It has been an action-packed Science Week with a number of activities taking place inside and outside of our classrooms. Our Year 7 students have all been involved in assessing the health of the ecosystem in our local Olinda Creek in Lilydale. They examined a range of environmental factors such as water chemistry, type of vegetation, habitat opportunities, signs of bank erosion and the impact of human activities in the area. They also had the opportunity to apply their knowledge of classification to identify the bugs that are present in the water system as indicators of the creek’s health. All the data gathered by our Year 7 MLMC Scientists will be placed into the River Detectives database, which is used by Melbourne Water to monitor the health of our Victorian waterways.
The Year 7 students continued with their explorations of the animal kingdom and how it is classified by learning about a range of animals during this week’s Reptile Encounters incursions. The presenters explained how a range of features that each animal has, allows scientists to classify the animals and why. Students also learned about the range of animal adaptations and some of the environmental issues these animals face in the wild.
Here are some student reflections about some of the Science Week activities:
During the excursion, I learned about how to measure the pH of water, the temperature of water, and the temperature of the air. The excursion helped us to understand how to tell whether an environment is healthy. — Celeste Tisbury (Year 7 Green)
Our water testing excursion taught us how to use different equipment and tools and how to properly read them. — Ciara De Vincentis (Year 7 Blue)
The reptile incursion was really fun. We got to look at really cool animals like a snake, a possum, a bird, a frog and even a saltwater crocodile. — Daniel Roper (Year 7 Blue)
