9. Biodiversity

9.4 Activities

A green investigation

How connected are the greenspaces around your school?

Canberra has quite a lot of greenspace, but sometimes it is not connected well enough for species to move around properly to breed, migrate or escape predators. Roads running through vegetated areas can reduce the benefit of those areas as habitat for native species. Animals may become isolated because they cannot cross the road, and some may die trying. Corridors of continuous greenspace, or ‘wildlife corridors’, can help support species throughout urban areas.

If species are able to stay connected, genetic and species-level biodiversityThe variety of all life and living processes in the environment. will be greater.

For this activity, search up your school address on Google Maps using satellite mode. Once you’ve found your school, zoom out until you can see a few suburbs. Alternatively, you can use the example map below, which shows the suburbs of Kingston, Griffith and Narrabundah.

Satellite image of Kingston, Griffith and Narrabundah. Source: Google Maps

Discussion questions:

1. How much greenspace do you see in your school’s immediate surroundings?
2. What kind of greenspace do you see? E.g. sports ovals, parks, community gardens, nature reserves? Do you think these are all equally important for biodiversityThe variety of all life and living processes in the environment., or do some types of greenspace support native species more than others?
3. Can you trace your finger over the screen from greenspace to greenspace without lifting your finger?
4. Does the size of the green spaces change?
5. Are there greenspaces near water sources?
6. Are there roads that break up greenspaces?
7. What are the impacts of fragmented greenspaces on biodiversityThe variety of all life and living processes in the environment. and ecosystemsA biological community of interacting living and non-living things.?
8. Can you identify any places where habitat connectivity could be improved near your school?

Investigating these questions teaches us about the amount and quality of the greenspace in our local area. Large patches are better than small ones, and connected greenspaces are better than fragmented ones.

---

Build a possum box to provide habitat for native animals

In urban areas, large old trees with hollows are not always conserved. This means that possums have nowhere to live and will sometimes move into people’s roofs. To help the possums – and keep them out of your roof – you can build them a house of their own.

The downloadable instruction sheet below was developed by Wildlife Victoria. It’s a great resource for a woodworking class at school! Make sure you have adult permission and assistance installing the box at home.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS WORKSHEET!

---

Create a buzz in your garden

Help native pollinators by making your backyard bee-friendly

Did you know that there are over 140 different species of native bees in the ACT region? These range in size from just a few millimetres long to a couple of centimetres.

Bees play a critical role in our environment, pollinating native species as well as the crops we grow to eat. You can support native bees by planting the right kinds of herbs and native flowering plants in your backyard.

Click through the photos of native bees below. Do you notice anything about the shape, size or colour of the flowers they’ve chosen?

Source: Miranda Gardner

What you’ll notice is that native bees like a wide variety of flower shapes, sizes and colours. Ensuring we provide a diversity of native plants in our garden will help attract and support a variety of different pollinators.

When choosing plants for your bee-friendly garden, try to get:

• A mix of flower colours – bees are particularly attracted to blues, purples, yellows and whites.
• A mix of shapes, sizes and heights – this will cater to the needs of different pollinators.
• A mix of plants that flower at different times of year ­­– this will make sure bees always have food in your garden.

You can find a comprehensive list of local pollinator-friendly species to plant in your backyard here:

ACT FOR BEES – CANBERRA PLANTING GUIDE

As well as planting the right kind of flowers, it’s also important to provide shelter for bees. While honeybees are famous for their hives, most Australian native bees actually nest in plant stems, holes in dead wood, or dig burrows in the ground.

Leave some untidy areas in your garden, with patches of dry grass and bare earth. This will mean native bees have a place to raise their young. You could even build a bee-hotel!