Around Our School
iSea iCare Marine Ambassadors Third Workshop
On Friday, 4 September, our iSea iCare Marine Ambassadors participated in their third workshop at Narambi Wetlands in Mornington. The workshop brought together students from St Brendan’s and six other local schools and was led by educators from the Dolphin Research Institute in Hastings.
With beautiful sunny weather, it was a wonderful day for our students to learn outdoors and represent St Brendan’s. The workshop focused on an important question: How can the choices we make each day impact marine life?
The students explored the important connection between our inland environments and the bays through waterways and stormwater drains. They discovered that what happens in our homes, school and local community can eventually make its way into our waterways and have an impact on marine ecosystems. By observing the local litter trap, the students saw firsthand how rubbish and other pollutants can travel through our drainage systems and into our waterways.
The Ambassadors also investigated the diversity of invertebrates living within the wetlands. Using nets, they collected a variety of small aquatic creatures and examined them closely. They learnt that different invertebrates have different levels of tolerance to water pollution, providing valuable clues about the health of the wetland environment.
Another highlight of the workshop was learning about the many species of frogs that call the wetlands home. Students listened to recordings of different frog calls and used identification charts to determine which species they could hear. It was a fun and engaging way to discover more about the wildlife living right on our doorstep.
Our iSea iCare Marine Ambassadors thoroughly enjoyed the experience and represented St Brendan’s with enthusiasm and pride. The workshop provided a wonderful opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of how our everyday choices can protect our waterways, wetlands and marine environments.
5/6V Tiddalick the Frog
In 5/6V, we read Tiddalick the Frog as a class and discussed the characters, events, setting and important messages in the story through a religious lens. We considered how the story encouraged us to think about our responsibility to care for creation, share with others and consider how our actions can affect the wider community. Students shared their ideas and made connections between the events in the story and values such as kindness, responsibility and respect. We used evidence from the text to support our answers and opinions when completing comprehension questions, referring to specific details and events to explain our thinking.
