Please watch this excellent clip by Josie Jones with a plea to pick up rubbish wherever we see it.
www.ausmepa.org.au
Thursday, August 25, 2016
RUBBISH - if you see it pick it up!
What we do or don't do affects our oceans and not just during Seaweek.
Please watch this excellent clip by Josie Jones with a plea to pick up rubbish wherever we see it.
www.ausmepa.org.au
Please watch this excellent clip by Josie Jones with a plea to pick up rubbish wherever we see it.
www.ausmepa.org.au
Sunday, August 14, 2016
NATIONAL SEAWEEK 2016
Originally hosted by the Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA), National Seaweek is an annual event to "Celebrate the Sea". With the passing of MESA the Australian Association of Environmental Educators (AAEE) has picked up the banner and is offering people the opportunity to run or participate in a variety of activities around the country.
Many Australian marine educators, including the author of this article, assisted in developing the 7 Principles of Ocean Literacy [here].
Ocean Literacy means understanding the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean. The 7 principles of Ocean Literacy are ideas scientists and educators agree everyone should understand about the ocean.
The AAEE Marine Group have chosen to theme the next 7 years of Seaweek to follow those principles.
This year's theme is OL Principle One:
www.ausmepa.org.au
Many Australian marine educators, including the author of this article, assisted in developing the 7 Principles of Ocean Literacy [here].
Ocean Literacy means understanding the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean. The 7 principles of Ocean Literacy are ideas scientists and educators agree everyone should understand about the ocean.
The AAEE Marine Group have chosen to theme the next 7 years of Seaweek to follow those principles.
This year's theme is OL Principle One:
THE EARTH HAS ONE BIG OCEAN WITH MANY FEATURES.
Join in on the fun with AAEE http://www.aaee.org.au/
www.ausmepa.org.au
Thursday, July 28, 2016
What is pollution and how does it happen?
Pollution, it is a funny word. It is used so often these days however it is derived from the latin word pollutionem which means 'make dirty'.
That makes perfect sense when pollution can be defined as the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. Pollution makes the environment dirty.
Wait a minute. Who is making the environment dirty? Have a good look around you, and in the mirror too, because people are the biggest producers of pollution. Since almost all people live on the land it is logical and well documented that most pollution comes from the land.
Example: When we go to the store and buy a packaged item we don't call it pollution. It is only after we removed the item we want from the package that the packaging itself becomes waste matter.
Packaging waste can become pollution when not disposed of properly. For instance have you noticed that there is often rubbish (pollution) outside take away food shops, the sides of roads, building sites or shopping centres?
This visible pollution can be picked up in the wind and carried far away however, as with many kinds of pollution, the cleansing rains often pick it up and transport it down through drains to the rivers and streams to lakes, estuaries and eventually to the sea.
Packaging waste that is recycled can find another life as a useful product and some innovators actually re-purpose waste into new things, like clothing, floor surfaces or furniture. We could call that sustainable solutions for waste. We need lots of people thinking about sustainable solutions to reduce pollution.
OK well how about another example, fuel. Although some of the processes used to make fuel can cause pollution, fuel isn't actually pollution when we put it into our fuel tanks. However once we have used it in our vehicle a few things happen. One is that chemical residues leave the car and go unseen up into the air creating air pollution. Some residues splash or drip from the exhaust pipe or engine right onto the road to become pollution.
The chemicals in the air will eventually fall down onto the land or roofs or roads. These chemical residues get washed away in run-off from rainstorms sending poisons straight into the stormwater drains that lead to the sea. People are thinking about how to change this.
Although these are only a couple of examples of pollution, can we challenge you to think about all the things around you that will become waste and what life they may have as pollution afterwards?
Every action that we make or take changes our environment. Is there a way that you might use your own actions to make things better?
Could you find ways to use less packaging, recycle, re-purpose or or simply keep stormwater cleaner by keeping chemicals out of the drains?
Our oceans are a precious asset providing us with food, adventure, and much that is yet undiscovered. By being thoughtful about air and land pollution you can help keep our seas clean.
Learn more about Marine Stormwater Pollution here
www.ausmepa.org.au
That makes perfect sense when pollution can be defined as the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. Pollution makes the environment dirty.
Wait a minute. Who is making the environment dirty? Have a good look around you, and in the mirror too, because people are the biggest producers of pollution. Since almost all people live on the land it is logical and well documented that most pollution comes from the land.
Example: When we go to the store and buy a packaged item we don't call it pollution. It is only after we removed the item we want from the package that the packaging itself becomes waste matter.
Packaging waste can become pollution when not disposed of properly. For instance have you noticed that there is often rubbish (pollution) outside take away food shops, the sides of roads, building sites or shopping centres?
This visible pollution can be picked up in the wind and carried far away however, as with many kinds of pollution, the cleansing rains often pick it up and transport it down through drains to the rivers and streams to lakes, estuaries and eventually to the sea.
Packaging waste that is recycled can find another life as a useful product and some innovators actually re-purpose waste into new things, like clothing, floor surfaces or furniture. We could call that sustainable solutions for waste. We need lots of people thinking about sustainable solutions to reduce pollution.
OK well how about another example, fuel. Although some of the processes used to make fuel can cause pollution, fuel isn't actually pollution when we put it into our fuel tanks. However once we have used it in our vehicle a few things happen. One is that chemical residues leave the car and go unseen up into the air creating air pollution. Some residues splash or drip from the exhaust pipe or engine right onto the road to become pollution.
The chemicals in the air will eventually fall down onto the land or roofs or roads. These chemical residues get washed away in run-off from rainstorms sending poisons straight into the stormwater drains that lead to the sea. People are thinking about how to change this.
Although these are only a couple of examples of pollution, can we challenge you to think about all the things around you that will become waste and what life they may have as pollution afterwards? Every action that we make or take changes our environment. Is there a way that you might use your own actions to make things better?
Could you find ways to use less packaging, recycle, re-purpose or or simply keep stormwater cleaner by keeping chemicals out of the drains?
Our oceans are a precious asset providing us with food, adventure, and much that is yet undiscovered. By being thoughtful about air and land pollution you can help keep our seas clean.
Learn more about Marine Stormwater Pollution here
www.ausmepa.org.au
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
FOR TEACHERS: The Coral Garden
A great accompaniment to the AUSMEPA unit of work on The Effect of Climate Change on Coral Bleaching here will be the clip below.
www.ausmepa.org.au
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Bush Rangers WA cadets learning to care for the land to the sea
Western Australia is a big part of Australia and there are wonderful things to see, learn and do there. Parks and Wildlife WA have a Bush Rangers program that has a lot of territory to cover. Follow the links below to find out more about caring for the land from the catchment to the sea.
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https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/
https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/
www.ausmepa.org.au
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
MarineWATERs; Western Australian educational resources
For many years the Dept of Fisheries in WA has been developing some great of marine educational resources. Have you ever wondered how some of our weird and wonderful marine creatures mate? Here is one of their resources demonstrating how the prickly skinned rock lobster gets busy with that special someone.
Check out the MarineWATERs Facebook page at /www.facebook.com/MarineWATERs/videos?fref=photo
or their website blog http://marinewaters.fish.wa.gov.au/blog/
www.ausmepa.org.au
Check out the MarineWATERs Facebook page at /www.facebook.com/MarineWATERs/videos?fref=photo
or their website blog http://marinewaters.fish.wa.gov.au/blog/
www.ausmepa.org.au
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