Tangentyere's Indigenous Landcare Educational Program

	Land & Learning Water Activities
Home Page Animals Plants Water Land & Learning background Tangentyere Landcare services Contact Us Disclaimer	When the Land & Learning project workers visit schools we work with community members to do field activities with students and support teachers with classroom activities. Field Work We go out bush with the elders and school children to teach the children about water places, eg, traditional methods of looking after these places and dreaming stories. Activities include: cleaning up waterholes digging out soakages investigating which animals live near and rely on water places, by looking at nearby tracks; and looking for birds, frogs and other animals netting for invertebrates, other small water animals and fish dragonfly and frog life cycles We use these field trips to teach children about the importance of looking after water places, pollution, and the ecology of some water animals. Examples from the Land & Learning Activities Book Evaporation In the old times people used to cover up important rockholes with slabs of rock or sticks and leaves, to stop animals getting in and to protect the water from evaporation. You could ask the old people to tell you about this and to demonstrate it at a waterhole nearby. To demonstrate evaporation to students, place two bowls of water in the sun. Cover one with branches and leaves. Over a few days, watch the differences in evaporation rates from the two bowls. If you measure the amount of water lost each day, you can do a graph. Show students the narrow, tough or furry leaves of most native plants and the broad soft leaves of many introduced plants. Ask them which would lose more water through evaporation. [ILC] [Lit] [Num] [In 6] [Con4] Affects of Salty Water A man on the video talks about some bore water being too salty for plants and animals. Your class can look at how much salt is in their community water and compare it to other water sources. Put some community water in one flat dish, some bottled drinking water in another and some water with lots of salt stirred into it in a third dish. Clearly label these dishes. Find a safe place in the sun to leave them, or else somewhere in the classroom where they can be left undisturbed until the water evaporates. Experiment: Affect of Salty Water on Plants. Cut the tops off plastic bottles and make drainage holes in the bottom and half fill with soil. Plant ininti (bean tree) seeds in your containers. Make up three big coke bottles of water. Put no salt in one, ten teaspoons in the next and half a cup of salt in the last bottle. (Label bottles and pots clearly.) Water one pot with the unsalted water, one with the more salty water and the last with the very salty water. Note the differences in the growth of the seedlings. Draw the seedlings at regular intervals, with rulers included in the drawing to show the size of each plant. When you've finished with the experiment, plant the healthy little trees in the community where they can be easily watered. [Num] [Sci] [SOSE] Adopt a Waterhole Individual students, small groups or the whole class could adopt a waterhole to look after. In consultation with the old people, choose an appropriate water place to focus on. Investigate Which native plants and animals use the waterhole? Look for birds, frogs, dragonflies, fish and water invertebrates (you could go netting). Also look for the tracks of animals coming in to drink. Which native and feral animals are using this place? Draw a food web for the waterhole. What might it mean for the country around the waterhole if some of the animals get sick, die, or leave to find good water somewhere else? Ask the old people to talk about how the waterhole used to be looked after, and any stories, songs and dances that are associated with it, that can be told to children. Action Plan how the waterhole can be cleaned up now. List the resources, help and permission that will be needed. Help the students to find out what resources are available in the community, but try not to do all the legwork yourself! The plan might include making posters about pollution to put up around the community, putting up signs at the waterhole, planning a clean-up, putting up a fence to keep feral animals out etc. Make a big poster about the water place, including everything that you know about it and any photos, pictures, paintings you have. [ILC] [In6] [Con 4] [Col 3] [Num] [Lit] [SOSE] There are lots more activities in our book! To order a copy CONTACT US.
	Tangentyere Land & Learning Project PO BOX 8070, Alice Springs, NT, 0871 Phone No: 08 8953 3120 Fax No: 08 8952 3185 E-mail: Landcare@tangentyere.org.au Home Page \| Background \| Animal Activities \| Plant Activities \| Water Activities \| Tangentyere Landcare Services \| Contact Us \| Disclaimer

Land & Learning Water Activities

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When the Land & Learning project workers visit schools we work with community members to do field activities with students and support teachers with classroom activities.
Field Work
We go out bush with the elders and school children to teach the children about water places, eg, traditional methods of looking after these places and dreaming stories. Activities include:

cleaning up waterholes

digging out soakages

investigating which animals live near and rely on water places, by looking at nearby tracks; and looking for birds, frogs and other animals

netting for invertebrates, other small water animals and fish

dragonfly and frog life cycles

We use these field trips to teach children about the importance of looking after water places, pollution, and the ecology of some water animals.

Frogs in hand

Examples from the Land & Learning Activities Book

Evaporation
In the old times people used to cover up important rockholes with slabs of rock or sticks and leaves, to stop animals getting in and to protect the water from evaporation. You could ask the old people to tell you about this and to demonstrate it at a waterhole nearby. To demonstrate evaporation to students, place two bowls of water in the sun. Cover one with branches and leaves. Over a few days, watch the differences in evaporation rates from the two bowls. If you measure the amount of water lost each day, you can do a graph. Show students the narrow, tough or furry leaves of most native plants and the broad soft leaves of many introduced plants. Ask them which would lose more water through evaporation. [ILC] [Lit] [Num] [In 6] [Con4]

Affects of Salty Water
A man on the video talks about some bore water being too salty for plants and animals. Your class can look at how much salt is in their community water and compare it to other water sources. Put some community water in one flat dish, some bottled drinking water in another and some water with lots of salt stirred into it in a third dish. Clearly label these dishes. Find a safe place in the sun to leave them, or else somewhere in the classroom where they can be left undisturbed until the water evaporates.

Experiment: Affect of Salty Water on Plants.

Cut the tops off plastic bottles and make drainage holes in the bottom and half fill with soil.

Plant ininti (bean tree) seeds in your containers.

Make up three big coke bottles of water. Put no salt in one, ten teaspoons in the next and half a cup of salt in the last bottle. (Label bottles and pots clearly.)

Water one pot with the unsalted water, one with the more salty water and the last with the very salty water.

Note the differences in the growth of the seedlings.

Draw the seedlings at regular intervals, with rulers included in the drawing to show the size of each plant.

When you've finished with the experiment, plant the healthy little trees in the community where they can be easily watered.

[Num] [Sci] [SOSE]

Adopt a Waterhole
Individual students, small groups or the whole class could adopt a waterhole to look after. In consultation with the old people, choose an appropriate water place to focus on.

Investigate
Which native plants and animals use the waterhole? Look for birds, frogs, dragonflies, fish and water invertebrates (you could go netting). Also look for the tracks of animals coming in to drink. Which native and feral animals are using this place? Draw a food web for the waterhole. What might it mean for the country around the waterhole if some of the animals get sick, die, or leave to find good water somewhere else? Ask the old people to talk about how the waterhole used to be looked after, and any stories, songs and dances that are associated with it, that can be told to children.

Action
Plan how the waterhole can be cleaned up now. List the resources, help and permission that will be needed. Help the students to find out what resources are available in the community, but try not to do all the legwork yourself! The plan might include making posters about pollution to put up around the community, putting up signs at the waterhole, planning a clean-up, putting up a fence to keep feral animals out etc. Make a big poster about the water place, including everything that you know about it and any photos, pictures, paintings you have. [ILC] [In6] [Con 4] [Col 3] [Num] [Lit] [SOSE]

There are lots more activities in our book!
To order a copy CONTACT US.

Tangentyere Land & Learning Project
PO BOX 8070, Alice Springs, NT, 0871
Phone No: 08 8953 3120 Fax No: 08 8952 3185

E-mail: Landcare@tangentyere.org.au

Field Work

Examples from the Land & Learning Activities Book

There are lots more activities in our book!To order a copy CONTACT US.

There are lots more activities in our book!
To order a copy CONTACT US.