Program overview
How and why should humans look after the natural resources of soil and water?
“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." – Loren Eiseley
'Water Warriors' is a two-hour excursion designed to provide students with an understanding of how human behaviour can affect the health of our creeks and rivers. Through this, they will gain a sense of stewardship and see that we can use science in our daily lives to communicate the importance of our natural resources.
The day takes place at Enoggera Creek, where students will meet the 'Guardian of The Gap', who is seeking their help in protecting the area. In a 'Story of the River', students are introduced to the ways in which human activity can impact environments before local land use is examined on a satellite map. This information enables students to begin to consider how all of us might influence the quality of water in our city's precious creeks.
An erosion experiment further illustrates how sediment and other pollutants might make their way into the creek, and we consider what effect murky water may have on the living things reliant on the creek environment.
Later, two sites are compared to assess which is the healthier habitat and observations are used to justify judgements. This comparison is then used to suggest ways in which the least healthy site could be altered to improve the riparian environment and protect the quality of water in the creek.
After investigating and assessing the quality of the water, students play an engaging game of 'Healthy Waterways Hopscotch', which is designed to help them consider what effect human activity is having on the health of our waterways and what can be done by all of us to ensure that we maintain healthy creek systems.
The day concludes with a discussion about how students can become 'Water Warriors', by taking stewardship of their local creek, altering their own behaviours and sharing their newly acquired knowledge with friends and family.
Curriculum links
Risk Assessment - Year 2 - water warriors
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