Sustainability

Year 3 Kitchen Garden

Our final session today focused on the countries Ireland and England. Students were led to consider the impact of English and Irish migration on Australia, particularly with the arrival of the First Fleet. English and Irish influences on food can be demonstrated with our recipe of the day - Shepherd's Pie. Our twist on this oldie but a goodie was making mini pies using bread as a base. Our bread cup Shepherd's Pies were delicious and quite easy to make - especially with so many hands on board. 

In the garden we explored the concept of the green house effect. We discussed the natural greenhouse effect that keeps our planet at an ideal temperature and how the impact of pollution created by people causes our climate to change. We came up with a slogan: People made the pollution, so people have to find the solution. 

Using plastic punnets and cardboard cylinders, the students create a mini greenhouse environment for lettuce plants. They sowed seeds into the cylinders filled with soil, and will monitor their growth over the next few weeks. When they germinate I am sure the students will be very excited. When they become big enough they can be transferred to the garden. They will however require water and light and some encouraging words to grow!

Year 4 Stewardship

The year 4 Stewards of our School were visited by Claudette, a scientist from RMIT and two staff from Melbourne Water - Belinda and Mel. They led the students through understanding about water pollution, and how to run simple tests on water to assess the quality, using terms such as - acidic, neutral, alkaline or basic, turbidity, and pH. Using water testing tubes the students made predictions and conducted experiments recording their findings and sharing them with the group. 

We are looking forward to next week's session where the students will learn more about the water cycle, and how their local waterways are cared for by Melbourne Water.