Background

A wetland is an ecosystem that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, and includes swamps, marshes, flood plains, lakes and bogs. The water itself can be either saltwater, freshwater or brackish.

Wetland water is rich in nutrients, attracting and sustaining many different types of plants and animals, including invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. Wetlands are unique ecosystems that provide food and water, habitat and breeding grounds and places to shelter during drought.

Key Learning Question

What interaction occur in a wetland that makes this ecosystem so important?

Learning Intentions

In this program, students will:

• Investigate the interactions between living things in the Ecolinc wetland
• Assess the condition of the wetland ecosystem
• Learn how organisms are connected through the wetland food web
• Learn how small changes in the food web may have large scale effects

Activities

Students will:

• Explore the Ecolinc wetland
• Undertake chemical, biological and physical assessments of the Ecolinc wetland
• Observe how wetland organisms are connected through the food web
• Describe the cause and effect of adding and removing organisms in a food web

Note: Maximum number of students for this program is 50 per day.

Victorian Curriculum

Science – Biological sciences

• Interactions between organisms can be described in terms of food chains and food webs and can be affected by human activity (VCSSU093 [1])

Science – Earth and space sciences

• Water is an important resource that cycles through the environment (VCSSU101 [2])