Spring has sprung and it’s a busy time for citizen-science. This means there’s a plethora of additional activities you can involve your students in if you want to add depth to your River Detectives experience and outdoor learning is what floats their boat.
If you’re sitting down during the holidays to plan Term 4, here’s some support to save you some time. If this email hurts your brain, just file it away for when the time comes . . . . there’s never any obligation to take up these opportunities.
OCTOBER
- Frogtober is running throughout October to gather much needed data on the distribution of our precious frogs. Read the previous Billabong Banter post (and the comments on the post for more hints), check out the event website, download the app and start recording! We haven’t developed a Frog activity matrix yet to complete our set but there are a few resources in the Fauna section of Resource Riverb
- National Water Week, 21-27 October: The 2024 National Water Week theme is Accelerating Action. It serves as a powerful rally cry for our community to address water’s vital role in the current climate crisis. Together, we will spark a collective movement towards a sustainable water future, taking concrete steps to bring about enduring change. Visit the National Water Week website for educational resources or pick some activities from our themed activity matrices (the urban stormwater matrix has some inspiring ideas for reinventing the way we harvest, filter and use this often-wasted resource. Your local water corporation/CMA may be running special National Water Week activities – contact your regional River Detectives coordinator for more information.
NOTE: Our next Ask The Expert webinar will have a climate change theme where we’ll be chatting with an author – more information very soon. It will complement this year’s National Water Week theme very well.
NOVEMBER
- Australian Pollinator Week, 9-17 November: This event aims to raise awareness of the many unsung heroes of pollination (beetles, flies, butterflies, moths – even the adult forms of our waterbug friends – the mayflies and damselflies) Head to the Australian Pollinator Week website for ways to get involved in the nine day festival – you could do a Pollinator Count in the school yard or at your waterway site or hold a Pollinator Picnic . . . The Wheen Bee Foundation has lots of useful resources for learning more about bees including pollinator planting guides for many areas of Victoria you could use to plan a pollinator garden.
And don’t forget that your regional River Detectives coordinator would love to hear about anything you get up to. Send them some photos !
