Nature at school

World Environment Day 2009

2009-10-05T17:23:00.001-07:00

To celebrate World Environment Day in 2009, students had a picnic day in Gough Whitlam Park with various nature and environment activities conducted by teachers and parents.

Year One got busy making artefacts with paperbark. Interestingly, the girls tended to make baskets for gathering flowers and seedpods.

The boys were drawn to making balls with paperbark and string and then playing rowdy games of throw, chase and tackle.

The techniques for making the artefacts was based on Aboriginal methods but we improvised with modern materials such as newspaper and string!

We also attempted an Aboriginal-style woven basket from matt rush (Lomandra) found at the park and did a pretty good job for our first attempt!

Spuds - 2009

2009-09-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

In 2009, the crop chosen for the Kindergarten bed was once again potatoes.

The ground was prepared in May and Kindergarten students took turns to plant their spuds.

This time three varieties were planted. They were: Sebago, Pontiac and Desiree.

One month after planting, the first leaves started to emerge.

Soon the garden bed was chock full of potatoey goodness!

In late September, as the holidays approached, the leaves began to brown and some potatoes could been seen poking out of the earth. It was time to harvest!

The kindergarten classes congregated in the ELA, anxiously awaiting their turn with a trowel.

There's something magical about digging in the ground and finding food.

The output from this crop was little more than we had planted! But not a bad haul considering there was almost no rainfall and very little watering undertaken.

The kids were very happy with what they'd gathered.

Read about the Harvest Day cookup in the School blog.
Click here for details of the 2007 potato crop.

Trees

2009-09-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

It's a sad day for the school as six mature trees have been removed to make way for the new school hall, including this beautiful old fig tree.

Click on image to enlarge.

Two of the trees were heritage-listed figs. They were planted by students in 1932 as part of an arbour day ceremony making them 77 years old. Four of these mature fig trees remain across the front of the school. It is hoped the foundations of the new building won't compromise their health.

An aerial photo of the school in 1943 shows eight fig trees. Some were subsequently removed because of disease and the danger of dropping branches.

Three other trees were removed included the Plane tree in the centre of B Playground and two Eucalypts.

It' s only a year since major work was undertaken to protect this Plane Tree from Sycamore Lace Bug.

Students survey the changes to their playground.

The school Principal has written the following:

Understandably there is a great deal of heartbreak amongst many of us to see trees being removed in order to place the hall on the site.
...
As part of the process the issues of the heritage building and the fig trees were included... the project managers, employed experts to do an assessment and make recommendations as to placing the hall to meet DET’s requirements and requirements for building next to a heritage site.

I have sought advice and my understanding is that this decision is not one that is negotiable as there is no other viable site and that the trees will be removed.

Concerns were also raised about the impact on the remaining figs which are across the front of the school. An aborist has advised the builders on the appropriate measures that must be taken to protect these trees during the building of the hall. They will be fenced off from the builders and strict guidelines are in place about run off from the site, dumping of materials in the vicinity of the trees and so on.

Quick Survey

2009-08-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Click here for the survey mentioned in the Enviro Newsletter.

Worms

2009-06-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

In 2009, Year 1 established 2 worm farms on the balcony outside their classroom with the aims of reducing school waste and creating fertiliser for the gardens. Marrickville Council ran a workshop for parents and teachers on how to set up and maintain the worm farm and students provided fruit and vegetable scraps from their lunches to feed the worms.

Click here for a PDF file that tells you all you need to know about building a worm farm or fixing one that has gone a bit squiffy!

Some basic rules to follow include:

Other tips:

keep the worms damp but not too wet
avoid dryness as this encourages ants and cockroaches
in summer make sure the worm farm is kept in shade to avoid getting too hot
in winter, it will slow down a lot due to cold weather - unless it can be kept in a dappled shade spot to increase the heat and therefore the activity of the worms
use the right worm stock – red or tiger worms are recommended
use garden gloves to handle the worm farm to protect fingers from visiting spiders

Just in time for the May Fair, Year 1 bottled up the precious Worm Juice for sale.

They used recycled drink bottles that had come from the canteen and added stickers with information for the buyers:

The worm farms have been so successful that the school is now establishing a Worm Factory! There are to be 5 worm farms, one for each day of the week, and the aim is to use all the school's food scraps.

This week's Garden Club was very popular. Children who'd never been before came to get their gloves into gooey worms and squishy horse manure in the worm farm building process.

A week later, the Worm Factory was up and running thanks to the hard work (and busy colouring in) by Year One students.

Ride2school

2009-04-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

0n 25 March 2009 the school participated in the Ride2school initiative and completed a HandsUp! survey to log the results.

The breakdown of who did what on the day can be seen in the results of the HandsUp! survey completed in each classroom by the teachers and collated by the P&C.

A pie chart showing the proportion of students that rode bikes or scooters, walked, caught public transport or came by private car is shown below:

Wheat

2009-03-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

There is a garden bed in the ELA reserved for Kindergarten to plant a crop and incorporate it into their learning for the year. In 2008 we planted a crop of wheat to tie in with a "Healthy Choices" subject. The idea was to demonstrate how long it takes wheat to grow, how much grain is produced, how much space is required for each loaf of bread that we eat. We learned some other lessons along the way!

The first challenge was to source some grain to grow and a parent with farm connections came to the rescue. Next was the big question of when to plant! and while there were a lot of different theories it was discovered that Australian wheat needs the cold of winter to germinate so on the 13th May the grains were planted in tidy rows.

Seven days later we had growth tips!

Click on the following thumbnails to see how the wheat looked after 7, 13, 42 and 85 days.

Just when we were counting on a bumper crop we had a visitor to our wheat field!

In fact many visitors arrived one afternoon to install a scarecrow. The intention was good: to protect the crop from harm. Birds will often eat grains before they have a chance to germinate and young shoots are often eaten by kangaroos, reducing the size of the harvest a farmer might get. Out ELA crop was unlikely to be threatened by kangaroos and seemed to have survived the birds too but it was not so lucky with the many enthusiastic feet that trampelled over it to install the scarecrow.

Farmers also risk having their crops flattened in the course of it's growth. If cattle get in to a crop from adjoining paddocks they can trample the wheat. Summer hail storms have been known to flatten and ruin crops just before they are ready for harvest which can be very disappointing for the farmer.

We were disappointed to see much of our crop flattened but the stalks that remained upright continued to ripen and by November we had lovely golden grains ready to pick.

The original plan was to process the grains to make flour and then use the flour to make bread with Kindergarten. While we were offered use of a mill that would turn grains into flour we have not yet devised a way to thresh our wheat heads and turn them into grains.

Stay tuned.

In March 2009, Year 4 learnt about where bread comes from and how it's made. They made pretzels in class as part of the lesson. Here is a drawing showing how bread is processed:

Activity: Draw the last two steps in the process.

Lunchtime Garden Club

2009-03-12T02:26:00.001-07:00

Lunchtime Garden Club was established in 2009 as a way of keeping up with all the growth in the ELA. Not only is there a lot of produce to harvest but there are many weeds to keep in check too.

Students are taught how to pull out weeds with their roots and how to shake off excess soil close to the ground (so it doesn't end up in eyes and mouths). They are also encouraged to distinguish between weeds and other plants but sometimes you have to be quick to intercept as a native grass can look just like any other grass to an enthusiastic kid!

5 March - students weed the long side garden, preparing it for a potato crop.

5 March - students and Mrs Scott pick basil leaves for pesto making.

12 March - students gather around the pasta bowl to try the pesto spaghetti.

12 March - students sit quietly and listen to gardening instructions before dividing into groups to weed, harvest beans or prepare the potato patch.

12 March - the bean crop and the small fraction of the harvest that wasn't consumed on the spot.

Rainforest Gully Garden

2008-08-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

The school recently turned an unused and weed-infested slope at the rear of the school into a Rainforest Gully Garden featuring local provenance plants, bush tucker and plants found in rainforest gullies in the Sydney region. The aim was to increase the amenity and biodiversity of the school grounds providing an enriched and educational experience for pupils living in a highly urbanised area.

We added a number of enhancements to the project:

(a) a path was constructed through the garden providing access for students;

(b) rainwater was diverted from a nearby down pipe into a swale at the top of the slope, allowing it to infiltrate through the site, both improving conditions for the plants, and reducing stormwater run-off to the Cooks River; and

(c) we consulted with Carol Green, the Local Aboriginal Educational Consultant, and the school’s Koori community in relation to incorporating Indigenous stories and knowledge into the garden.

Once the initial planted area is consolidated, we plan to extend the garden on both sides along the slope. We are considering adding some birdbaths to attract fauna. We are also interested in adding artworks and educational features.

Study of plankton

2008-06-11T00:08:00.003-07:00

During World Environment Week, Year 6 students went on a Grime Scene Investigation to Georges River. During a river cruise, water samples were collected for studying under a microscope back at base.

We learnt that plankton is the start of the foodchain in the marine environment. The water samples we gathered were studied under a microscope and projected onto a screen for all to see. Unfortunately, in all the samples studied only one type of zooplankton (animal) was found in amongst the phytoplankton (plant). This was compared to a chart and determined to be Veliger (larva of the limpet) [image 1 below].

DVD footage of previous zooplankton finds was then screened and students identified those from the charts as well.

Activity - Click on the images below to view large versions of the charts and use them to identify the zooplankton in images 2, 3 and 4 above.

Answers: 2=m (second chart) 3=b (second chart) 4=f (first chart)

Why is plankton important to marine food chains? Because it is the starting point. Without it, there would be nothing for fish to eat; without fish there would be nothing for water birds to eat.

Fish dissection

2008-06-11T00:08:00.002-07:00

During World Environment Week, Year 6 students went on a Grime Scene Investigation to Georges River.

A very popular part of the day involved disecting fish!

Grime Scene Investigation

2008-06-10T21:49:00.001-07:00

On a particularly grim and grey June day in 2008, nine Year 6 students attended a Grime Scene Investigation on the Georges River. The day started with a river cruise looking at activities around the River's edge and the impacts of these on the water. Historically the main post-European river activity was oyster farming.

The following diagram (representing the same area as the aerial photo above) had locations A to H marked and, listening to the commentary, students had to identify the types of landuse activities from the key below.

KEY: 1 = factories/industry 2 = residential (housing) 3 = water sports/clubs 4 = open spaces /parks 5 = natural vegetation 6 = boat moorings 7 = landing ramp/wharf

Answers: A=4, 7 B=6 C=4 D=2 E=2, 4, 7 F=1 G=5 H=3

We learnt:
- that there are 235 different organisms in the water!
- that sea grass is the estuary supermarket being home to many of these organisms.
- that the catchment area for George's River is 960 square kilometres (which is a lot of stormwater run off)
- there is a 50km stretch of saltwater before the weir at Liverpool

Environmental issues include:
- stormwater drains emptying into the river, many without gross pollutant traps (GPTs)
- unnatural edges around most of the Bay prevent saltmarsh plants and mangroves from growing
- pollution from sewerage leaks, chemicals from boat washing get into the river
- Kogarah Council collected 113 tonnes of litter from one GPT in one year!
- litter from waterside picnic areas (particularly plastic bags which are eaten by birds mistaking them for jellyfish)

Environment solutions include:
- the use of boom nets to contain pollution (for eg at waterside building sites)
- installation of more GPTs
- fines for polluting practices
- establishment of "no wash" zones (eg Sylvania Waters)

During the cruise, water samples were taken for studying back at base.

See Study of Plankton for the results.

See also Fish dissection.

The excursion required certain roles to be played by the students. They were:
biologist
ecologist
water quality chemist
environmental scientist

to be continued...

Silkworms

2008-03-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Silkworms are a great species for studying the life-cycle of a caterpillar. This can be done in your home or classroom with a few simple items and a steady supply of mulberry leaves. They are not native to Australia so you will not find them in the wild and you should not release them into the wild when you're finished with them. You can source your eggs from pet shops or local breeders.

From larva to moth via silk coccoon.

Habitat

In their own country, silkworms would live on mulberry trees as this is their only source of food and their waste would drop to the ground. In captivity, you need to provide a clean and comfortable alternative. A shoebox with plastic wrap is an easy option. Keep the box at room temperature but out of direct sunlight. Puncture the plastic wrap with small air holes, but make sure they're not big enough for your silkworms to escape! You may need to place the shoebox above a moat of water to stop ants getting in!

About six weeks after the eggs have hatched they will start to spin coccoons. At this stage you need to add some sticks, curved bark or cardboard rolls to the shoebox so the caterpillars have edges to attach their silk to.

Food

The caterpillars feed mainly on mulberry leaves. If you obtain eggs before the mulberry trees have developed leaves then you can put the eggs "on hold" in the fridge. If they hatch anyway, you can feed them on carefully washed lettuce leaves.

When your caterpillars are young, tear the mulberry leaves into smaller pieces so there are lots of edges for them to eat along.

You will need to clean the box out every day as the silkworms eat a lot of leaves and that creates a lot of caterpillar poo! As they grow larger they will moult so old skins need to be thrown out too. The bigger the caterpillars get, the more leaves they eat. Eventually, you will need to feed them every few hours. But you can plan ahead and pick lots of mulberry leaves which last several days in a plastic bag in the fridge.

To clean the box without damaging the delicate caterpillars pick up the leaves they are on rather than picking up the caterpillars themselves.

Coccoons

About six weeks (or up to 47 days) after hatching from eggs the caterpillars start to spin their coccoons. These are made from one long strand of silk about 800-1200 metres long and this process can take 3 to 6 days.

In this picture you can still make out some of the features of the caterpillar as it spins its coccoon within the silk anchors.

Parts of the caterpillar

Silworms have a head, a thorax and an abdomen. The head has simple eyes and tiny feelers. The silk is made by two glands near the mouth. The thorax has three segments and each of these has a pair of legs. Along the abdomen there are false legs that silkworms use for gripping and balancing. The whole abdomen has 10 segments.

Moths

The moth will hatch about 15 days after the coccoon is finished. The moths cannot eat or fly and they only live for a few days which is enough time to mate and lay eggs so that the cycle can start all over again.

Activity - Watch an online slideshow about silkworms. What extra facts does it contain?

Activity - Draw and label a silkworm or draw and label your own life cycle of a silkworm.

World Environment Day - nature activities

2008-03-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

On 19 September 2007, the whole school celebrated World Environment Day with an excursion to Girrahween Park in the Wolli Valley. From this central location, 12 separate groups had guided bushwalks and experienced nature-based activities in their spare time.

One area was set aside as an "Explore nature area". This contained a large feely box with seedpods, banksia cones, sticks, smooth pebbles and a stuffed bandicoot! Students were encouraged to explore by touch and try to identify and distinguish the contents. In another area, feely boxes contained one item only and students were encouraged to feel the object and try to draw what it was without looking.

This area also contained magnifying glasses and objects to study up close including bug boxes and a cat skull.

There were books and posters identifying birds and binoculars to help spot some. There were also bird nests set up as a puzzle where students had to match the nest materials to the type of bird or the kind of location it would be found. For example, a nest made of sheep's wool might come from a farm and a nest of paperbark might be from the Wolli Valley.

There were also structured activities for classes to undertake including paperbark craft; wax resist, a stone game and a smell game. Following are the instruction sheets for these.

Paperbark

Traditional Aboriginal people used paperbark for many different things:
- huts;
- coolamons (carrying baskets for food and water);
- food wraps and plates
- toys like balls.

Yr 6 crafted Aboriginal-style coolamons and balls out of paperbark and string.

Make your own!

Paperbark ball – wrap bark around scrunched newspaper and tie with string. NB: Aboriginal people would not have had newspapers or string. What would they have used?

Paperbark carrying basket – make a small canoe shape. Tie the ends together with string.

This bark was gathered outside the National Park. It is not OK to take things from inside the Park no matter how small. You may be moving a rare seed and stopping it from growing. You may be spreading an invasive weed.

You can take these bark creations back to your school or home. Try playing football or netball. Try carrying something in your basket.

Share your knowledge with others.

Stone game

Sit the class in a circle on the grass. Choose a quiet, shady location.

Select roughly 6 pairs. The remainder can observe first then have a turn later.

One partner in each pair is blindfolded and then chooses a rock from the center. They examine the rock by touch for 3-5 minutes then put it back.

Their “seeing” partner must remember which rock it was. They should have a good look at it before it is returned.

The blindfolded person then has to remember how the rock felt and identify it by sight.

Wax resist

The class should take a sheet of paper and make impressions of natural textures: rocks; bark; leaves, seed pods, etc.

Paint over the wax drawing with coloured water to reveal the textures.

Or, simply use coloured crayons to create an impression directly onto the paper. See if you can find trees or rocks with different textures and capture the patterns on each half of one page.

Remember: This is a National Park.

DO NOT pick anything living, or remove anything from its location.

Smells from nature

Encourage children to smell the hidden leaves and think about what they're smelling. Some questions to provoke thought. Is the smell:

- pleasant or unpleasant?

- strong or mild?

- from an edible plant or not?

- from a native plant or not?

- from a tree? bush? garden plant?

* Does the smell remind them of anything? A certain place or time?

* Do they recognize any of the hidden plants?

Answers:

1. Pine or conifer tree.

2. Lemon-scented tea-tree (Leptospermum petersonii). Native tree.

3. Eucalypt leaves. Native tree.

4. Mint leaves from Ferncourt's herb spiral.

World Environment Day - guided walks

2008-03-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Respect to Country
We acknowledge the traditional owners
of the land on which we live and learn.
We pay our respects to them for their care
of this land over countless generations.
We hope they will walk with us on our journey.

The guided walks covered different aspects of the built and natural environment. Older classes went as far as Turrella Reserve and Nannygoat Hill to the North or Illoura Reserve to the South. Younger classes explored the Bray Ave wetland, Paperbark Creek or the interesting features of Girrahween Park itself including a de-nutrification wetland.

Shelter under rock escarpments with evidence of smoke from Aboriginal cooking fires.

Turrella Reserve and Nannygoat Hill

Students walking to Turrella Reserve saw rock shelters used by the Bidjigal people and saw remnant vegetation that has been restored to how it might have looked in Aboriginal times. They saw paperbark trees used for Aboriginal huts, canoes, food wrapping and toys. They learned Aboriginal place names:

Girrahween = “place of flowers”;
Turrella = “reeds growing in water”;
Minnamorra = “plenty of fish”
Wolli = “camping place”

The Turrella Weir was identified as the divide between fresh water on right and tidal salt water on left. Different species occur downstream to upstream. Plants include mangroves, saltmarsh and casuarinas on the tidal side. Native fish such as Sea Mullet, Port Jackon Perchlets and Eels are found in the saltwater side. In the freshwater side there are various species of gudgeon.

Turrella Reserve had been wetlands full of reeds and subject to flooding then later Chinese market gardens but Council filled in the area to create parkland. It still functions as water bird habitat to some extent.

At Nannygoat Hill students observed the proximity of gardens to bushland, enabling the spread of weeds and exotic plants like “Mother of Millions”. They also learnt about stormwater issues: the streets here (Minnamorra etc) drain into Wolli Creek (so does rubbish) .

Illoura Reserve and Paperbark Creek

Students who walked towards Bexley found an area still needing much bush restoration and regeneration and saw the effects of garden plants becoming invasive weeds.

Bray Avenue Wetland was seen as a haven for birds; much bush regeneration has been undertaken and Canterbury council have made efforts to control stormwater.

Students observed a “no mow” area which allows native seedstock to grow where it belongs. These have been established by volunteer bush regenerators with the co-operation of Council.

Students observed:
- the proximity of gardens to bushland, enabling the spread/or dumping of weeds;
- the proximity of roads to bushland, enabling the dumping of truckloads of rubbish (roof tiles, washing machines, filing cabinets)

Stormwater issues were evident: the streets here Bray Ave, etc drain into Wolli Creek (so does rubbish)

European history: A road reservation relating to this stretch of land meant that the bushland was subject to years of neglect (compare to Girrahween Park which is well maintained by NPWS). Prior to the road reservation, Kings Farm existed (near Bexley end of track).

Students explore Paperbark Creek – a stormwater channel restructured by Council

Girrahween Park - De-nutrification wetland

"De-nutrification" is a big word! so lets break it down. We've all heard about nutrients and are often told about having nutritious food instead of junk food. Nutrients make things grow. They’re good if they’re in our food but not so good in our waterways.

Nutrients in our waterways make plants grow.

Too many nutrients make water plants grow too fast and too big.

Why is this bad?

Water gets oxygen from the air (waves and wind help stir it in).
Fish need that oxygen in the water.

BUT, if plants cover the water, they stop the oxygen from dissolving in the water, so fish die.

Rotting dead plants take even more oxygen out of the water.

HOWEVER, if we are clever, we can use this system to clean up our dirty water. We must simply keep the water flowing and harvest the plants to keep them from growing too big.

Look upstream from the bridge: Here we can see water flowing down from a stormwater outlet near the Earlwood shops. It’s bringing some pretty rich nutrients with it!

The reeds have been planted to eat up the nutrients and stop so much getting into Wolli Creek (downstream from the bridge).

So, de-nutrification is just a big word that means taking the nutrients out. This makes Wolli Creek healthier.

Wetlands: Natural and Constructed

Wetlands were long regarded as wastelands but are now recognised as important features in the landscape that provide benefits for people and other animals. Wetlands are home to an abundant variety of plants, water bugs, reptiles, birds, fish, frogs and mammals - they are considered to be 'biological supermarkets'. They are among the most productive environments in the world and form a link between our land and water resources.

Stormwater comes from urban areas after rain. As water flows across roads and other hard surfaces it can pick up pollution such as rubbish, chemicals and sediment. This polluted stormwater can be caught and filtered by constructed wetlands before it enters a waterway.

Butterflies, moths and more!

2008-03-07T17:28:00.001-08:00

There are many beautiful butterflies and moths to be seen at school but can you tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth?

Blue Triangle Butterflies - flitting about in weeds behind Kindergarten.

Worldwide, there are 22,000 species in the Order Lepidoptera. Only 400 of these are butterflies (that’s just 2 per cent!). There is no simple foolproof way to distinguish between butterflies and moths, but try these methods:

· butterflies are brightly coloured and active by day, while moths fly by night.

· butterflies tend to rest with their wings held together above their backs, while moths tend to fold their wings like a tent over their backs.

· up close, butterflies have clubbed tips to their antennae, while most moths have feathered antennae.

Butterflies : resting with wings together; antennae have clubbed tips

Moths: wings folded, tent-like; feathered antannae

Just to confuse matters there are others in the Order Lepidoptera which are neither butteflies nor moths. They are called skippers and grass darts! They are most easily recognised by a combination of flat and upright wings. They can often be seen on the flowering oregano in the herb spiral.

Life spans

Adult butterflies may live from at least two weeks to six months, and everywhere in between. Life spans of some school species include:

at least four weeks for the Cabbage White (Pieris rapa)
at least five weeks for the Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus)

What do butterflies need?

Nectar plants alone do not help butterfly species to breed and survive, but may help you to see butterflies by attracting them to the garden.

Butterflies require both:

1. a host plant to lay eggs on; and
2. plants that provide nectar.

1. a host plant to lay eggs on.

Butterflies are extremely particular about plant choice. For example, silkworms will only eat mulberry leaves and no other plants.

The butterfly larvae will eat these specially chosen leaves when they hatch. The tiny caterpillars eat lots of leaves and will moult several times as they grow larger and larger. When fully plump they then spin their chrysalis or cocoon. Generally, the plants they feed upon are not permanently damaged and some may benefit from this gentle tip pruning.

2. plants that provide nectar for the adult butterflies.

Adult butterflies are particularly attracted to daisy-type flowers (eg native everlasting daisies) as these provide excellent landing platforms while the butterflies are feeding, although other flowers types are also visited. Colour and scent are also important factors. The curled proboscis reaches the nectar by uncoiling and dipping into various shaped flowers.

Curled proboscis of a Splendid Ochre - Trapezites symmomus (photographed in the Wolli Valley)

What do moths need?

Moths, on the other hand, are most active in the evening so coloured flowers are not important. They are often attracted to cream and white flowers as these show up well at night and are often fragrant, giving off a scent which is particularly strong at dusk and early morning and very effective in attracting moths to flowers from a great distance.

Some adults will never feed, or will require other food sources such as rotting fruit (eg tropical butterfly species), bird or animal droppings! or simply mineralized water (stream banks, mud puddles etc).

This Emerald moth was very well camouflaged against a Greek Basil leaf unlike the very plain brown moth on the same plant.

This Granny's Cloak Moth (left) was one of several hiding in the cool, dark tool shed while the small brown moth (right) liked to hide under sage leaves in the herb spiral.

Below is a very colourful Orange Spotted Tiger Moth on some flowering mint. See how the proboscis stretches into the flower to reach the nectar.

Attracting butterflies and moths to your garden

Find out which species of butterflies and moths you have locally, and set about encouraging those
Grow food plants for larvae to encourage females to lay eggs
Grow food plants for adult butterflies with flowers rich in nectar, scent and bright colours
Include night-scented flowers (often white) with strong sweet scent to attract moths
Grow plants which flower at different times of year to provide a continuous food supply
Ensure diversity in your garden layout, with a mix of shaded and sunny areas, areas providing shelter from winds, and preferably some 'wild' or untended areas where grasses and 'weeds' are allowed to run freely
Avoid insecticides and other chemicals as much as possible and explore alternatives such as physical removal of pests, carefully timed removal, biological control, companion planting and 'friendly' organic sprays (pyrethrum leaves mixed with casuarina needles and garlic in warm water)

What threats to avoid or manage

While an adult butterfly may lay 300-500 eggs, very few will make it through to maturity. They are vulnerable at every stage of development:

eggs (parastic wasps corrupt the eggs, ants carry them away; humans remove them);
larval stages (larva are directly preyed upon by spiders, shield bugs, assassin bugs and ants; they are parisitised by Tachinid flies or Braconid wasps);
adult butterflies (are preyed upon birds and frogs).

This moth, Cruria synopla, has no common name. Perhaps it should be called a "Bat Moth" because it likes to have its head towards the ground when it lands. It is pictured here on the Lemon-scented gum in the ELA.

Conclusion

Urban landscapes, including Sydney gardens, are capable of supporting a wide range of butterfly species. A combination of local Sydney plants for larval food and adult butterfly nectar needs can contribute to the maintenance of local and regional biodiversity of butterflies. Butterfly gardening provides an opportunity to help some species persist in otherwise sterile urban landscapes.

There is scope for increasing the diversity of butterfly food plants in our gardens, especially if we coordinate this with the other co-requisites of butterflies (sunshine, shelter from wind, water sources and freedom from pesticides). It is a very worthwhile challenge for native plant gardeners everywhere.

Appendix: Examples of food plants:

Native species
Acacia podalyrifolia (Mt Morgan wattle)
Acacia melanoxylon (blackwood)
Bursaria spinosa
Calytrix tetragona
Carex sp.
Dianella revoluta
Dianella tasmanica
Gahnia sp.
Helipterum anthemoides
Indigofera australis (native indigo)
Kunzea ambigua
Kunzea parvifolia
Leptospermum brachyandrum
Leptospermum juniperinum 'horizontalis'
Leptospermum lanigerum
Leptospermum obovatum
Lomandra sp. (mat rush)
Olearia phlogopappa (daisy bush)
Parahebe perfoliata (speedwell)
Poa sp. (snow grass)
Restio tetraphyllus
Westringia glabra (native rosemary)
Westringia longifolia (native rosemary)

Introduced species

Abelia x grandiflora (glossy abelia)
Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush)
Centranthus ruber (red spurred valerian)
Choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom)
Cistus sp. (rock rose)
Dianthus sp. (pinks and sweet william)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Hebe sp. (hebe)
Helianthus annuus (sunflower)
Lathyrus odoratus (sweet pea)
Lavanadula spp. (lavender)
Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)
Monarda sp. (bee balm)
Myosotis sp. (forget-me-nots)
Origanum majorana (marjoram)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Salvia sp (sages)
Santolina sp. (lavender cotton)
Teucrium chamaedrys (wall germander)
Tropaeolum hybrids (nasturtium)
Valeriana officinalis (valerian)

For Moths (night-scented flowers):

Native species
Pittosporum undulatum

Introduced species
Hesperis matronalis (sweet rocket)
Lonicera (honeysuckle)
Myrrhis odorata (sweet cicely)
Narcissus sp. (daffodils, jonquils)
Philadelphus (mock orange)

Resources

Books:

Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden
Author: Densey Clyne
Publisher: New Holland Publishers - rrp $23.95 IBSN: 1 8 7633 456 8
Distributor: CSIRO Publishing
Freecall: 1800 645 051

Internet:

Plenty of information can be found via a Google search BUT… a word of warning: do not order seeds advertised on the Internet in webpages promoting butterflies. These plants are usually unsuitable for our native butterflies to breed on — and some have the potential to become serious weeds in Australian bushland.

Birds in black and white

2008-02-19T22:59:00.001-08:00

Did you know that most of the birds at our school are black and white? This seems to be the colour of birds that are most common in our cities and it can be rather tricky telling some of them apart.

The following photos and text should give you some clues to identify the different species.

Black birds

Crows (or ravens) are black all over with white eyes. They are very large birds, measuring around 52cm. Their call is a drawn out "ark, ark" sound. There are feathers under their chins called "throat hackles"These fan out to form a beard when the crow is calling.

Crows nest in the highest branches of very tall trees. They are commonly seen at school in the fig trees or trying to raid garbage bins for food. Crows are extremely clever birds and are one of the few animals that has been observed making tools in nature.

Other birds that are black all over include male Koels which have red eyes and a long square tail and Spangled Drongos which have red eyes and a flaring forked tail. Crows are much larger than both these birds.

Black and white birds

Magpies are mostly black but have a wide, white collar - also called a nape. Adult magpies have red eyes and a white beak with a black tip.

We mostly associate magpies with swooping attacks during nesting season but although there has been a nesting magpie in the Camphor Laurel tree on C Playground it doesn't seem to have been bothered by hoardes of school children.

Currawongs are mostly black with white feathers near their tails but no white near their necks. They have bright yellow eyes and a black beak.

Currawongs used to migrate to Sydney from the Blue Mountains but there are so many food sources for them here that they've become permanent. They prefer forests and woodlands for habitat and are not commonly seen at school. These two were photographed in Wolli Valley bushland.

Magpie larks are a much smaller black and white bird. They have a white beak and a white eye. The male has a black throat and the female has a white throat. The male is also described as having a white eyebrow but if you think of him as wearing a mask like Zorro it will help to remember which one is male!

Wagtails are one of the smaller black and white birds seen at school. They are common througout Australia and one of the easiest to identify because of their wagging tail action. They are mostly black with a white front and a white eyebrow. They are extremely territorial and will chase off birds much larger than themselves.

White birds

Ibis are predominantly white. They have a black head and some black tail feathers. Ibis are another species that have adopted Sydney as a permanent home even though they used to be migratory. Drought and loss of wetlands in rural areas is thought to be the reason. Unfortunately, ibis spend a lot of time raiding garbage bins for food and have a bad reputation.

Cockatoos come in various colours. Sulphur crested cockatoos are white all over (except for the yellow crest) and can be seen here in the school's front garden. They are not regular visitors. They make a brief and noisy appearance when this tree is in seed.

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Activity - visit the school grounds and make a list of all the birds. How many are black and white birds? How many are coloured?

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Activity - identify the following birds from their descriptions

1. A am a medium-sized, male bird. My beak is dark. I have a white eyebrow but a black throat. The sound of my call is "pee-wee, pee-wee".

2. I am a medium-sized bird. I am mostly black with a splash of white behind my neck and on my wings. I like to eat worms and grubs on the ground.

3. I am a small bird. My back is black, my belly is white. I like open, grassy areas. I wag my tail from side to side and catch the insects that fly up from the ground.

Fish

2008-02-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

Part of the process for building a frog pond at school was deciding which fish to introduce. Extensive research was undertaken to identify a local, native fish species that would control mosquito larvae without eating frogs eggs or tadpoles.

A colourful Empire Gudgeon found in Wolli Creek.

The following fish occur locally in the freshwater sections of Wolli Creek:
Firetail Gudgeon
Empire Gudgeon
Striped Gudgeon
Flathead Gudgeon
Common Jollytail

Of these, only the Firetail Gudgeon is considered frog-friendly and not needing saltwater for part of its life-cycle so it would be the most suitable species for the school pond.

However, if fish of this species were sourced from aquariums they might have come from warmer climates and may not be acclimatised to Sydney outdoors! The species for our school pond will be sourced locally with the help of Canterbury Council and NSW Fisheries.

Firetail Gudgeon occur in streams, ponds, swamps and drains, usually among aquatic weeds. Juveniles feed on zooplankton while adults feed on insects, larvae and small crustaceans. They breed between October and January in response to rising water temperatures. Male colouration intensifies at this time. Eggs are laid underneath rock ledges, logs or leaves and are guarded and fanned by the male parent until hatching, 3-5 days later.

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Activity - contact Voren for activity sheets relating to local native fish species.

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Activity - Divide the class (Yr 6) into small groups. Give every group the following set of criteria.

Ideally fish for our pond would be:
- a small species;
- suitable to still water;
- suitable to freshwater habitat;
- native to Australia;
- that would eat mosquito larvae;
- that would not eat frogs eggs;
- that would not need filtration; and
- that would be suitable to East Coast (Sydney) climate.

Give each group a different fact sheet for a particular species. Or get them to google the species for homework.

Crimson-spotted Rainbow Fish, Melanotaenia splendida fluviatilis
Blue-spot Goby, Pseudogobius olorum
Western Carp Gudgeon, Hypseleotris klunzingeri
Bony Bream, Nematalosa erebi
Southern Pygmy Perch, Nannoperca australis
Australian Smelt, Retropinna semoni
Agassiz's Glassfish (Ambassis agassizii)
Common Jollytail (Galaxias maculatus)

Ask groups to present the case for or against their species being introduced to the school's eco pond.

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Some useful websites:

Fresh Water Fish of the Sydney Region (poster)

Australian Museum Fish Site

Frog pond

2008-02-19T18:20:00.001-08:00

In 2005, parents from the school applied for a grant to develop a natural habitat refuge for local frogs, small birds and animals. It was proposed that no creature would be introduced but that the habitat built and planted should be sufficient to attract local, native species.

In 2006 Year 6 students, with teachers and parents, set about building an eco pond and the rest followed. Now, in 2008 we have a habitat rich with reptiles, invertebrates and, at last, frogs!

After the initial structure was created the task was to transform black plastic, concrete and sandstone into a place that frogs would choose to live. It was said that any body of water left for 6 weeks would attract frogs but we found that was not the case.

Much research went into finding species of native plants that grow in the local area and would encourage frogs to move in. With advice from some plant enthusiasts in the Wolli and Bardwell Valleys we recieved both advice and donated plants including:

River Club Rush Schoenoplectus validus (sourced from Botany wetlands);

Knobbly Club Rush Isolepis nodosus;

Tall Sedge Carex appressa - local to the Cooks River Valley;

Blady Grass Imperata cylindica (sourced locally);

Kidney weed Dichondra repens;

Native reeds Juncus usitatus; and

Long hair plume grass Dichelachne crinita.

An aquatic fern called Azolla was introduced to help clean up the water and Duckweed mysteriously appeared (possibly arriving in small quantities with one of the donated plants). Lomandra, dianella and bracken ferns were sourced from Marrickville Community Nursery and the result is a pond that looks like this:

Frogs were first noticed on a weeding and watering expedition during the summer holidays. A frog loudly and proudly sang "bonk.... bonk..." to our delighted ears. After school returned, tadpoles could be seen flicking about under the Azolla and duckweed and one enterprising kindergartener lifted a section of pond to find a fully grown frog underneath. This camouflaged fellow is a Striped Marsh Frog.

The tadpoles were observed in two distinct sizes. The large ones with slightly-developed back legs and the small ones without. This suggests that perhaps several adults have bred at different stages and the prospect looks good for an ongoing population at the school.

Some weeks later front legs became apparent.

Then, at last, we found a fully developed frog:

We have yet to stock the pond with fish. That's one creature that will not be able to find its own way to the ELA! Extensive research was undertaken to identify a local native fish species that would control mosquito larvae without eating frogs eggs or tadpoles. These will be sourced locally as fish from aquariums may not be acclimatised to Sydney outdoors! In the meatime, there's plenty of exciting life to be studied in and around the eco pond.

Frog update

At Gardening Club (12 March 2009) our Yr 1 naturalist, Trystan (pictured above) found not just frog spawn, well concealed under the Carex grass, but also the frog who appeared to be in the process of laying the eggs.

Activity - research and draw the life cycle of a frog.

Activity - answer this online frog quiz.

Spiders

2008-02-18T16:32:00.001-08:00

How do you know when you've found a spider in the garden? They come in so many colours, shapes and sizes. They can be as small as a pin head or as large as your hand! Some spiders are brightly coloured or patterned and some are camouflaged against their chosen background. Others are known to disguise themselves as things like ants, sticks, crabs and bird-droppings! so how do we even know if what we've found is a spider?

We generally know something is a spider if it has 8 legs (although mites have 8 legs too). Webs are another way of deciding something is a spider but don't forget:
- some other creatures spin silk; and
- some spiders live in burrows or under bark instead of in webs.

Within the school grounds there are many different spiders. Here are some photos and some information about the different homes they live in and the way they catch food.

Orb Weavers

The St Andrew's Cross spider is an orb weaver. That means it spins a round web. This spider has brightly coloured stripes on its abdomen and even the underside is very colourful. The St Andrew's Cross spider rests with its legs grouped in pairs so that it looks like it only has four legs. It often creates zig zag patterns with silk inside its web.

As with many spiders, the male is much smaller than the female (see above).

Other orb weavers include the Garden Orb Weaver, the Silver Orb Weaver and the largest Australian Spider, the Golden Orb Weaver. Here is a Silver Orb Weaver from the Eco Learning Area and next to it is a tiny orb weaver that is only about 2mm long!

Leaf Curlers

Another type of spider that is very common at school and in local bushland is the Leaf-curling spider. This spider spins a partial orb (only one part of a cirlce) and it hides in a curled up leaf attached to the web.

It is very unusual to see the spider itself. They are quick to retreat inside the leaf if disturbed and the most you see are the front legs and a hint of yellow on the abdomen. The photos above show the spider inside its curled leaf having a meal; the underside of a leaf curler in broad daylight; and a leaf-curler that has recently shed its skin.

Flower Spiders

The Flower Spider hides under leaves waiting to ambush its prey. They are quite small spiders. These spiders were found hiding on Greek basil in the herb spiral:

Some flower spiders are very colourful so that they can sit on top of a bright flower waiting to catch a bee or fly that lands there. This white flower spider has caught a moth much larger than itself.

Spiders without webs

Wolf spiders live in shallow burrows. You will probably only see these if they are wandering or disturbed by weeding. Here is one on the path in the ELA.

Huntsman spiders live under loose bark. They often come inside buildings during wet weather. They are most active at night time.

Pictured above: a huntsman on the path in the ELA and a pair of hunstmen found under bark.

Identifying a spider

To identify a spider you need to be able to describe it in detail. The parts of a spider have special names like cephalothorax, palps and spinnerets. This website helps you to identify them all.

Activity - The following photo of a huntsman has some parts labelled. Can you think of any labels that are missing?

Activity: Look back through this blog article. Can you see any spinnerets? What part of the spider are they on?

Activity: Look closely at the following photo. Can you see a spider? (Hint: a hiding spider will often have one leg attached to its web to sense any movement from prey being caught.)

The hidden spider in this photo is a Long-jawed spider.

Activity - Look at the spider photos from Wolli Creek. Which ones are camouflaged and which ones are mimics?

Bats

2008-02-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Residents of the inner-west are noticing blackened skies around dusk as a large camp of flying foxes leave their roost in the Wolli Valley and head out to feed in the suburbs.

Many of these bats find their way to our school where they feast in the giant fig trees or find pollen in our Eucalypt trees. This bat was on a gum tree inside the ELA:

And this one in the giant fig trees at the front of the school:

The Wolli Valley camp was first established in the Valley in mid-2007 and then estimated to contain over 1000 Grey-headed Flying-foxes. A bat count in April 2008 estimated the population to be well over 5000 individuals. This dramatic increase in numbers means that many bats will become trapped or injured in areas where people are not used to them.

Bats entangled in fruit nets become badly injured by trying to escape. Do not try to remove the animal yourself (their bite may carry a disease called lyssavirus). Another problem for bats is electrocution on power lines but did you know that a young bat, clinging to its mother, can survive the electric shock? It helps to look at bats hanging from electric wires to see if a juvenile bat is attached and still moving! These youngsters will starve unless they are rescued.

If you find an animal that needs help call a wildlife rescue group such as Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services (02 9413 4300) or WIRES (1300 094 737).

Flying fox injuries include torn wings and damage to mouths as they try to fight their way out of fruit nets. Many of these injuries can mend with time, medical treatment and the devotion of wildlife carers. Bats can be released back to the wild where they can continue their important role as pollinators of native trees.

This is one of 5 bats recently from fruit nets and taken to a wildlife carer's home to recover.

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In an attempt to address the growing curiosity of the community about these new residents, Marjorie Beck and Nancy Pallin of the Ku-ring-gai Bat Conservation Society will conduct a talk on bats at 7.30 pm on Wed 7 May in the upstairs meeting room. The talk will include a Powerpoint presentation about flying foxes and even a living example!

The KBCS is a non-profit community organization working for the conservation of all bat species, especially the Grey-headed flying-fox, and they are keen to share their knowledge with us. Their website is: http://www.sydneybats.org.au/cms/

Meanwhile, you can read more about flying fox habits on the WCPS website at http://www.wollicreek.org.au/flying_fox.html.

Bat facts

Bats are the only mammals that can fly.

The grey-headed flying fox is an endangered species.

Bats drink by dunking their bodies in water then licking the water off their fur.

Grey headed flying foxes returning to roost in the Wolli Valley

Click here for video footage by Gavin Gatenby capturing the fly out on 22 November 2009. The temperatures exceeded 40 degrees and thousands of bats dipped into Wolli Creek to cool off and have a drink before heading out into the night.

Busy bees

2007-11-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

Most people are familiar with the most common bee in Australia, the honey bee (Apis mellifera). What they might not know is that this species was introduced to Australia from Europe in about 1822 to ensure that the new colony had plenty of honey.

You might wonder why this happened if you knew that Australia has over 1500 species of native bees.

But most of Australia's native bees are solitary bees. They do not live in hives with groups of bees but individually create burrows to raise their young. With burrows scattered across all sorts of locations in the ground, in sandstone, in leaves, in hollow wood and even in the walls of houses it would be difficult to source their honey for human consumption.

Since the establishment of the Eco Learning Area, many different species of native bees have been observed at the school. Following are some examples from school. Follow the hyperlinks to external websites with more information and extra photos.

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Blue-banded bees

The Blue banded bee is a solitary bee. It is smaller than the honey bee and less aggressive. Even so, it can give a mild sting if touched or trodden on. These ones are pictured on tiny flowers in the herb spiral. The distinctive blue bands can be seen clearly in this image (photographed in the Wolli Valley).

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Trigona

This next bee is one you probably haven't noticed... they are only about 4mm long! Trigona are one of the stingless bees. The images below show the size of Trigona in relation to a brocolli flower in the herb spiral and a dandelion in the Wolli Valley. Australia has 10 species of social bees which have the added bonus of being stingless! These are becoming increasingly popular as pets! You can buy a hive of native stingless bees for your garden. They are very important pollinators of native flowers. Some Australian plants are so unique they can only be pollinated by native bees.

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Red bees

The following bee, pictured on the tiny yellow flower of a brocolli plant could be Rayment's Red Bee (Lasioglossum hiltacum) but there are several similar bees in the Sydney region that also match.

Notice the pollen on its shoulders (click to enlarge image). Other bees accumulate pollen on their legs and abdomens (see below). And the colour of the pollen differs dramtically between flowers.

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Leafcutter bees

This next bee is thought to be the Gold-Tipped Leafcutter (Megachile chrysopyga). Leafcutter bees, as the name suggests, cut sections out of leaves to make nests for their young.

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Nomia bees

This drinking bee (below) is a Nomia, probably a Green and Gold Nomia (Lipotriches australica). Despite the very social look of the second photo these are solitary bees. A female bee will either build a nest, lay and care for her own eggs OR share a nest with other females but still care for her own eggs. While the females nest in the ground or in rotting wood, males simply cluster together at night. These males can often be seen in the warmer months gathered on a stem of lavender in the mint bed near the herb spiral.

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Cuckoo bees

The most spectacular bee so far observed in the ELA is the Neon Cuckoo Bee (Thyreus nitidulus). A cuckoo bee does not bother with building its own nest but lays its eggs in another bee's nest. This bee has the most spectacular iridescent blue colour in flight. It doesn't land for long so keep your eye out for a bright blue blurr!

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Teddy bear bees

One last species seen in the ELA is the very cute but very elusive Teddy Bear Bee. This bee is also a solitary bee that nests in shallow burrows in the ground. The name comes from their fat, furry bodies. They have one distinct dark stripe across their russet-coloured abdomen.

For more information about native Australian bees, visit the following websites:

http://www.aussiebee.com.au and http://www.australiannativebees.com

Or visit this site to learn how to attract native bees to your garden and this site to find out what bees you can expect to find in your area.

Herons in the herbs

2007-11-27T20:58:00.001-08:00

Recent rain has helped the herb spiral to flourish. It has also seen the rapid growth of the surrounding lawn and this has been the ideal habitat for some very elegant diners. A family of White-faced herons spent several days foraging for insects amongst the wet grass. When disturbed these enormous water birds would take refuge on nearby rooftops. But the herb spiral was too tempting and they were soon back for more.

The colouring suggests that the visitors are two juveniles - they are lacking the stark white face that gives them their name. Another difference is that juveniles fly with their neck extended while the adults curve their necks back into their bodies. These youngsters are lucky to have the school grounds to get used to the world before heading off for a life along the Cooks River and beyond. But we'll probably see them next year when they look for a safe place to nest.

Back in the school grounds another family of herons is just getting started. During the school holidays a nest was established in the same location as last year. For many weeks the only thing to be seen was the tail of the parent sitting on eggs and the increasing collection of white poo on the ground.

In recent weeks there has been much more activity. Three chicks have hatched and there is a flurry of activity every time a parent returns with food.

In a very short time the chicks have gone from fragile fluff balls with weak looking wings to quite sizeable and strong individuals. In between feeds they stretch their wings, walk (or rather stagger) around each other in the crowded nest or stand tall. This exercise will help prepare them for short visits to nearby branches and the ultimate challenge of learning to fly.

Playground design

2007-11-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

The May Fair successfully raised funds to improve the school grounds and upgrades were considered most needed in Playground C. In addition to this, the Environment Sub-committee (ESC) had negotiated for mass native planting to be donated by Transgrid under their Greengrid initiative.

With money and plants ready to go we nevertheless wanted to take our time to get it right. Year 3 undertook a design project that consulted students and came up with a comprehensive plan for playground improvement as part of the Kids’ Design Challenge in Term 3, 2007.

Here is the 3-D model of their proposal:

3W students questioned students in each class about their playground and activity preferences and, specifically, their likes and dislikes about Playground C. For 75% of Ferncourt students, this is their favourite playground.

3W’s Playground C Design Brief

The class developed the following design brief for improvements to Playground C which:

Allow maximum running areas
Protect and improve existing grass and trees
Make playing fields usable again
Make the playground safer and
Ensure the playground can be used and enjoyed by everyone from K-6.

Overall a majority of students approved all five suggestions. The most popular change was a second set of equipment and the least popular was the new Greengrid planting.

This close up shows the existing trees, interspersed with low-growing native plants around the perimeter. The soccer posts are re-oriented and the fence raised to prevent lost soccer balls!

There were also plans for a additional set of play equipment although it should be noted that Yr 3 were not working to a budget and the ESC had discovered through their research that even a small piece of play equipment would quickly exhaust available funds.

The Rose Garden

2007-10-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

The school's Rose Garden was established to complement the heritage building and, unlike other areas of the school, it focuses on a formal layout and non-indigenous species.

This garden reflects a time in history when gardeners aspired to replicating the English countryside rather than embracing the beauty and hardiness of Australian native plants.

In nearby garden beds, either side of the school entrance, there are Columbines, Flox and many other plants that might have graced these gardens in the building's past.

And lets just revist those delightful roses. These photos were taken in December 2007.

Nesting season

2007-09-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

The sound of over-protective birds has alerted us to a number of nests in the school grounds. Here you can just see the head of an adult magpie in a nest in the top of the Camphor Laurel on Playground "C".

And a return from school holidays has seen yet another nest established in the school grounds. The white faced herons have chosen the same site as last year in a Moreton Bay fig tree to establish a nest. Stay tuned for photos and updates.

Another nest was discovered to be not so secure when two Noisy Miner chicks were found on the footpath and given to the school office! Some quick thinking saw the chicks returned to their distressed parents in a makeshift nest. You can just see the miner chick peeking over the edge.

Most of us grew up being told that nests would be abandoned if humans touched them. In fact, the best thing you can do for a fallen chick, assuming it is not injured, is place it back in the tree because the parents are still eager to care for it.

Rescue can be as simple as placing an icecream container in the tree so the chicks can be out of harms way. If left on the ground the chicks could be eaten by cats. The container will need a few drainage holes and a secure position so that it doesn't blow down. The parents will resume feeding the chick.

Sadly, in the case of the Miner chicks the following night was ferociously windy and rainy and the babies were found the next morning on the ground again, persumably having died from exposure.

Colours of Spring

2007-08-24T02:07:00.001-07:00

It might be technically winter but Spring is all around us in the ELA! Native plants are sporting gorgeous pinks and purples (Indigophora and Hardenbergia plants).

Rocket and broccoli have gone to flower, creating a very attractive garden for the bees.

Strawberry plants in the herb spiral are starting to produce fruit and the spinach looks more like an artwork than a vegetable!

Spuds galore

2007-08-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Keen eyes observed that the potato crop was ready for harvest. It wasn't just the wilting leaves that were the sign of ripeness. Potates seemed to be bursting out of the ground throughout the garden bed.

Word spread, and soon a bumper crop was harvested. The produce was stored in the cool dark interier of the school while a plan was hatched for a feast!

Towards the end of term the spuds (parboiled by enthusiastic parents) were barbecued with olive oil and rosemary (from the herb spiral, of course).

Chef Peter cooked an enormous number of spuds while students and parents queued up for serve after serve of the delicious potatoes.

Grammar soup

2007-06-25T17:45:00.001-07:00

Recent rain has seen the vegie garden and herb spiral produce some spectacular looking produce. And captured here, on a rare sunny afternoon, the garden is looking very tasty indeed.

With school holidays only days away it seemed a good opportunity to turn ripe vegetables into a learning experience.

After picking and washing the vegetables we took them back to the classroom for closer inspection. We talked about using fresh, organic vegetables with no processed ingredients. We also talked about safe methods for chopping the vegetables and how chopping smaller pieces would help speed up the cooking. Unfortunately our cooking technology was a Crock Pot that dates back to the 1970s and was not very speedy at all. But students were astonished that soup could be made in a classroom without all the usual trappings of a kitchen and this was an important lesson too.

So while the soup simmered away the class wrote a procedure for making vegetable soup.

Procedure

The method was as follows:
1. Soak the soup mix overnight.
2. Set up the cooking pot and add the soup mix.
3. Turn on the power.
4. Gather vegetables from the garden.
5. Prepare vegetables by washing, peeling and chopping.
6. Add prepared vegetables to the pot.
7. Carefully stir the soup then cover with a lid.
8. Cook till the vegetables are soft and then serve.

As we wrote the procedure we stopped to identify the verb in each procedure point. The word "carefully" was discovered to be an adverb so then we made soup-related sentences and worked out whether the describing words were adverbs or adjectives.

For example: "The soup is cooking slowly" and "We are writing on a dusty blackboard".

Despite insufficient cooking time and the need for an extra stock cube, the students declared that Grammar Soup was delicious.

Task 1: Follow the procedures to make your own soup.

Task 2: Find the verbs in the procedure list (above).
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Fungi Patch - June 2007

2007-06-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

The cold weather has had an interesting effect on the fungi patch.
Here's an image of an emerging stinkhorn, most probably a Lantern Stinkhorn (Lysurus mokusin). The interesting thing is that while these usually emerge and perish in a day, this particular one has looked like this for three days!

Here is another that has stalled in its development:

I suspect the cold and rain has prevented their development so it will be interesting to see what today's glimmer of sunshine does.
Meanwhile, some Red stinkhorns Phallus rubicundus have appeared and deteriorated during the same period so I've deduced they prosper in a cooler temperature.

It looks like the stinky stuff has washed off in the rain. I doubt there were many flies about to assist with spreading the spores.

This last image is of a Phallus rubicundus that was emerging this morning.

The race is on between it and the Lantern stinkhorn... stay tuned.

Eco Learning Area

2007-03-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

The Eco Learning Area (ELA) is a P&C initiative to change an abandoned area of the school grounds into an area for learning about nature and the environment. Several working bees and many additional volunteer hours by dedicated parents have seen a great transformation over recent months.

The ELA features an eco pond built by year 6 in 2006. The project for 2007 was to convert this pond into frog-friendly habitat.

Here is an early stage of herb spiral construction; hard yakka weeding the spiral and relocating a giant ironbark log; and its resting place as a seat by the eco-pond.

The official opening of the ELA will happen in May but it has already been used for learning in a number of ways. On Harmony Day the herb spiral and vegie gardens were planted by students. There have been excursions from the classroom to the Fungi Patch.

And then there's the spontaneous learning that this area invites: on a recent working bee the young children were drawn to the eco pond as two boys from year 1 talked spontaneously about mosquito larvae.

Bushwalks

2007-03-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

As an extension of enjoying nature at school we have invited parents and children on bushwalks in the nearby valley.

The inaugural Ferncourt bushwalk set out on 2 March and there are now five reliable witnesses (including one school principal) to attest that there is a wealth of bush within walking distance from the school. Walkers encountered mangrove swamps, fern-lined gullies and Angophora (Sydney Red Gum) forests. There were unique geological formations, all manner of spiders and for the bird watchers: pied cormorants, blue wrens and red-browed finches. The walk took 1.5 hours.

The second walk was intentionally shorter so that children could participate. And although the distance covered was greatly reduced, the walk nevertheless took two hours as the children stopped to examine every millipede, bug and fungus that appeared after recent rain. There was much shouting with enthusiasm at every new discovery so it was not the ideal day for locals to have a quiet moment with nature. But the walkers we encountered seemed very approving of youngsters getting involved.

The children were fearless and agile climbers who braved the top of Nannygoat hill to enjoy the fabulous view.

A magnifying glass proved essential equipment for the studies that were undertaken!

Harmony Day

2007-03-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

This year, 2007, our school has chosen Harmony Day to plant the Herb Spiral in the Eco Learning Area. This garden combines the herbs and edible plants of different cultures in the same way that our school combines and celebrates the different cultures within Australian society.

Before and after:

As our herbs grow together in one spiral they will provide food and shelter for a variety of creatures, from small insects to large lizards.

The plants will provide nectar for bees; the bees will spread pollen for the plants; the growing plants will provide ingredients that we can take home and cook, and the garden will provide a place to learn about nature, growing and changing.

This is harmony in nature.

And just as we will need to work on the herb spiral to keep out weeds, to water and nurture the plants, we also need to work on our behaviour in society, weeding out bad behaviour and saying 'no' to racism.

This diverse garden bed is a physical symbol of cultures existing and working together in harmony.

This is harmony in society.

Fungi Patch

2007-03-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Fungi season announced itself at school with the arrival of some bright red, smelly stalks in a bark-mulched garden bed. These were Stinkhorns (Phallus rubicundus) and caught many a curious eye.

Closer inspection revealed other kinds of fungi growing in the same bed which has since been dubbed the Fungi Patch.

Stinkhorns grow out of the leaf litter on rainforest floors. The spores for the fungi at school have arrived in the bark mulch and will keep appearing when the conditions are just right. They grow very quickly and usually shrink and disappear by the end of the day.

Stinkhorn fungi produce spore slime, which has a yucky, rotting smell, just perfect for attracting flies. Flies and other insects land on the sticky slime and carry spores away on their feet thus spreading them to the places that they land.

Experiment: Using a magnifying glass, see how many different kinds of flies and insects land on the spore slime.

Experiment: Visit the stinkhorns in the morning and afternoon and see how quickly they grow and then collapse.

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Another fungi can be seen all over this garden bed, if you look very closely. It is the Birds Nest Fungi.

Bird's nest fungi normally grow on manure or decaying wood. They have also arrived on the bark mulch and set up home at school.

The spores in this fungi are held inside hard, egg-like casings called peridioles. The way they are spread is by drops of water splashing into the "nest" and causing the "eggs" to eject up to a metre away. They have a sticky case which helps them to cling on to surfaces where they land, sometimes on furniture and houses. If animals eat leaves that the spores have stuck to this will help spread the fungi even further away.
These fungi are rarely noticed because they are so small - usually less that 1cm high and wide. In this photo, the light brown ones are the newest. You can see some that have just started to open and are quite moist inside. The oldest have the black peridioles and are just waiting for a splash of water.

Experiment: try using an eye dropper to drip water into the "nest" and see if the spores eject.

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There are several types of capped fungi in this garden bed too. This is the most familiar type of fungus and has very straightforward design features. The stalk holds the spores up above the damp ground and the cap keeps them dry, just like an umbrella. The spores are kept inside the gills until they're ready and then they drop to the ground to grow more fungi.

The first image shows a delicate grey fungi species (Coprinus) that are very short lived. The one on the left has already started to deteriorate.

The second picture is a small brown toadstool.

The 3rd picture shows a large mushroom that was relocated to the Fungi Patch from elsewhere in the ELA. It may not survive in the new environement but look out for it in the shade of the centre log.

The last image is of a minute capped fungi that was almost too tiny to see with your eyes.

You can read more about fungi here and see hundreds of photos of different fungi species.