Education Resources for Waterway Connections
Overview
K-9 Curriculum-led classroom and field study education resources for Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch.
Location: Nationwide
Tasked with an illustration commission to create a one-off poster about food webs in our waterways, this project has grown and grown and grown!!! What a testament to great teamwork, and just how much a spark of curiosity can shape a project.
Let me explain. The Regional Facilitator for Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch - a citizen-science and education program spanning ACT and NSW - approached me to create a poster to use as a field guide and classroom wall education source.
The copy they provided was much like all the other resources out there - dry, wordy, and hard to understand. I didn’t lead on - but 13 year old Bohie was feeling the heat rise in the back of my neck. Science was never my forte.
But, adult Bohie LOVES science!! Well, I love curiosity, and the magic of nature. What feels like magic to me anyway. A few things about food webs really sparked my imagination, often coming from casual conversations with the client, not from the copy provided. Thank the creativity gods they gave me free reign to explore these ideas, because we found our Why. Why should people care about this? Whats the emotional hook here?
It turns out, it’s not about PH tests and waterbugs, it’s about this archaic ecological system that every house, every town, every city lives within! And because of this, what we do in our backyards has a huge impact on our neighbours. No, not our human neighbours. The River Red Gum, Platypus and Murray Cod that share this catchment with us - downstream!!!!
It’s now been almost 2 years working with Waterwatch. One poster has turned into nine. Then, an activity book, a community engagement package, a rebrand, website redesign consultation and education resources (that’s right - lesson plans!!!).
