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Each Snowy River Thinking activity or event will be recorded here chronologically. Most events will also have their own page documenting the full range of things that happened.
Term 1 2009 Snowy River Thinking is working closely with Marlo Primary School and St Joseph's School, Orbost this term. Yr4-5-6 students are exploring water concepts, especially the water cycle, and how they relate to the existence and health of the Snowy River. A particular emphasis is being placed on the estuary. P-3 students are focused on all things estuary too. Both groups are compiling a Snowy River Thinking book that will be used record all their activities, experiments and photographs. February 3 Marlo Primary School Yr4-5-6 students pondered the amount of water in the world. All were staggered by the statistic that only 0.01% of all the water is fresh surface water. Marlo PS P-3 students busied themselves with a brainstorm about the creatures that live IN the water and ON the river bank of the Snowy River at Marlo - the place where the river meets the sea and a wonderful estuary can be found. February 4 St Joseph's School Yr3-4-5-6 students pondered the amount of water in the world too. All were staggered by the statistic that only 0.01% of all the water is fresh surface water and noted how little of the total must be in the Snowy River. St Joseph's School P-2 students also had a brainstorm about the creatures that live IN the water and ON the river bank of the Snowy River especially at the place where the river meets the sea and an estuary exists. February 10 Students in years 4-5-6 at Marlo PS discussed how to conduct experiments and record results. Preliminary tests on sea water, estuary water, river water, Orbost tap water and Marlo tap water were compared with a glass of water with 1 and 2 teaspoons of water dissolved in it. These results will be rechecked when students set up experiments in a few weeks time to see how salt affects the germination and growth of plants. Marlo PS P-3 students spent some time finishing their frontispiece for the Snowy River Thinking book. The image they created contains the words Snowy River Thinking and a view of the estuary and the creatures that live in it. February 11 St Joseph's School Yr3-4-5-6 students reviewed their understanding of the three states of matter, using water as the example compound. Solid and liquid water posed no problems but there was much debate about the gas phase. If you can see 'steam' is it steam or tiny drops of liquid water in the air? St Joseph's P-3 students spent some time finishing their frontispiece for the Snowy River Thinking book. The image they created contains the words Snowy River Thinking and a view of the estuary and the creatures that live in it. February 17 Marlo Primary School Yr4-5-6 students set up an experiment to allow them to observe the water cycle in a bottle. One variable, the amount of water in their closed systems, has been carefully measured. Marlo PS P-3 students told stories of fishing and the ones that got away, back into the estuary. The big fish hunting bird visited the estuary classroom but all the little fish hid under the flood debris [desks] to be safe. February 18 St Joseph's School Yr3-4-5-6 students reviewed their understanding of the water cycle. St Joseph's P-3 students finished their frontispiece for the Snowy River Thinking book. February 24 Marlo 4-5-6 students examined their water cycle terrariums and discussed their results. Marlo P-3 students discussed fishing, told tall fishing tales and thought about the other creatures that use the estuary for fishing. A tall crane, a cormorant and a pelican visited the class and went hinting for little fish that hid under the logs in the river! February 25 St Joseph's School Yr3-4-5-6 students contructed their water cycle terrariums. St Joseph's P-3 students told fishing stories and hid from the tall crane, cormorant and pelican that were hunting for little fish! March 3 Marlo 4-5-6 students discussed the weather and reviewed salinity data for the sea, estuary, river and tap water before setting up a seed growing experiment using these waters. Marlo P-3 students reviewed the food preferences for the crane like birds [egret], the cormorant and the pelican. These birds briefly visited again but couldn't catch any little fish. March 10 MPS Yr4-6 students explored salt in the estuary and other water sources in the district. MPSP-3 students each started a cut-out model of an Australian Bass. March 11 StJ 3-6 students explored the Snowy River Catchment. StJ P-2 started a cut out model of an Australian Bass. March 17 MPS Yr 4-5 students made a model of the Snowy River Catchment in their sandpit. They also pondered the water cycle and the pathway a water molecule might take through the environment, through them, through the Snowy River and beyond! MPS P-3 students built a school in the school. A school of fish that is - Snowy River Australian Bass to be precise. The remainder of term for Yr 4-5-6 students was spent discussing the results of the water cycle in a bottle experiments. |
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