Informed Student Action to Preserve

Using Maths and Science, students will gather data on the amount of rubbish in the area of the tree and the surrounding area. Students will draw results from this data to find out where a bin is best positioned. Using science to categories the rubbish. Whether it is decomposable, man made, or natural.

 The benefit of this informed student action will preserve and keep the area nice for the community to use.

 

 

Young People Attach to Place

As stated by Seller, Whiney & Paige in Science, Art, Learning and Teaching as teachers we often forget the magic and newness of the local environment for children and the excitement that can be achieved when they explore and attach to a place in the environment. Students enjoy being with the environment and exploring something special to them and through experiences like a place in time they attach to the place as it feels like there special spot. An experience like this also helps young people attach and feel connected to a place as they do it together. We are social creatures and as we learning together is an important part of Vygotsky’s social theory. Working together we create memories of positive relationships and inspire one another to attach to a place. It also allows students to develop their ‘nature smart’ or naturalist intelligence as indicated in Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and therefore allows them to develop their attachment to nature and ability to work in and with nature as discussed by Louv in Natural school reform.

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Transdisciplinary

In terms of a transdisciplinary approach you can implement an array of English, Maths, Science and Art/Design sustainability lessons

• In English, reading a text about sustainability and making text to self, text to text and text to world connections.
• In Mathematics, using empirical data to analyse whether the current recycling model is effective or not. 
• Examining the process of recycling might be used for a Science lesson.
• In a Design and Technology lesson, students can use recycling materials to create a piece that reflects sustainability.
• Create a picture in art that paints the ideal sustainable school

Non-Indigenous Perspective

As people have migrated from other countries to Australia since the first white settlers, they have brought over trees and plants that are not native to Australia and come from other countries and other climates. These types of plants can be found on the university grounds. Both the Canary Island Date Palm and the Chinese Elm are labelled as weeds by Australian councils and are known to take over native plants and suck the limited water they need in order to survive.

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Soil Test and Type

We did a cabbage pH test to find out whether the soil by the tree was acidic or basic. When we did the test some parts of the soil turned yellow which could be because some tiny parts in the soil, possibly some organic material was very basic.

Off shoots, bark, fallen leaves from Casuarina Glauca and surrounding plants

We discovered that the soil had lots of organic material in it. It has lots of leaves and bark that are bigger then the small particles in it. This soil could be loam as it seems to be a mix of different types of soil like clay and silt.

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Future

This is a collage of a possible future of the area. We know that our tree will die but to the left there is a offshoot of our tree that has grown into a mature tree. We believe native trees and plant will be cared for in the future and encouraged to flourish. We also believe people will create buildings that are more sustainable and use current and future technologies to still live a luxurious life, but that we will live in and with nature rather then against it.

Location of Tree

The tree can be found at E4.

Data of Human Interaction and Natural Habitat

Human interaction:

• 2 pieces of plastic – possibly packaging of some kind
• 1 plastic bottle top

Natural habitat:

• 9 feathers from birds
• 26 leaves from gum trees
• 4 pieces of bark
• 3 branches with leaves from our tree
• 6 ants

Use of Space

The space is used by people as a place to go to relax and enjoy the shade of the trees in the area. Although we have been there a few times we have not seen many people enjoying the space as we have, which makes it feel even more special to us. There is also a path that goes past the tree to another building in the university.

Plant and Animal Relationships




Diagram of plant and animal relationships

 

Length of Leaves and Branches

The length of one of the leaves was 16.7 centimetres long.

We picked to measure a branch that was one of the longest branches within reach. We used Luke’s arm span to measure how long it is. The branch is the same length as one arm stretched out and his torso together.

Amount of Leaves, Branches and Offshoots

Amount of leaves:

To work out how many leaves there are we need to make an algorithm to work out an estimate. There are approximately 3 leaves per a centimetre. We counted that there were 20 branches and have guessed that the average size of each branch is 250 centimetres long.

3 x 250 = 750 leaves per a branch

750 x 20 = 15,000 leaves on the tree.

Amount of branches:

We counted the branches that came directly of the trunk of the tree. There were 20 branches.

Amount of offshoots:

We counted the offshoots of the tree that are around the tree in close proximity. We counted 37 offshoots from our original tree. These offshoots occur in order to encourage biodiversity and continue the regeneration of new trees in the area. 

Circumference of Trunk and a Branch

Circumference of trunk:

44 centimetres.

Circumference of branches:

One of the branches circumference was 4.7 centimetres. There were some branches bigger and some branches smaller so we picked a branch in-between the biggest and smallest one.

Height of Tree

If the angle by Luke is 45⁰ then the height of the tree will equal the distance that Luke is from the tree. Although because Luke was using the clinometer at eye level, the height of the tree is the distance Luke is from the tree plus his height.

642 centimetres + 139 centimetres = 781 centimetres.

Therefore our tree is 781 centimetres or 7.81 metres tall.

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Animals

Bulldog Ant

These ants can grow up to 40 millimetres long and often nest underground. They have very good vision which assists them in killing their prey and protecting their nest. If an intruder gets too close to the nest these ants will attack by coming out of the nest and chase the intruder away. They are able to sting animals by holding the animal in its powerful jaws and then using their sting to inject the animal with venom. These stings can be more powerful then bee stings and more than one sting can occur. These stings can also be dangerous to humans, particularly people who have allergies to bee stings.

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Little Lorikeet – Glossopsitta Pusilla

Little Lorikeets are usually in small flocks and eat mostly flowers, particularly flowers at the top of tall eucalyptus and paperbark trees. They are the smallest of Australia’s species of lorikeets. Little Lorikeet’s are mostly found in forests and woodlands, but will also live in open park lands and in urban areas.

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Other Plants and Trees

The other plants around our tree are mainly different types of Eucalyptus trees, in particular the Lemon-Scented Gum (Eucaluptus Citriodora) and the Red Ironbark (Eycalyptus Sideroxylon Rosea). Both trees are large to medium in size and can tolerate having little water. The Lemon-Scented Gum does have large roots and likes lots of sunlight and can overpower other trees that may be in close proximity.

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Pattern of Leaves and Offshoots

The leaves of the tree are in threes around the branches, about every centimetre. It looks like this:

The offshoots of the tree are in a pattern where there are lots clustered around the trunk of the tree and as the distance increases away from the tree there is less and less offshoots.

Angle of Tree

When looking at the tree it appears that it is not straight but rather leaning at an angle of about 5⁰. This may be because the tree is competing with other trees for sunlight and must angle itself towards the sun and away from the canopies of other trees.

Latitude and Longitude

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Weather Conditions

Weather: At 12pm, on Friday 10^th May 2013

Temperature: 27.4 degrees Celsius

Humidity: Recording on hygrometer was 42%, using technology was 30%.

Wind speed: 19 km/h using technology, using Modified Beaufort Scale of wind force (speed) it was mainly around 3 (gentle breeze) with leaves and twigs moving, although at times it picked up to a 4 (moderate breeze) where loose paper and small branches would move.

Wind direction: North

Rainfall: 0 millimetres since 9 am.

Cloud cover and type: About 65% of sky covered and mainly cirrus and cumulus clouds.

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Weather: At 12:30pm on Friday 17th May 2013

Temperature: 16 degrees Celsius

Humidity: Recording on hygrometer was 51%, using technology was 68%.

Wind speed: 7 km/h using technology, using Modified Beaufort Scale of wind force (speed) it was mainly around 2, which is a slight breeze (wind felt on face).

Wind direction: West

Rainfall: 0 millimetres since 9 am.

Cloud cover and type: About 20% of sky covered and mainly cirrus and cumulus clouds.

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Indigenous Perspectives

We know that the Kaurna people lived in South Australia long before white settlers arrived to set up colonies. The Indigenous people were able to care for and maintain the land as to sustain food and shelter sources and have a spiritial connection with the Earth (Australian Museum 2012).

The Casuarina Glauca was used by Indigenous people to quench their thirst during droughts as the tree’s leaves can be chewed to reduce saliva flow. They also used the tree as a way of hunting other food sources, like Shipworm grubs (Australian Museum 2012). The Indigenous people were able to push the trunk of the Casuarina Glauca into creeks, encouraging the grubs to attach themselves to the trunk and therefore making it easier for the Indigenous people to collect them.

Indigenous people not only used the Casuarina Glauca as food and to collect food but also as a form of transport. There is evidence, collected by the Australian Museum (2012), that Indigenous people used the bark of this tree to create a canoe from a single piece of bark and that these canoes were then used as a form of transport and for fishing.

Indigenous bark canoe from NSW (Australian Museum 2012) 

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