Over the past fortnight our Year 7 students have had the opportunity to examine the health of our local Olinda Creek in Lilydale. As part of the River Detectives program, we tested a range of chemical and physical indicators of water health and shared that data on a statewide Melbourne Water database that monitors our Victorian waterways.
Our Year 7 Scientists also had the opportunity to examine the range of water bugs that live in the creek. By classifying these creatures and completing a bug count, we collected data on a biological indicator that is also used to establish the health of the waterway.
Here are some reflections from Year 7 Purple students on their field work:
For the last two weeks during our double periods of Science each of our Year 7 homerooms has gone to Olinda Creek to check the quality of the water. This has been a good experience for us because it shows us that even as a child we can still help the environment.
— Zac Prentice
In the past two weeks all the Year 7 classes got the opportunity to go down to Olinda Creek. We got to explore different things like the temperature of the water, our surroundings and much, much more. We also got to look at different types of bugs and classify these into what we thought they were.
— Hannah Griffin
On our water testing excursion I learnt that there can be many bugs hiding in the water and you won't even see them. Most of the bugs are small so they can't be seen easily. I also learnt that the water quality in the Olinda Creek isn't bad, and that it can be disturbed by human waste and pollution.
— Megan Rieschieck
