On Monday, the students walked the Camino Salvado from Maylands to Guildford, stopping along the way to remove more than five thousand pieces of rubbish from the environment.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the students split into house groups and departed for their first Project SOS excursions - to Red Hill Waste Management Centre to Save Our Scrap and to Whiteman Park to Save Our Scrub. At Red Hill, students took a tour at the facility and were astonished at the amount of landfill waste produced by the local area in only one morning. They undertook a range of activities, including repurposing recycled material to create magnets and using iPad microscopes to examine the lively inhabitants of a compost heap!
At Whitman Park, students discovered the danger of the Dieback disease threatening certain species of local plants. Several students had the opportunity to inoculate trees with a protective serum to assist them in fighting the disease, and there was fierce competition to see which house could plant the most new trees! All the students had the opportunity to meet a Stimpson python and a bobtailed lizard - Mrs Rosman was particularly keen to adopt a pet snake!
In the afternoons, the students rotated through four workshop activities - Save Our Skin, Save Our Selves, Save Our SCOBY and Save Our Style. In Save Our Skin, the students investigated the chemical used in commercial body products and created a natural body scrub. In Save Our Selves, the students were taught about the dangers of sugar and had the opportunity to make a chia pudding and some yummy trail mix! In Save Our SCOBY, Mr Hughes and Mrs Barrett discussed the importance of good bacteria and taught the students to make sauerkraut - the Year Sevens particularly enjoyed tasting some kimchi! In Save Our Style, Miss Lester led an investigation into the world of fast fashion and the students turned an old t shirt into a tote bag.
On Thursday, the group met Felicia, an expert in wetlands ecosystem. They enjoyed learning about swamp plants and examining the different bugs found in water from Bibra Lake. The students experienced a documentary screening of the recent ABC program 'The War on Waste' and indulged in snacks from a zero waste popcorn bar! The students also strengthen their skill set with a First Aid course from St John Ambulance.
On Friday, the students rounded out the week with a water filtration challenge and a visit from Lindsay Miles, a local activist in the Zero Waste movement. She taught the students different methods for reducing their waste output and helped them to explore factors to consider as current and future consumers.
Throughout the week, the students were challenged to a 'Zero Waste Week,' bringing no single-use disposable items in their bags or lunch boxes. The majority of the group did a great job undertaking the challenge and we hope that they will continue with this habit as they become more aware of their impact on the local environment.
Throughout the week, the students reflected on the different environmental and health concerns facing the local area. Project SOS: Save Our Surroundings has given the students an overview of a number of issues and they will now choose one of these issues on which to base their platform for our upcoming 'election' for the City Of Swan.
The work undertaken by the Year Sevens so far has been outstanding and their participation and engagement with their activities in LIFE Week was wonderful to witness. We look forward to seeing their work at the end of the term!
Miss Emilie Reynolds
Year 7 Innovator
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