Enviro Science
Ian Adams
Students have been busy bees this term in Environmental Science, because along with a new STELA building to work in, we have a new Productive Garden to work on!
Juniors and Middles have applied their design thinking and biological knowledge to creating garden design plans for the new space. And while we can’t necessarily put every idea into action (giraffes in the cricket nets might be a bit of a stretch), we certainly have received an amazing number of great ideas that have helped us determine important priorities for our students. Big shade trees, pollinator gardens, rest & play spaces, ponds, and animals slightly smaller than a giraffe are all important features that kids have put into their plans for us to try and make happen. And a pizza oven…
Pizza Oven
The first new feature of the garden we will be working on in term two is building our own Mud Brick Pizza Oven & Community Space! With the help of Mud Fun (https://www.mudfunaustralia.com) and our whole school community, the big pile of ‘dirt’ (actually clay soil) that you might have noticed sitting in the Productive Garden is going to be transformed into a beautiful community space for all of us.
Stay tuned for more information about how to get involved, and keep the afternoon of Friday May 6th free (week two of term two) for a musical Mud Stomp Festival to kick-start the building process! With the help of CET, we are hoping to combine this with a Community Picnic, so that everyone can get muddy!
Sticks and Logs
To help create all the other garden features that students have been designing, we would love your donations of some landscaping materials - in particular sticks and logs. Moreland Council has told us that any fallen branches in local parks can be retrieved and safely brought into school, where they can be left in the productive garden. Ideally, lengths over one metre are best, but we’re not too fussy! Anything over 10cm in diameter can be used by students to build garden edges, while anything thinner can be used in the Woodlands for cubbies and stick play.
