Year 9 Geography students attended an excursion to visit the ecosytems of the Kurnell Peninsula on Tuesday. The main focus of the day was to allow students to visit and understand the importance of mangroves to the coastal environment. Students learnt that until recently mangroves attracted little attention due to their unattractiveness to tourists. In the last few decades their uniqueness, role in biodiversity and fragility have been recognised.

Our guide walked students through the mangroves and other estuarine ecosystems as they filled out worksheets. Students also used devices to measure the sunlight that reached the mangroves as well as the salinity of the water. The yearly examination will be based upon this field trip and the work on mangroves that is covered in class.

The highlight of the day was when one of the guides caught a stingray and students were able to touch the ray and receive a small electric shock. The guide also removed a 60cm shark from the stomach of the stingray and this gave students and teachers an even bigger shock. The stingray was then returned to the water to live its life in peace.

David Bartlett, Head of HSIE