Linking to the 2017 IY of Sustainable Tourism for Development’s aim of raising awareness of other cultures, I began 2018 with ideas for exploring our own cultural background.
2018 was the (3rd) International Year of the Reef (IYOR), with aims to raise awareness of the value, threats and ecosystems of coral reefs. To understand the threat of plastic to (coral reef) ecosystems, the next article focused on the nature of plastics. It was followed by one on how plastics used on land get to the seas via stormwater. The final article concerned the natural threat of earth movements and tsunamis, in the context of Sulawesi.
All articles had extensive links to resources on the web.
Our Cultural Environment –
(issue 155, pp 26-27) introduced Harmony Day (March 21) with activities that covered: a simple mapping for one’s ancestors; the changes over a century in the cultural diversity of Jeparit, a small rural town; and a f0cus on the contribution of Scottish heritage in Australian culture, through its immigrants, arts and food.
Our Plastic Environment–
(issue 156, pp 30-31) was inspired by the 2018 theme for World Environment Day (June 5). The activities began with a survey of what is around the home and using the five senses to describe these different plastics. The next level has more advanced language for the defining of ‘plastics’, their diversity and history. This is a background to understanding the complexity of recycling plastics with its number system and the ‘new’ issues with plastics, especially tiny ones, in the sea.
From Streets to Seas –
(issue 157, pp 30-31 ) explored the journey of plastic (and other) rubbish from streets through stormwater where it can empty into seas. The on-line Victorian Waterwatch Stormwater Education Manual was introduced as a resource for many activities related to learning about this common environmental problem. Resources were then introduced for learning about plastics as marine pollution in Port Phillip Bay and about the Bay’s underwater reefs, even though they were not coral ones. With coral reefs the main focus of the IYOR, the last section considered their basic features and issues.
* Note that the links in the pdf are not working, so they are listed in order in Links for From Streets to Seas
Coral Reefs- threats and allies 
(issue 158, pp 16-18) had a Science/Geography focus on the reefs affected by a devastating tsunami in Sulawesi. In the context of the IYOR, earthquakes and tsunamis are a natural threat to reefs. Video resources explain these well. A maths activity is provided to understand the Richter scale. Video, map and list resources can be used to identify the Sulawesi reefs under threat from earth movements and a warming climate. But we can be the ‘allies’ to support such reefs, through volunteer programs.
* Note that the links in the pdf are not working so are listed in order in Links for Coral Reefs.
return to list of environmental articles in Otherways by IY from 2010- present
page set up 27 December 2020