Spring has sprung and it’s a busy time for citizen-science. This means there’s a plethora of additional activities you can involve your students in if you want to add depth to your River Detectives experience and outdoor learning is what floats your students’ boat.
If you’re sitting down during the holidays to plan Term 4, here’s some support to save you some time.
If this email hurts your brain, just file it away for when the time comes . . . . there’s never any obligation to take up these opportunities.
OCTOBER
October is a busy month. The Aussie Backyard Bird Count has a defined time to participate but let’s face it, platypus and water can be a focus any time so feel free to postpone those activities til November when things are quieter (if any time in a school is quiet!).
- Platypus Month. This year’s theme is ‘Take The Lead For Platypus’, encouraging dog owners (including our young people) to leash their pets near waterways to care for dogs, care for wildlife and care for country.Off-leash dogs disturb and threaten platypus and dog attacks are one of the leading causes of platypus deaths in Victoria. This is something students can take an active role in preventing. A schools’ activity pack has been put together if you are looking to add some activities to your program to participate in Platypus Month. See here. If you’d like to take it one step further and have your school lead a community event to celebrate Platypus Month, check out the communications pack.
- National Water Week, 19-25 October: Unfortunately the same week as the Backyard Bird Count, but the 2026 National Water Week theme is Water Is Life so perhaps you can ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and do a count of the bird life that rely so heavily on waterways in your area . . . . Head to the National Water Week website for the 2026 school participation kit or for the general Water Education Toolkit that you can use any time of year!
And don’t forget that your regional River Detectives coordinator would love to hear about anything you get up to if it relates to learning about waterways and catchments. Send them some photos! Or comment below to tell us your plans or share stories/photos later.
Happy Holidays!
