Threatened Species Day Woodland virtual excursions

Did you know Woodlands stretch all the way down the inland tablelands and slopes of NSW from Queensland to Victoria?

Did you know Woodlands are one of the most important ecosystems for agriculture in NSW and in some places less than 10% remains?

The Woodland Virtual Excursion project was designed to facilitate student access to Office of Environment and Heritage Biodiversity Conservation Section (BioCon) scientists on Threatened Species Day, September 7, 2011.

The project developed five videos discussing the endangered Grassy Box Woodlands and associated threatened plants, mammals, birds and frogs. The videos are accompanied by transcripts and a short biography on each scientist explaining how they ended up working as a scientist in their particular area of expertise.

The project team worked with the Distance and Rural Technologies (DART) section of the Department of Education and Communities to set up a virtual excursion. This involved students watching the videos and then, via video-link, asking the scientists questions about woodlands.

13 country schools booked into 15 excursions: Beckom Public School; Brungle Public School; Condobolin Public; Glen Alice Public School; Hargraves Public School; Hill End Public School; Junee North Public School; Kapooka Public; Khancoban Public School; Lightning Ridge Central School; Lue Public School; Portland Central School and Wee Jasper Public.

The questions posed by the students demonstrated a keen interest in our natural environment and their level of knowledge and good behaviour during the virtual excursion was a credit to their teachers.

The information created by the project will remain available and can continue to be used providing a series of excellent introductory videos that could be comfortably viewed by any age group.

The coordinator of the Conservation Management Network is happy to continue to receive questions related to the videos for an indefinite period and can provide Woodland resources to school as requested.