On Thursday the 11thof August our Marine Ambassadors from grade five and six took part in an excursion to Namitjira Reserve in Clayton.

Students observed staff from Melbourne Water empty a litter trap and discovered how rubbish from our school grounds entered our stormwater and wetland systems.

They collected a huge amount of litter around the four wetland ponds and learnt how water travelled from one pond to the next, being filtered at each stage by the plants in and around the ponds. Students looked for aquatic macroinvertebrates in the water and tested the water for pH, salinity, turbidity and phosphates.

They learnt how the presence of certain aquatic macroinvertebrates, were an indication of water quality. Students also learnt about frogs and learnt to identify them from their calls.