New year, new Qizzle calendar!
Our 2022 theme is exploring your backyard. Each month we'll be encouraging you and your students to explore a different aspect of where you live.
For February, we’re exploring our local waterways.
To help get you and your classrooms exploring, we’ve dreamed up some activities to help facilitate your exploration!
Be sure to let us know how you’ve been exploring your waterway during this month’s Facebook community week, from February 14-18. Every month we’ll be giving you the chance to share how you and your school have been exploring your backyard.
Map your local waterway
Visit your local waterway or draw from your memory. Instruct students to draw an outline of their local waterway and fill in different locations and landmarks. Perhaps there is a large tree, pathway, boathouse, bench, or water turbine? Ask students questions about what types of wildlife live there. What birds are you likely to see or hear? Are there fish, eels, frogs, birds?
Tidy your local waterway
Participate in local clean-ups, or ‘take three for the sea’ - next time you are at the beach collect 3 pieces of rubbish and dispose of them responsibly in a nearby bin.
Marine food webs
Instruct students to explore the food web of their waterway. Waterways consist of many types of species depending on the ecosystem.
- Your local beach can have phytoplankton or seaweed, which is consumed by cockles and other herbivores, which are consumed by carnivorous animals of multiple levels.
- Your local river may have algae and other plants, which is a significant source of food in most rivers and streams. Invertebrates like snails consume these plants, while fish and larger invertebrates consume them.