Cultivating enquiring minds
Flora and Fauna staff members Glenn Wightman, Lou Elliott and Nick Cuff recently participated in the Jingili Primary School Science Expo. This event has been running for the past 11 years and provides kids from preschool through to grade 6 the opportunity to learn about the obvious, and maybe not-so-obvious, places science pops up in their school and day-to-day lives.
Students had the chance to meet and engage with a range of professional scientists, health workers and students in an interactive setting and see the different disciplines of science in action. Staff provided a range of activities for small groups of kids focussing on the diversity of life in the Northern Territory (NT) and the ways in which we interact with the plants and animals around us, both in a scientific and day-to-day sense.
Although they had some tough competition for their attention from the stalls providing food and loud explosions, the kids’ inquisitive natures were drawn to the various interesting plant materials made available to look at under the microscopes. Aside from being a novel thing for them to get a chance to use, it provided the opportunity to talk with the kids about how to go about describing and recognising different plant species often based on microscopic differences between them. It was a great opportunity for the kids to engage with Glenn in particular on some of the traditional uses of native plants and the origins of the plant food seen in the supermarket. This was particularly relevant given the strong kitchen garden program run at the school which focusses on sustainability and production.
Hopefully this might inspire one or two to think about the plants they see around them in the bush or supermarket in more detail and maybe pursue a career in biology or taxonomy!
