DEP and Parks and Wildlife working with schools
Working with schools.
Image: Derwent Estuary Program
The Derwent Estuary Program (DEP) and Parks and Wildlife Service Discovery Rangers are combining forces to bring the diversity of the Derwent estuary into schools and the wider community. Information about the Derwent’s wetlands, saltmarshes and rocky reefs is now available online for teachers and students to use in the classroom and out in the field.
Tasmania’s Parks and Wildlife Service Discovery Rangers have expertise in delivering science in a fun and informative way and will use the DEP’s resources at local primary schools.
Ursula Taylor, Communications Officer for the DEP said this partnership is an excellent example of sharing expertise to deliver locally collected science to the community.
“The Derwent is a fascinating and diverse system and having the opportunity to work with the PWS Discovery Rangers to share our knowledge is fantastic,” Ms Taylor said.
“There are wetlands, saltmarshes and rocky reefs on Hobart’s doorstep that support an amazing array of birds, fish and even marine mammals and up until recently teacher resources on many of these topics have had to be sourced from elsewhere, including interstate.”
“The Discovery Rangers have helped us adapt our information so that students can better engage with the experience and therefore learn more,” explained Ms Taylor.
PWS Discovery Ranger Richard Hale said the partnership with the DEP was also valuable for the Discovery Rangers.
“It’s great to share scientific resources about our local environment and the strength of the Discovery Rangers is finding creative ways to use this information to connect with their audience,” Mr Hale said. “Today I worked with Rosetta Primary School students visiting Goulds Lagoon. I talked about why wetlands are known as filters and how so many birds, fish and invertebrates come live there.”
Goulds Lagoon is situated north of Hobart off the Main Road between Austins Ferry and Granton.
View our educational resources for teachers or students.
Further information about the PWS Discovery Ranger program.
Tuesday 18 November 2014