Term 4 is full of environment-related national events that link seamlessly with River Detectives so why not kill two birds with one stone and combine some of them? Activities will offer engaging, relevant and meaningful tasks to students to achieve learning outcomes in innovative ways!
October 3rd, World Habitat Day: Why not do a habitat survey this week at your waterway site? Use this data sheet or, for a more visual template, use this data sheet with photo examples. Our riparian habitat poster is a great discussion starter. You can even upload your results to our database.
October 16-22, Aussie Backyard Bird Count: This is an easy and fun citizen-science activity to involve students/families in. Head to the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website for instructions and great resources. We also have lots of birdy things to do in the Fauna section of Resource River Bank and some dotted through our Fauna activity matrix. You could even hold a bird-inspired dress up day at school ! 
October 16-22, National Water Week: (terrible timing – same week as above) This year’s theme is United by Water, appropriate given that water drives economic growth, supports healthy ecosystems, and is essential and fundamental for life. Visit the National Water Week website for educational resources. Your local water corporation/CMA may be running special National Water Week activities – contact your regional River Detectives coordinator for more information.
November 11-19, Australian Pollinator Week: This year’s 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 . . .
November 24-27, Great Southern Bioblitz (GSB): This an international event that aims to capture the immense biodiversity throughout the Southern Hemisphere during spring. It presents a fantastic opportunity to get outside, connect to a global community of citizen scientists, and collect research-grade observations of the amazing species in your patch using iNaturalist, a user-friendly app to identify and log findings.
- Download and explore the iNaturalist app
- Take photos of plants, animals, fungi or even just signs of organisms like tracks, nests, feathers or things that just died in your catchment, at your local waterway . .
- You don’t need to know what it is to submit it – someone on the app will even identify it for you
- Contact your regional River Detectives coordinator to see if any groups near you have registered their own project for GSB2023 that you could contribute to . . .
And don’t forget that your regional River Detectives coordinator would love to hear about anything you get up to. Send them some photos !
