Carlsruhe Annexe /
Main Campus - Year 4
On Monday 11th November, all the Year 4 students attended the Carlsruhe Campus for a ‘Water Detectives Day’, another hands-on experience focused on the importance of water health. Engaging in a range of activities similar to the incursion day last term, they explored the Campaspe River ecosystem next to the Yelka Trail. Throughout the morning, students completed three tasks focussing on the overall river health and life in and around the river ecosystem.
One task included a full water testing, testing the conductivity (salt levels), turbidity and pH levels, gaining valuable insights into the water's clarity and acidity. These tests helped them understand the quality of the river’s environment and how it can impact the organisms living within it. We also measured the temperature of the water and the air.
Another task we completed was a habitat sketch of what we observed from the riverbank. Students enjoyed recording their observations and constructed carefully labelled diagrams of the flora and fauna. They particularly enjoyed listening to the melodic chorus of frog chatter and bird song as they sketched!
The favourite task completed by far was examining the river’s biodiversity by searching for macroinvertebrates—tiny creatures that are key indicators of water quality. The students discovered a fascinating variety of river inhabitants, including ghost shrimps, dragonfly larvae, water tigers, toebiters and even a tiny yabby! Each discovery brought huge excitement as they documented their findings, compared their findings to other students and discussed what it showed us with regards to the overall health of the river. Enthusiastically, they used the viewers to observe the creatures up close, before we carefully released them back into the waterway.
After lunch, we gathered in the main room and shared the data we had collected from each class. We entered the information onto the River Detectives database, averaging our results and discusse the importance of fair testing.
We completed the day by observing a minute’s silence for Remembrance Day, reflecting on the importance of the day and then listened to the Last Post.
On Tuesday we had a wonderful time creating our Ecosystem Dioramas. It was a very busy day of cutting, sticking and constructing our ecosystems. The students had a fantastic time and lots of interesting representations of different ecosystems were made!
Year 4 Teachers
Ann Ireland (4AI), Louise Safstrom (4SM)/Alison Meggs, Lisa Sutch (4LS)