Earlier this year our Casuarina and Palmerston literacy and numeracy students enjoyed an excursion to Window on the Wetlands at Beatrice Hill (or Ludawei) followed by a picnic lunch at nearby Fogg Dam.
Our Casuarina trainer Ranald Anderson put together worksheets and questions for the students to complete during the excursion and even purchased a large temperature gauge so they could measure the weather temperatures in different locations.
We’re very grateful to our amazing guide Graeme Kenyon from the Wetlands centre, who made our students and staff feel very welcome.
He not only talked about the country we visited, but also spoke about employment pathways in the conservation and tourism industries.
When the STEPS trainer asked the students what they thought of the experience, the group agreed they really enjoyed the excursion because it helped them think about jobs they could do in the future, especially working in conservation as a ranger.
“We had clipboards and wrote down different types of jobs we noticed people were doing on our drive to the wetlands, such as truck drivers, roadside workers, gardeners and delivery drivers,” STEPS student Fonda Wellard said.
“We loved seeing the animals in the wetlands and learning all about them,” she said.
“It was an interesting day and we enjoyed having a picnic lunch and liked learning, laughing and talking together. We had a very fun time!”
The group continued the project back at the classroom with drawing of bush animals and working together to create a large, beautifully coloured snake.
The were also required to work out costs of the excursion, how to read weather temperatures, interpreting job plans plus detailed writing and oral discussion and story sharing in the classroom.
About Window on the Wetlands
The Wetlands centre provides interactive displays explaining the Aboriginal and European histories of the area and its ecology, seasonal changes and the abundant wildlife of the northern coastal wetlands. The centre is located at one of the highest points overlooking the Adelaide River floodplains.
