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Education - Return to 1616 Ecological Restoration Project

This is a comprehensive education package based on of the world's most exciting ecological restoration projects that is happening right now in Western Australia! It features interactive virtual tours, 3D skulls, videos, real-action inquiry projects, research projects, native animal educational card games and activities, ...

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Water-powered engine theories need hosing down

This ABC article by Dr Karl addresses the question: will we one day be able to power cars with water? The chemical reactions involved in the formation and decomposition of water are described. Energy transformations are explained. A very useful resource to get students thinking.

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Chemicals on the Great Barrier Reef

This program deals with a range of human impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. Herbicides from land runoff have been traced to algae and sea grasses in river mouths and coastal zones along the Great Barrier Reef. Effects include retardation of photosynthesis and growth of corals. Other pressures on the reef include high water ...

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Solar thermal electricity

This program gives an update on research into solar thermal electricity. Liddell Power Station in the Hunter Valley, NSW is a hybrid power station using solar energy to pre-heat water and so reduce the use of coal and the production of carbon dioxide. Some scientists claim that harnessing the solar heat in an area 50km ...

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Investigate: cane toads

This unit of work is designed to help students understand cane toads and their threat to the Australian environment and agricultural production. Why some animals are to be protected and others need to be eradicated. The resource includes a teacher guide, student learning journal and a PowerPoint presentation.

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DTiF in conversation with Save the Bilby Fund – Background information on the Save the Bilby Fund

Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund, and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund, explain why the bilby is an important indicator of the health of an ecosystem, and how their decline impacts other wildlife. This video gives an overview of what the Save the Bilby Fund does as they work ...

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DTiF in conversation with Kevin Bradley and Cassandra Arkinstall from Save the Bilby Fund – Using Digital Technologies to help save bilbies

Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund, and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund explain how important digital technologies are in the campaign to save the bilby from extinction. The video explains how digital systems are used to collect and visualise data and help eradicate threats ...

Online

Creating a beneficial garden: planting

Planting flowers with food crops increases biodiversity, and is known as beneficial planting. Beneficial planting not only makes our garden beds look more attractive to us, it also makes gardens look more attractive to pollinators and predators, which in turn, help to fertilise and protect crops from pest invertebrates. ...

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Creating a beneficial garden: investigation

Biodiversity has been perfected by nature over millions of years where invertebrates have played an important role in maintaining a balanced, biodiverse ecosystem. Invertebrates provide services to food crops including pollination and protection from pests. This learning activity is the second part of a sequence of 3 individual ...

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Four Corners: Fire management strategies

What role do fire-behaviour specialists and ecologists have in fire management? Watch this clip to find out about issues relating to fire management in Australia, in particular prescribed burning.

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Four Corners: Megafires

Are we approaching the 'age of megafires'? It might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but some scientists believe there is cause for concern. Watch this clip to find out how bushfires as we know them are changing. Discover why.

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Foreign Correspondent: Cenotes

The Yucatán Peninsula is located in south-eastern Mexico and covers a vast area of coastline south of the Gulf of Mexico. It is a popular tourist destination for people who travel to cities such as Cancún to enjoy sandy white beaches. Explore the subterranean freshwater caverns of this region and discover why this pristine ...

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Scientists study suburban microbats

Discover the tiny bats that live in Australian backyards in urban areas, including large cities. Watch this clip to learn more about these elusive Australian mammals, and to find out about a large-scale survey undertaken in Melbourne. Scientist, Dr Rodney van der Ree, addresses a group of volunteers in the field and explains ...

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Stateline: Saving the northern hairy-nosed wombat

Just what is going on with the northern hairy-nosed wombat? Find out why scientists are working hard to understand more about this elusive Australian mammal. Watch this clip to find out about the ecology of this wombat species and to view some field and laboratory research aimed at saving it. You will also see some footage ...

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Catalyst: Aboriginal fire knowledge reduces greenhouse gases

Come on an eye-opening trip to Western Arnhem Land in northern Australia to find out how Aboriginal fire-control techniques are used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by thousands of tonnes.On the trip you will also find out how exploding ping-pong balls are used to create low greenhouse gas firebreaks at the right time ...

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Catalyst: Chemical pollutants toxic to whales

Explore how chemical pollutants affect the Antarctic food web. A scientist shows that baleen whales are consuming Antarctic krill contaminated by accumulated residues of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from pesticides and industrial chemicals. Find out why these pollutants are concentrated at the Earth's polar regions.

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Catalyst: Managing bushfires

To burn or not to burn? Investigate the science behind arguments for and against controlled burn-offs that aim to reduce the risk of bushfires to humans. Listen to the reasons Professor Mark Adams of Sydney University gives for a careful approach to prescribed burning.

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Foreign Correspondent: Sustainable tourism

The Yucatán Peninsula in south-eastern Mexico is a popular tourist destination. This clip focuses on examples of sustainable tourism - tourism that aims to have a low environmental impact. View Tulum, a town under threat of being developed similarly to Cancún, a major tourist resort destination.

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Engineering clean rivers

Figuring out how to clean up contaminated rivers is a big challenge. It's also tricky to work out where the most contaminated parts of a river system are and whether its fish are safe to eat. Watch this video and learn how engineering has helped to solve these problems. Why do you think engineers looked to the bottom of ...

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Sciencey: Will Australia have the last bees on Earth?

Bee populations around the world have started vanishing, in a process known as colony collapse disorder. Scientists have many ideas about what causes colony collapse, including one possible culprit: the varroa mite. Australia is one of the last places on Earth unaffected by varroa. Could this mean that Australia could have ...