Young Adventurers Supporting teachers, parents & kids that like to explore August 2014 Junior Sarus Crane Award We are on the look out for students who have done great work in looking after the environment. This could include putting in some extra effort at school or at home on an environmental project. For more information or a nomination form contact Mick Brady [email protected] or (07) 47431888 2014 Events Calender Photo Competition Closes 30 September World Animal Day 4 October National Ride 2 Work Day 15 October Bird Week 18-24 October National Water Week 20-26 October National Walk to Work Day 7 November International Volunteer Day 5 December “Hi I’m Tori Tadpole. Turn to page 3 & 4 to investigate the animals that live near you”. Students from St. Joseph’s Mount Isa with the power pole they painted along Tharrapatha-way “Hey kids, I’m Simon Snapping Turtle check out the back pages for some great puzzles”. r Ba . ra of n rry top a wi B he n ca I’m t t ey k ou You . ”. H “ rd e. ec Ch pag awa is an th SGC Photo Competition If you have an interesting photo from around the Southern Gulf region, send it to us. Students from St. Kieran’s School Mount Isa with the power pole they painted along Tharrapatha-way The winning photos will be featured in our 2015 calendar. We are looking for a variety of photos. Closes 30/09/14. You could win a prize valued at $75.00 Students enjoyed water bug catching and drawing at the Mount Isa School of the Air Mini School. The Sustainable Schools Program run by Southern Gulf Catchments Limited (SGC) Proudly supported by the Australian Government’s Caring for Country program. Teachers & Parents News Turning Talents Into Artistic Power Congratulations to the school students in the region who recently won our Power Pole Painting Competition (PPPC). We received 80 entries to paint 30 power poles. All the entries received were great and the judges had a hard time choosing the winners. Community members were invited to submit a design that fitted with the Tharrapatha-way themes of Indigenous cultural heritage, native plants and animals and community health. Winning entries came from Cloncurry State School, Good Shepherd School, St Kieran’s and St Joseph’s Mount Isa. Megan Wagstaff, Principal of St Kieran's Catholic Primary School said "Our students are very excited to have won the chance to be involved in this project. It is great to see so many community organisations joining together to support this initiative and St Kieran's is very happy to be a part of it." Winners from St Joseph’s Mount Isa Brooke Troxell, Abby Layt Jayce Giarahy, Grace Elliot Jake Harvey, Sophie Greenhalgh Claire Smith, Ashley McDonald, Georgia Day, Cianan Botha, Lachlan Booth, Ryley Price, Teacher—Kate Thinee Winners of the Power Pole Painting Competition from St. Joseph’s Mount Isa Thanks to Bunnings Mount Isa who supplied the paint Winners from St Kieran’s Darcy Webber Ebony Ducan and materials. Thanks also to the residential campus Sienna Te Wani students at Spinifex College who helped us by Cloncurry State School Winners undercoating some of the power poles. Julia O’Keefe, Sarah Bradley Kate Thinee, Teacher, St Joseph’s Mount Isa said Tamika Herson, Hannah Costello Shontelle Dempsey, Katie Lamont “Being able to incorporate an activity that involves our whole school into the wider community has been fantastic”. Winning Power Pole Painting design from Cloncurry State School Year 6 student Hannah Costello Winners of the Power Pole Painting Competition from St. Joseph’s Mount Isa Weird & Wonderful Water Bugs Water bugs, insects or macroinvertebrates are a great way to teach kids about the environment. They can be used as a way to discuss subjects from habitats, food webs and animal adaptions to water quality and catchments. In May SGC held water bug catching, drawing and identifying activities over two days with all of the students attending the Mount Isa School of the Air (SOTA) Mini School. Feedback from students and teachers was very positive. The look on a few kids faces when they were shown a Giant Water Bug was one of pure disgust. Most of the students were very keen to explore and some spent their lunchtime looking for more creatures. Being country kids their knowledge of animals in the water was amazing. Mandy Hamilton, Field Services Teacher, Mount Isa SOTA said “Thanks again for coming to our activity day, the kids had a terrific time”. SGC plan to hold similar activities at SOTA events in Mount Isa School of the Air students catching Mount Isa School of the Air student Cloncurry, Camooweal and Julia Creek. So get ready kids water bugs. enjoying drawing a freshwater yabbie. to explore some weird water creatures. For more information contact Mick at SGC [email protected] or (07) 47431888 Insert cool frog picture/drawing YOUNG ADVENTURERS For kids who like to explore Pest Animal Spotlight “You can win an award, check out page 1”. Feral Pigs Feral pigs are a big problem in Australia because they damage the environment and the land for farmers. Has your mum ever said to you “your bedroom looks like a pig sty?”. Well pigs cause a lot of damage to the environment because they are good at making a mess of the land, especially wetlands. They have special snouts (i.e. noses) that are perfect for digging up plants. Amazing Facts Source: P. O'Brien, BRS. We don’t know how pigs first came to Australia, but there were some that came out with Captain Cook on the First Fleet in the year1788. There are now about 13.5 million feral pigs covering almost half of Australia. Adult male pigs can grow up to 115 kilograms (that is big- ger then most men). Pigs are omnivores, which means they eat plants and meat. They can live by themselves or in groups up to 50. Reference: Choquenot, D., McIlroy, J. and Korn, T. (1996) Managing Vertebrate Pests: Feral Pigs. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. “Are you as messy as a pig?”. Native Plant Spotlight Gum Trees There are many different types of gum trees (also called Eucalyptus (u-kal-lip-tus) plants), including River Red Gum and Snappy Gum (photo below). Snappy gums are easy to tell because of their all white bark (photo right). Gum trees are the most common tree in Australia with many different animals using them. Birds eat their flowers and live in their hollows. Interesting Facts Photo by Jenny Milson Snappy Gum bark. Photo by Jenny Milson. Indigenous people discovered thousands of years ago that different parts of gum trees can be used for many different purposes. They can be used for medical purposes including treating colds, coughs, burns, muscle aches, sore eyes, lips and teeth. It is important that you know what part of which plant is used for what reason. You don’t want to eat a part of a plant that is meant to treat your sore eye. Indigenous people caught fish by putting certain parts of the gum tree into a waterway. Connelly, P. and L. A. Wallis 2013 Kar-Kar: Mitakoodi Traditional Medical Plant Uses of the Cloncurry Region. Southern Gulf Catchments Limited. Snappy Gum. Photo by Jenny Milson. This book is available for $25.00 from SGC. “I might open a shop selling gum tree products”. Insert cool frog picture/drawing YOUNG ADVENTURERS For kids who like to explore “How cool would it be to walk on water like these Water Striders”. What Creatures Lurk Below the Water Surface Case Study — Water Strider & Small Water Strider One of the most well known water bugs is the Water Strider. It can walk on top of the water surface. There are other bugs that also walk on water called Small Water Striders and Fisher Spiders (NB: Spiders have four pairs of legs). Water Strider (8mm in length), two long pairs of back legs, one short pair of front legs and antennae or feelers. The larger Water Strider (left) has three pairs of legs, with the back two pairs being very long. The Small Water Strider’s (right) two pairs of legs are all about the same size. They both have tiny hairs on their feet that able them to walk on water. Water Striders are fierce, dangerous predators that use their excellent eyesight and the movement of the water to trap, kill and eat their prey. They sometimes hunt together in groups to catch their food. However they need to be careful because they are cannibals (i.e. they sometimes eat each other). Reference: Goodman. J. & Tsyrlin. E, 2002. “The Water Bug Book—A Guide to Freshwater Macroinvertebrates of Temperate Australia”, CSIRO Publishing. Photos: Brady. M. 2012. “Weird and Wonderful Water Bugs Found in Townsville’s Waterways”, Creek to Coral. “Wow I’m so lucky my family don’t try and eat me!”. SGC Cow Transport – No Bull SGC was recently asked if we could help by getting a cow from Townsville to Cloncurry State School. You might be wondering why would anyone want to move a cow vast distances to a school in Cloncurry. Well it is part of an art competition the Archibull Prize aiming to bring city consumers and rural suppliers together. Put simply, the program is “an agricultural and environmental themed art competition for primary and secondary student groups”. (NB: it’s a fibreglass cow). Visit www.archibullprize.com.au to find out more. “Hey kids what cool things have you discovered lately”. Adult Small Water Strider (1 - 4.5mm in length) with three pairs of legs the same size and antennae or feelers. Colour in the picture below “ I can think of 38 different words in the puzzle below. Can you beat me?”. How many others words can you make from the letters in the words Water Strider? For example: raw _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ One of the animals in each line is different to the other three. Use a different colour to colour it in. For more information contact Mick the Community Environment Project Officer at SGC [email protected] or (07) 47431888 2. 1. Adventurer Crossword i 3.s “What are the answers to these brain teasers?”. 1. 5. 2. s Across 1. Animals that eat plants and meat are called? 2. Gum trees are also called E……..? trees. 3. Animals that eat other animals of the same type are called ? Down 1. What type of Gum trees are easy to tell because of their all white bark? 2. What can be caught by putting certain parts of the gum tree into water? 3. Pig’s noses are called ? 4. What is the name of the art competition that gives you a free bull to paint? 5. A water bug that walks on water, is called a Water ……….? 4. “All the answers to this puzzle are on pages 3 & 4” 3. b The words below in red are the answers to the crossword from the June 2014 newsletter. How many did you get right? Across Word Search Can you find the following words? Tilapia, exotic, pest fish, impacts, degraded, carp, compete, invade, barbell, mouth brooder, eggs, gambusia. 1. If you crush and soak some wattle leaves you can make this substance? soap 2. What is a small non native fish that has only recently been found in Mount Isa? Gambusia 3. What do shrimp have on the end of their legs that helps them to eat? brushes 4. Acacia plants are also called W…...? Wattles 5. What common water animal is see-through and has lots of other animals trying to eat them? Shrimp Down 1. What native fish is good at eating mosquito babies? Rainbow fish 2. What water animal has one pair of very long front legs and tentacles? Prawn 3. This newsletter tells you how you could …? great prizes. win “See you next time kids”. For more information contact Mick the Community Environment Project Officer at SGC [email protected] or (07) 47431888