Professional Development

Nature Next Door: Observing insect-pollinators in action

Professional Development Reflection by GEKA Teacher, Jo Elmer

“The ‘Nature Next Door’ professional development training, was facilitated by the Sustainability Department of The City of Glen Eira.

My reason for attending, was so I could learn how to conduct field research on insect pollinators and set up pollinator observatories in our Bushland area at GEKA Carnegie Kindergarten because the children in all groups have been noticing lots of different insects on the plants now that the weather is warming and they have been wanting to identify the insects and find out why they are visiting.

The session was presented by Christina Renowden, from Leap into Nature and Entomologist Dr Luis Mata. Christina outlined the importance of encouraging kindergartens to get involved in the monitoring of insect pollinators and their connection with the native flora while Luis described the species and different characteristics of the insects that inhabit the Glen Eira area and how to recognise, collect and record the Metadata using field research protocol.

After a short quiz on identifying different insects the group headed out into the garden to observe in one of the pollinator locations. I teamed up with Vibha Jain from GEKA Caulfield South who was also researching how to create a pollinator observatory at her kindergarten.

Insects are everywhere!  We can all become ‘Citizen Scientists’ and contribute.  The next Nature Next Door session is on Sunday 8th December 11am – 1pm and is free. To book, visit https://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/our-city/whats-on/observing-insect-pollinators-in-action

Rippon Lea Gardens are free for all Glen Eira Residents: visit this web site to find out more. https://www.ripponleaestate.com.au/visit-and-contact/ At the moment there is a Gruffalo trail that children can follow.  Families just need to download The Gruffalo Spotter AUS App, which brings the character to life.”