To help change the situation, RIRDC funded this research project which aimed to:
• develop a set of teaching tools based on arid zone ephemeral plant species;
• document the responses of the plants under study to a range of environmental parameters;
• develop a set of experimental procedures designed to demonstrate the plants’ responses to environmental factors; and
• develop a set of instructional materials to be used by plant biology teachers.
The research consisted of a series of experiments to evaluate the germination, growth and development of four species collected from the arid zone of western New South Wales.