Year 8 Biodiversity Day

Year 8 students enjoyed a Biodiversity Day coordinated by Petaurus Education Group (PEG) and funded by Wodonga Urban Landcare Network with support from the Victorian Government.

The Biodiversity Day aimed to increase students’ understanding of biodiversity and their connection to the native plants and animals that are found in the College grounds. Some were quite amazed at the variety of life within reach once they took a closer and careful look.

Students rotated through four workshops facilitated by different presenters.

Water Bugs

Kathie Le Busque  and Caitlin Olsson (both from PEG) ran the Water Bugs workshop. Students caught and identified water bugs from their wetland and learnt about their importance as an indicator of the health of the wetland. 

Given their bug count from the dam behind Luther Hall, students found 20 different species and now have the evidence that tells us the water quality is very good, for the bugs, not us.

Botanical Art

Wiradjuri artist David Dunn ran a drawing lesson with students to teach them how to draw the Silver Wattle and its significance to Indigenous people.

Insect Safari

Students learnt where to spot insects, why they’re important and tales of their intriguing lifestyles. Under Karen Retra's guiding eye, they found an astonishing number of insects enjoying the Spring bloom.

Native Plants

Anne Stelling (Wodonga Urban Landcare) and Junior White (Peg) provided the students with a variety of native plants which were planted, mulched and watered around the wetlands.