HOLGATE PS ENVIRONMENT SIGN PROJECT

1. HOLGATE PS ENVIRONMENT SIGN PROJECT

2. Where is Holgate situated Holgate Public School is situated in the Matcham Holgate Valley and is near Katandra Reserve.

3. About our school • We have a beautiful forest in the middle of our school. • We have signs in the garden to describe different types of trees.

4. Two years ago, our senior environment group started looking at how we could update our signs.

5. We decided we would make signs about environmental systems rather then individual trees.

6. We selected the following topics.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES • Rubbish, soaps, cleaning products,fertilisers, paint, grease and oil that enters into streets or storm drains pollutes waterways. • Bare soil can wash into the drains and increase turbidity. • Planting trees can help reduce storm water runoff. Storm water that does not soak into the ground become surface run off , which either flows directly into surface water ways or is channeled into storm sewers , which eventually discharge to surface waters. • Activity • Check storm water drains for rubbish. See link for stormwater audit process http://www.rumbalara.eec.education.nsw.gov.au/semp/semp.htm • Follow the path of the storm water in the school • Make a catchment model

8. A wildlife corridor is a connection between previously separated habitats. Habitats have been separated by land clearing for houses and roads. If animals walk along the ground to reach habitats they risk being eaten by cats and foxes and may be hit by cars when crossing roads. Animals need to roam through other habitats so they can forage for different foods that might only occur in specific places. By planting trees Holgate P.S can provide a connection between Fires Ck and Katandra Reserve Activity Imagine you are a possum, bird or a lizard trying to reach Fires Ck. Choose a safe path through the school. In which areas would you need to run along the ground and risk being eaten by predators? How could this be prevented?

9. Aboriginal Use Of Plants • Environment issues • . Managing the environment then and now. • Native animals also like to eat bush tucker plants • . Land clearing has reduced the amount of bust tucker plants. • A lot of our local Aboriginal knowledge about local plants was lost Indigenous Australians people have been eating bush tucker for over 40 000 years. When they collected their food they often collect what they need and when there is still some food on the trees left they move to another area so the plant wouldn’t be fruitless. Today we call this sustainable living. Plants were also used for medicine, structures, tools and weapons Activity Yum Yum! Use your senses to touch, smell and taste some bush tucker plants

10. Significant Trees Environment Some threatened species that live in our valley and tree hollows are, Sugar Gliders and Yellow Bellied Gliders, Powerful and Sooty Owls and Bat???which one Nest boxes, logs, provide alternative homes Activity * Find the different habitats in different parts of the rainforest layers Measure the girth of all the large trees to calculate how much carbon they can store. http://www.rumbalara.eec.education.nsw.gov.au/resources/energy.htm • Trees are important and as • *they store CO2 which is a gas that is causing Climate Change • they provide oxygen for us to breathe • When thy older they become hollow and are important habitat for animals • They provide timber for building and construction, • History of valley and timbers

12. We have started our next sign on significant trees. The project will continue in 2012 to complete 7 signs around our school.

13. Thanks to Chris and Mark from Rumbalara for helping with this research for this project.

14. Twenty students from years 3-6 worked with Cheryl and Mel each Monday afternoon on our first sign.

15. We used the technique called collage to.........

17. Once we completed the artwork the sign was photographed and placed on the waterproof and light resistant Perspex and placed next to our frog pond.