Rhondda Alexander Memorial Education Grant now open

Following Rhondda Alexander's tragic death in July 2010, the Australian Marine Environmental Protection Association (AUSMEPA) Board agreed to establish a memorial to Rhondda in the form of an annual Grant.

AUSMEPA is proud to announce the second round of grant nominations is now open. We invite Australia schools to submit applications. 

The 2012 closing date for applications will be in midway through Term 1, and received by close of business Thursday 1^st of March.

ABOUT THE GRANT

The following information and criteria will be helpful to those schools considering projects for submission during 2012.  A grant amount of up to $3,000 will be awarded to a school marine education project that leads to students actively improve the marine environment. This can include educating the local community and other behaviour change activities.  

Main criteria:

1.      Students must have a major role in organising the project.

2.      On completion of their project the students will create a video clip communication product suitable to be placed on the AUSMEPA website. Permission slips will be required.

3.      The project must have a major coastal conservation application either by direct action or involvement with community education (they have equal weight).

4.      The innovative approach to the project has application to other schools.

5.      The quality of the project content, outcomes and outputs.

6.      The grant money should used for resources not already available at school however may be used for example to go towards purchasing or hiring equipment that the school would not normally have.

7.      The application must be fully completed, signed and dated by the school Principal.

Other important information

1. All applications must have both a concise and a detailed description of the student project. Details of expected educational outcomes for students and how this project links to marine conservation must be outlined.
2.  An individual teacher needs to be designated as project leader and primary contact between AUSMEPA and the school.
3. There must be a budget showing how the grant will be spent. There is no requirement to find matching funding. It is anticipated that some projects may find small unexpected variations in expenditure. Please note there is no requirement to obtain any additional funding however if other sources of funding are made available these should be detailed in the budget.
4. The project may be undertaken with a community partner. If there is a partner, details of their role and support needs to be included in the application
5. Supporting documentation can be provided as an attachment however the primary assessment will be restricted to the application information.  NOTE:  The application may also be supported by a presentation prepared by the students using one media of their choice to explain why their project is important. Examples of media could include video clip, PowerPoint presentation, song, poem, poster, or postcard etc.
6. Principal’s signature is required to confirm that the project has the full support and encouragement of the school community. The Principal will supervise the expenditure of the grant taking into account there may be variations that the school will be responsible for resolving.
7. The project will be considered to be concluded upon confirmed receipt of the student’s video clip communication about the project, accompanied by Parent Permission Slips for student images and budget sign-off by the Principal.

To register your interest please email education@ausmepa.org.au to register your interest and an electronic application form will be sent to you.

www.ausmepa.org.au

INVESTIGATING ROCKPOOLS

How do plants and animals survive in a rockpool? Employing a student’s innate curiousity about the unusual AUSMEPA invite teachers to use discovery of intertidal wildlife to begin an exploration of science, ecological, environmental and conservation topics. AUSMEPA’s new unit of work ROCKPOOLS will stimulate a wide range of students. Our practical experience has shown us that many students who are difficult to engage on other topics warm quickly to this one. It is based on the study of one of natures most magical and exciting places to explore.

Research topic areas for enquiry based education include pages on a assortment of seemingly alien invertebrate and vertebrate animal types from some of the simplest up to some of the smartest. Rockpools are rich in animal foods too, like the lovely seaweeds and seagrasses brought to light in this unit.

Studded with wonderful original photos of rockpool inhabitants the webpages also feature photos of students deep in discovery of that unique place where the air the land and the sea meet.

Safety is a foundation topic and essential when considering a school excursion. To assist teachers in considering an excursion we have included links to some of the wonderful Marine Discovery and Environmental Education Centres around Australia.

However one of the most anticipated inclusions in this unit and of special interest to teachers will be the unpacking of the National Curriculum within the teachers notes provided in pdf format. We understand the accountability and reporting requirements for teachers and provision of this asset has been high on the list of teacher requests. The Contents of the download includes:

Rockpool poster on school request

• Australian Curriculum: Science Version 1.1 December 2010
• Incorporating The Australian Curriculum: Science
• Overarching Ideas ‐ Organisation of the unit of work
• Assessment ideas ‐ Classroom preparation
• Activities – Prior learning
• Student goals
• Tuning in
• Investigative questions
• Finding out – research  
• Finding out – field work planning
• Finding out – gathering data in the field  
• Finding out – analysing data
• Drawing conclusions, finding solutions
• Communication

Try it. We’re pretty sure you’ll like it. You can find it here

Queensland; Pacific Adventurer Oil Spill update

Photo courtesy of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council

A major oil spill in Queensland coastal waters affected beaches and estuaries from the Sunshine Coast to Moreton Island between March 10 and March 13, 2009. The incident was the subject of a court order during October 2011. 

The Pacific Adventurer was compromised when 31 containers fell off the ship and breached the hull releasing 270 tonnes of heavy fuel oil. Conditions on the sea at the time of the accident were cyclonic.

"Clean-up operations continued for two months. A total of about 2,500 people were deployed for the entire clean-up including workers from many agencies including Maritime Safety Queensland, the Department of Environment and Resource Management, local regional councils, Emergency Management Queensland, as well as workers from QR, Road Tek, Skilled and private contractors, the State Emergency Service, Queensland Police Service and the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. AMSA personnel as well as 72 members of the National Response Team from all States/NT, the oil industry and contractors also providing assistance during the period. At the height of the response operation 400 response personnel were working on Moreton Island each day"   (See full AMSA article here)

The ship's registered owners, Bluewind Shipping and Swire Navigation pleaded guilty. They were fined $1.2m having already paid $17.5 million in liability, made a $7.4m donation to an environment trust and also paid $1.8m to help with the clean up. 

www.ausmepa.org.au

REPORT CARD: South East Queensland Healthy Waterways 2011

Ocean Whispers readers are always hungry to hear news of wonderful collaborative projects like the one across this desk today. 

Healthy Waterways is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation. They have been leaders in demonstrating strong partnerships with community, government and industry. Their work underscores the need to protect water quality.  Clean water is required to sustain essential environmental services, the assets of healthy streams, rivers and receiving waters. 

A decade's worth of high quality water assessment and reporting has brought important information to the public, industry leaders, policy makers and managers annually. Have a look at the results of their most recent annual report card here  

Learn more about Healthy Waterway Education resources here.If you don't have time to 
visit the site now you will find an excerpt from the Education page below.

-----------------------

Education

This education section provides information and resources on water education in South East Queensland including:

• a water litter education unit - Up the Creek & Down the Drain storythread  
• a list of local curriculum aligned water education packages
• links to water education materials and litter education resources including online games and videos and topics such as aquatic pests, cultural heritage and stormwater management
• teaching resources for water quality monitoring

The Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program web pages have clickable maps which give you catchment facts, downloadable maps/diagrams and links to Partner websites (such as local councils) that contain waterway information.

The resources webpage also has links to fact sheets, conceptual diagrams of many catchments in the region and detailed maps of streams and catchments.

www.ausmepa.org.au

WETLAND INFO

Healthy coastal waters depend on pollution free water coming off the land. Significant natural filtering systems are saltmarshes, mangroves and any other permanent or ephermeral (seasonal) wetlands occurring throughout the catchment or watershed. It is great to come across a project like Wetlandinfo initiated through the Queensland  Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM), in partnership with the Australian Government (via the Queensland Wetlands Program) here. The Program is designed to develop and implement measures for the long-term conservation and management of wetlands in Queensland. To illustrate the breadth of what they have undertaken you are invited to exlpore the website menu bar (below) which makes your investigation into this excellent resource a breeze.

                 

WetlandInfo Background

 What's on WetlandInfo?

 Quick links: What do you want to do?

 What are Wetlands?

 Facts and Figures

 Managing Wetlands

 Maps and Data

 Monitoring and Assessment

 Science and Research

 Education and Communication

 Programs, Policy and Legislation

Glossary of Technical Terms

The Education reference section is strongly supported by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park student and teacher resources, Reef Beat series, and will be of special interest to educators as will the project information sheets.

AUSMEPA are proud to associated with and support this excellent collaborative. A link will be  added to WetlandInfo under our tools for Student Leadership for Coastal Conservation here.




www.ausmepa.org.au

RIO+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Brazil 4-6 June 2012

UN Photo/John Isaac

This is one conference that will be important to follow.

Background

The Conference here will take place in Brazil on 4-6 June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. It is envisaged as a Conference at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government or other representatives. The Conference will result in a focused political document.

Objective of the Conference

The objective of the Conference is to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.






www.ausmepa.org.au

REDMAP NEWSLETTER; What's on the move in Tasmania?

Have you been fascinated, as I have, to find out about changing patterns of wildlife particularly in view of our warming planet?


Redmap is another interesting organisation that tracks these changes. Based in Tasmania Redmap provides a new and interactive website for the Tasmanian community to spot and log marine species that are uncommon in Tasmania. The following article is a taste of what you will find if you wish to subscribe to their newsletter. 


Tasmanian educators will want to visit their education resource page here.

www.ausmepa.org.au