Catchment management planning
Focus
This activity provides opportunities for students to explore the interrelationships between social attitudes and applications of science. Students participate in local action planning, to experience the types of processes involved in catchment management planning.
Science
Science and Society
5.3 Students analyse the relationship between social attitudes and decisions about the applications of science.
6.3 Students use scientific concepts to evaluate the costs and benefits of applications of science (including agricultural and industrial practices).
Materials
- Resource Sheet 11 - Integrated Catchment Management (PDF, 138K)*
- Resource Sheet 12 - Planning Your Own Action Plan (PDF, 98K)*
Teaching considerations
This activity demands a lot of time on the part of the teacher, as the actions taken may become a lunchtime or after-school project. Actions chosen should be realistic and able to be achieved.
Integrated catchment management
Depending on the type of project chosen, students may need guidance in identifying the range of interested parties who could be involved in the project. An overview of the integrated catchment management approach is included in Resource Sheet 11.
Working scientifically
Time: The time allocation will depend on the nature of the projects undertaken
- Formulating and elaborating ideas
- Expressing points of view
Guided by the teacher, students should brainstorm human impact issues that relate to waterways in the local area. After determining what the main issues facing their catchment are, and who they should contact regarding these issues, students discuss what sort of action they should take and formulate an action plan.
Students should follow the action-research process (Resource Sheet 12), formatively completing how they will achieve each stage. In investigation the problem and suggesting actions, students will need to examine both scientific data and the community views and attitudes in relation to the problem. Community views and attitudes will influence the decisions that are made about the applications of the scientific findings. In evaluating the project, students should also consider whether their knowledge and attitudes, or those of the community, have changed as a result of the process.
Students should be aware that such planning is similar to that done by catchment coordinating committees. As part of their action plan, students should consult other interested parties — for example, local government, environmental groups and landholders — to see if they may be able to lend support to their project.
Some examples of action projects that students might choose are listed below:
- adopt a local waterway or wetland. Students could become involved in bank stabilisation, revegetation, creek and wildlife studies or stormwater quality monitoring
- present public environmental displays to inform and involve the local community
- form a Waterwatch group
- organise a creek, stream, river or coast clean-up
- hold field days involving both students and community to target a particular problem, such as revegetation of an area of a local creek.
Gathering information about student learning
Sources of information could include:
- students’ action plans and reports
- anecdotal records that describe students’ progress through the process.
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Last updated 2 August 2010
