On Friday the 9th of June, Room 14 had the opportunity to participate in the Cockburn World Environment Day Schools Festival – Beat Plastic Pollution. We travelled via bus to the Cockburn wetlands precinct at Bibra Lake.
We were met by our guide and escorted to the big hall for the initial instructions about the day and sang alongside a couple of the supervisors, while we waited. Then Marie Taylor presented the Welcome to Country to start the festival.
Our first stop was learning about the way the Scientists used DNA to identify individual plants, then we had a go at using these amazing pipettes- that are worth $100.00 each. We got to take a minute sample, then we created an artwork using tiny drops of paint onto a DNA chart. We were the first school to use these amazing pipettes.
After a quick recess break, we learned all about the Long Neck turtle, the body shape and parts and how to watch for them in the environment. We did a quick quiz about what we had learnt and then made our own clay turtle.
Our next move took us to the ‘Beat Plastic Pollution in Soil’ session. There was a variety of healthy soil samples that we looked at in minute detail, using iPad cameras zoomed onto the samples.
After lunch we worked with the Water Corporation to look at water samples from various places, tap, dam, lake, or ponds. We had to use mini microscopes to try and identify which was which.
Our last activity for the day was whittling sticks. We were well supervised as we had a go at using the special tools to remove the bark from sticks. Once we had our stick to its required form, we rubbed it down with a range of different sandpapers and then waxed them to keep them moist.
