environment

Zac Shares his Knowledge of the Land

Our journalist Sasha has done it again!  She has written a lovely piece about Zac’s visit to us last week.  Well done, Sasha!  😆

Today Tracy came to our class with an Aboriginal man called Zac Webb.  Zac is a Wardandi aboriginal, the tribe of the Margaret River area. They are the indigenous custodians of the land in the area. He told us many interesting things about the trees in Margaret River.

These are some of the facts we learnt from him:
•    If you chew Peppermint leaves it will take horrible flavours out of your mouth.
•    You can make brooms out of Peppermint leaves.
•    You can twist bark or use twisted vines to make rope.


•    You can use the leaves of the Karri Hazel tree to make soap.
•    You can make rugs to sit on and hats to wear with Zamia branches.
•    Kangaroos used to eat meat and were about 6-8 feet tall.
•    The red fruit of the Zamia palm is very poisonous.
•    When you have a sore tummy you can use the sap of the Marri tree as a medicine.


•    You can use paperbark for toilet paper and for covering food that you cook.
•    You can make bird sounds with the leaves of Peppermint and Marri trees.
•    You can use Karri tree branches to make boomerangs.
•    The green fruit of the Snotty Gobble turns white when it is ready to eat.
•    The bark of the Snotty Gobble is medicine for healing your skin.
•    You can eat the Tassel flower fruits.
•    The root of the Christmas tree is yummy like honey.

We also learnt that in Aboriginal language you say Peppermint tree as Wannang and Wanna means woman’s digging stick. Aboriginal people also know the Karri Hazel tree as the soap bush.

I hope every one liked Zac Webb’s visit?    🙂

Thank you Tracy and Zac Webb  for coming to talk to us!

Written by Sasha

TRACEY’S VISIT by Sofia

While Mitchell is away, Sofia has agreed to be our Dolphinkids journalist.  She has done an amazing job with her first report, on Tracey’s visit!  Fabulous work, Sofia.   😎

On Tuesday the 30th of August our class had a visit from Tracey who is from the Cape to Cape Catchment Group. Tracey told us about some of the things that can pollute rivers like the Margaret River. I would like to list some of the things that can pollute the river. Here they are:
• Fertilizer (makes algae grow)
• Rubbish (can kill the Fish and Marron )
• Manure ( can change the colour  of the river )
Each student came and each poured a bit of their things that pollute the river into the tub with water in it. Each time the water changed, whether its colour changed or it just got more disgusting.

We can make the river clean and healthy. Even if you do something very small you could make a big difference. Here I will tell you how you can do it.

HOW WE CAN STOP THE ALGAE FROM GROWING:

The thing that causes algae to grow is fertilizer. People use fertilizer for plants. You should never put it down the drain because anything you put down the drain will go down and into the river. So for your plants, instead of using fertilizer you could use manure. There are lots more ways but they are very different to this way. Most farmers use fertilizer for their plants but now they are starting to be organic. Lots of the pollutions that can happen are caused by farmers.

HOW WE CAN STOP THE COLOUR OF THE WATER CHANGING:

The thing that causes the water to change colour is the manure. Farmers have cows that poo in the river, however they can build fences around their properties so then there cows can’t escape and go and poo in the river. The poo is bad for the river and makes it somehow change colour. The colour it changes to is like a light brown kind of mixed with white. The colour of the river when its light brown makes people think that the river is disgusting and then they don’t want to go in it. So all farmers have to do is build fences around their properties and make sure their animals don’t escape, especially the cows.

HOW WE CAN STOP THE ANIMALS FROM DYING:

The thing that that causes most fish and jellyfish to die is the rubbish. Lots of people litter, when the rubbish goes down the drain it goes through a water cycle and ends up in the river. Lots of people don’t realize where their rubbish ends up, they just litter and don’t care. They never realize what they are doing. So all they do is litter. You can help by picking up bits of rubbish that you see lying around on the beach or in town. You can also help by doing your part on Clean Up Australia Day. Fish could get stuck in the plastic bag, which they can’t breathe in and then they die. Turtles could eat a plastic bag, which they can’t breathe in and then they die.

So those ways are just are a few ways of how you can keep our river healthy. Even though Tracey gave us things that are just examples of pollution, they still reacted like the real pollution. Our class had lots of fun learning about river pollution.

By Sofia Gaul