Fun out of the Sun – Sustainability Education Centre Discovery

Excursion Program Overview

Bring your multi-age School Holiday Program (aka. Vacation Care or Outside School Hours Care Program) children to explore our Sustainability Education Centre to investigate your choice of themes:

Living Things: Explore the living things found in our native gardens, compost bin and worm farms.

Recycling: Discover what can go in a recycling bin, and the journey these items go on and why the 5R’s are so important.

Activities to choose from include:

• Virtual Reality Experience (Oceans of the Future) and Poster Design
  Students will experience virtual reality to gain an insight into the problems caused by plastic waste entering our oceans, learn how to prevent waste from entering our ocean and develop a Poster to show others how to care for and protect our oceans so they can be enjoyed by future generations!
• Biodiversity Hunt – Students explore our garden, search for and collect amazing minibeasts then observe their live specimens using a video microscope. We have fun exploring body parts and adaptations of a variety of minibeasts.
• Compost Capers and Incredible Shrinking Machine – Students venture through our incredible shrinking machine to explore the inner workings of a compost bin then get to meet our wriggly worms face to face to understand the importance of composting and soil health.
• Dress up – Students relive the composting process through a costumed, interactive drama.  They get to play a variety of characters including a talking magpie, glowing sun, wriggly worms, butterflies, buzzing bees and many more! Alternatively, they can play act the journey of an aluminium can from the supermarket shelf to home, the recycling centre back to the supermarket.. Characters include shoppers, shop keepers, waste recyclers and truck drivers through to fire dancers and can painters!
• Waste not Want not – Discover the journey of waste through our Wastelands interpretive room which guides visitors on the journey of Glass, Plastic, Paper, Aluminium and Steel from raw material to finished products. Learn what happens to rubbish as it goes down the drains, explore how long recyclable items take to break down in landfill and how we are now turning waste into worth. 
• Recycling Relay – Students examine common items and decide which can be recycled and determine which are single use that end up in landfill.  Explore the 5Rs inverted pyramid (Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to identify the various points at which waste can be reduced.
• Lounging Lizards – Learn all about lizards.  Students also get to make their own lizard motel!
• Fabulous Frogs – Learn all about frogs and how to make a frog pond to attract them to your garden!
  

Two Hour Programs: Choose 3-4 Activities (group max 25)
Four Hour Programs: Choose 5-6 Activities (group max 25)