YEAR 9 students at Noosa District State High School are the first in the country to have fun with waterbugs, all for scientific purposes.
As part of their science curriculum, last week the group of students went to the creek near their school to see what all the buzz was about.
The program has been organised by the National Waterbug Blitz and Noosa Environmental Education Hub with support from the Mary River Catchment Co-ordinating Committee and the Noosa Integrated Catchment Association.
NEEH co-founder Dalia Mikhail said what the students learnt would give them an opportunity to train other students on how to conduct waterbug monitoring.
“Engendering the environmental custodians of the future is the focus of our hub’s activities and we are delighted to have brought this hands-on learning program to the students of NDHS,” she said.
The waterbug program aims to empower citizen scientists to assess the status of waterways nationwide, surveying the aquatic macroinvertebrates known as waterbugs that inhabit rivers, creeks and lakes.
Year 9 science teacher Michael Tierney hoped the students would be able to take away a greater understanding of the local ecosystem.
“The chance for our students to participate in this training furthers their knowledge of waterway health and waterbug identification, giving real-life application to our curriculum,” Mr Tierney said.
Together with traditional water-monitoring practice, the students will soon be active citizen science-data collectors taking ownership of the health of their local waterways.
