Pre-visit learning: student activities, project ideas and questions

• To introduce the unit, conduct The River Story experiment with the class (Resource 1) To help the students develop a concept of the inter-relatedness of a catchment and man’s effect on water systems as well as enhancing their knowledge of sources of pollution, follow the experiment with a discussion using questions such as:

  • What is a catchment?
  • How are different parts of it linked?
  • Do you know any industries or activities in our catchment that were mentioned in the experiment?

• To develop the students’ understanding of cause and effect relationships (working towards TCC 3.4) and ensure their understanding of the concepts of The River Story, have them, in small groups, complete a table of causes and effects of catchment pollution and then record these in sentences using cohesive ties such as because, as a result, therefore, if … then and consequently. Using the Department of Natural Resources catchment poster as a model and the 3D sketch from Catchment Care booklet from the Department of Primary Industries, students who are tactile learners or who have learning difficulties could create an illustration of activities in a catchment and their effects, rather than produce written work.

• Provide the students with a blank map of the Fitzroy River catchment (Resource 2) and an atlas. Working individually or in pairs, students locate mountain ranges, major towns and rivers, including Mt Morgan and the Dee River, and mark them on their map. (Working towards PS 3.4, PS 4.4). The students can refer back to this map on their trip to Mt Morgan to identify features marked on the map with those in the real world.

• Using the completed map and resource sections of an atlas or a resource atlas, students identify major industries in the Fitzroy catchment, including mining in Mt Morgan, and mark them on their map. They then make inferences about the types of pollution that could effect the catchment, applying the knowledge gained from The River Story.

• To help students understand the interconnected relationship of the activities of people and natural cycles, they work in small groups to carry out experiments that demonstrate the water cycle. They then relate this to the Fitzroy catchment by identifying on their map where water would flow after rain and the activities affecting this flow. They can then, through discussion, make inferences about the interaction between people and the water cycle (SRP 3.1).

• Introduce the concept of food chains and foods webs. These should include examples of aquatic food webs. The Gould League web site listed below is a useful information source and offers the students an interactive opportunity to create their own food webs. Students can then make inferences about the effect of people’s activities on these webs further developing their understanding of cause and effect relationships. These inferences can be tested following water quality testing in the Dee River (PS 3.3, PS 4.3).

• To enable students to conduct water testing with understanding it will be necessary for them to have knowledge of terms such as turbidity, flow, pollutants, nutrients, chemicals (calcium carbonate, phosphorus, nitrogen) and water temperature; be able to identify aquatic life; and conduct habitat surveys. Waterwatch publications provide students and teachers with information on these.

• If students are to interview representatives from at Wowan Dululu Landcare Group and other guest speakers, they will need to have an understanding of interview techniques. The skills of grouping interview questions under main ideas, asking open-ended questions that give more than one word answers, asking follow up questions and correct interactions with the interviewee, can be taught through direct teaching. These skills can then be practised in class between students using known content.

• To achieve outcome PS 3.5, PS 4.3 and SRP 4.5 students will need to move from an understanding of the values they attach to a known place to the values others attach to an unknown place. This can be achieved through questions similar to those below and then repeating these in the Mt Morgan context.

• How is the place used?
• Who uses the place?
• Why is it considered valuable or important to people?
• What changes have occurred in it?
• What or who brought about these changes?
• What values do people attach to the place?
• How do people care for this place?
• Do you use this place?
• Why is it valuable to you?
• How do you care for this place?
• What organisations value and care for the place?

Similar questions can be developed by the students to interview volunteers and guides in Mt Morgan.

• Using resources indicated in this module will introduce students to the history of Mt Morgan. Mining and the Environment would be an especially useful resource for this activity. Individually or in small groups the students could research the history to create sequences and timelines about changes and continuities in Mt Morgan from the 1860’s to the present to give them an overall understanding of the major events in the history of the town and the mine (TCC 3.2). Photographs taken during their visit can be added to these later.

• Students will need to develop an understanding of how gold was discovered and mined and the economic benefits of minerals (moving towards SRP 3.2, TCC 4.1). This can be done through direct teaching or by having groups of students research information, and then each group can act as experts to inform the rest of the class about their findings. Possible topics could include:

  • Alluvial gold mining
  • Tunnel and shaft mining
  • Open cut mining
  • The value of gold
  • Economic benefits of gold
  • Life on goldfields
  • Goldfield towns
  • Transport of gold

• Having developed an understanding of mining, students can gather specific information about the cause and effect of mining in Mt Morgan using the resources listed below. This is an opportunity for students to begin clarifying ideas about the balance between the benefits of mining and the environmental costs. To support the students in the clarification Positive/Negative/Interesting charts could be developed or students could use the Six Thinking Hats strategies to discuss their findings. Further information can be added after the students visit to Mt Morgan (TCC 3.4, PS 4.1).

• Prior to the visit to Mt Morgan the teacher might wish to contact the Wowan Dululu Landcare Group Dee River Sub Committee to organise a representative to speak to the students and help them conduct water quality testing of the Dee River. The Department of Mines and Energy works in partnership with the Landcare committee and is able to provide information and guest speakers for schools. The Department of Natural Resources and Department of Primary Industries also provide useful publications such as Catchment Care and Waterwatch, as well as guest speakers for schools.