iServi News | 22 November 2019 | Term 4, Week 6
Education Support students have been learning about the cross-curriculum priority of Sustainability this year in their Humanities class. Classes have focused on minimising waste by adopting the mantra of reducing, reusing and recycling. Research indicates an increasing trend of waste production in Australian households that goes into landfill and, from there, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions which is one cause of climate change. Rubbish also pollutes our waterways and oceans, harming our aquatic ecosystems. As part of their learning, students have developed a practical understanding and knowledge of reducing waste at school and home through composting. This term in class we have built and maintained a worm farm where we are able to recycle organic waste.
“I have learned that composting is easy to do. It is a sustainable practice and is good for the environment as we are recycling. In class we have built a worm farm that we put our food scraps in. The worms produce a liquid fertiliser and castings that are rich in nutrients for the garden. We have been using this on the College’s vegetable garden, which is now thriving. It has been a really fun and engaging experience.” – Nena Mardania (SC3)
“Building the worm farm from raw materials was a great experience and it was pleasing to know that we saved some money in doing so. We spent a lesson in the technologies classroom where we used a drill to install a tap system that drains the liquid fertiliser and we also put holes in the containers so that worm farm has reasonable ventilation. We also spent another lesson setting up the new home for the worms which required us to dissolve a bedding block in water and mix with the worm starter box before transferring into the worm farm containers. The worms appear to be happy in their new home.” – Alex Franklin (OLS2)
Mr Scott Clayton
Teacher – Humanities
