This was a great opportunity to experience the university facilities and learn in ways that aren’t always possible in a school.
On Tuesday 21 June, the Year 12 Integrated Science class attended an excursion run by Murdoch University at their Murdoch campus. The aim of the excursion was to link into the Ecological Science content that we were learning as part of our course and to engage in some hands-on activities.
The excursion consisted of 2 main workshops delivered by the university. The first was a walk through the wetlands on the grounds of the university to take water samples and examine them for invertebrate species present. We were surprisingly treated to a dress-up activity as well, firstly struggling to get into those lovely plastic ponchos (something that is always entertaining to watch) and secondly a couple of students modelling a pair of waders as they took water samples. We managed to get some great images of some of the invertebrates present as we examined the quality of the water by identifying the number and type of species present.
The second workshop involved a board game developed through the university looking at the ecosystem pressures facing a local native species, the quenda (a species which is also present at the school). Through the board game, we were able to learn some information about how these pressures are affecting the quenda and ways in which we may be able to alleviate some of these impacts.
Overall, it was a great opportunity to experience the university facilities and learn in ways that are not always possible in a school.
