River Detectives is a cross-curricular citizen-science program connecting teachers and young people with their local waterway. Through water-quality testing, macroinvertebrate sampling, and habitat surveys, students learn about the importance of catchment health and their role in caring for it. The program is available to schools and youth groups in five regions across Victoria.
Daylesford Dharma School’s Learning Manager Tanya Wiggins speaks about the significance of the program:
“Our school is nondenominational, welcoming all students, but is unique in its Buddhist philosophical approach to teaching and learning with two key principles; interdependence and universal responsibility. The school aims to foster a strong understanding of how students are connected to the web of life and their responsibility of non-harm to that web. We have been involved in River Detectives since 2014.”
Tanya explains that when she heard about the program she could see the benefits straight away; Creek bed developed within the school grounds.
“We were going to Tipperary Springs regularly to learn about habitat, flora, fauna, and water bugs so I saw the program as a great opportunity for students to build that element of universal responsibility. Citizen science gives them a great chance to contribute their observations while learning amazing skills which sit so beautifully within the Science and Humanities curriculum. It also allows students to explore the chemical science aspect which schools can find a little more difficult to cover.”
The School’s decade-long River Detectives journey revolves around their adopted site on Smiths Creek in Daylesford’s Cornish Hill Reserve where the whole school participates in a weekly Bush School Curriculum. Grade Three to Six students are the key drivers of the waterways guardians program and Junior students look forward to being a senior student, with River Detectives one of the highly anticipated rites of passage. Small class sizes and school buses owned by the school means teachers can connect with their community regularly. On a whim, teachers can take their class to Smiths Creek and see first-hand what they are learning about. This means the learning is rich, meaningful, and can be continued back in the classroom.
In 2023, Daylesford Dharma School received a Regional Recognition Award by the North Central CMA highlighting the contribution they’ve made to the goals of the Regional Catchment Strategy.
This blog article has been adapted from Stories from the North Central CMA River Detectives News.