randomly.
  • Snails like water because they swim.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), NESA. Current syllabus; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare, 2027 start teaching the 2024 syllabus. Code read from the official syllabus document on 2026-09-22.ST1-4LW-SST1-1WS-S
  • Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), NESA. Implementation from 2027, so this code describes the future syllabus. Code read from the outcomes page on 2026-09-22.ST1-SCI-01ST1-PQU-01
  • Australian Curriculum v9AC9S1U01AC9S1I01AC9S1I02AC9S1I03AC9S1I04AC9S1I05

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

  1. www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=AC9S1U01
  2. www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/curriculum/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2017
  3. primaryconnections.org.au/v84-sequences/schoolyard-safari
  4. education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/science/science-safety-and-compliance
  5. www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Pages/rat-lung-worm.aspx

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