Year 9 Humanities Excursion 06/10

On Monday the 6th of October, our Year 9 Humanities students spent the day exploring Wurundjeri country to explore its biomes and food security.

For the first half of the day, we attended the Yarra Valley Ecological and Social Sustainability Centre where they learned about sustainable agriculture and how it is being used to preserve and rescue endangered species of plants. After studying the potted seedlings in the greenhouse, the students got their hands dirty by planting and potting some cuttings of endangered plants to create clones which will each later sustain full and healthy plants. The students worked together to support the early stages of the growth of these endangered plants. 

Next, it was time to pot some grass, before moving through the woodwork sculptures and discovering the shared community farming plots. Here they began to understand how the community at ECOSS uses sustainable farming techniques to support the growth of their plants without adding unnecessary herbicides and pesticides to the earth. 

Lastly the students engaged in some landscaping by using shovels, wheelbarrows and teamwork to spread crushed rocks to prepare the land for quality farming by improving its yield. The time spent here was remarkably enjoyable and the students worked fantastically in this endeavour, growing both their community and their resilience. 

For the second half of the day, we journeyed to the temperate rainforest on Mt Donna Buang within the Yarra Ranges National Park. Here the students explored the Rainforest Gallery. Lulled by the sounds of Cement Creek cascading down the mountain and en route to the Yarra River, students pursued their fieldwork to observe, record and comprehend the rainforest’s natural and human geographical features.