A Prickly, Slippery, Experience at Lake Ranfurly

   Closer to the lake the ground was covered in a forest of spiky reeds. Jennifer, Darrien, Danielle and I were dodging in and out of the spiky reeds, collecting data for Cath.  It was the 15th of July and 5/6 A were at Lake Ranfurly on Gibbs Road. After a muddy walk down to the lake (or close to it anyway; we could see it in the distance)  we had collected a clipboard to record data, a ruler to measure the smaller plants and a texta to write down information. Now, my group was collecting data. The spiky reed plant pricked at my legs. Ouch! I jumped over the next one, I wasn’t going to be pricked again! Looking back behind me I could see the trees of the bushland behind us. Looking forward I saw the fluorescent yellow vests of the groups that were ahead of us.  The ground below us was more waterlogged than it had been 20m back. When Ms. Hammerton told us to go back, we made our way back through the prickly forest of reeds and down the slippery, muddy path back to the bus. Though, the Lake Ranfurly experience was prickly and slightly muddy, it was fun and I’d love to go back again.

  Thanks to Mrs. Vorwerk, Ms. Hammeton, Kath and Ms. Harnell for taking and teaching us.

Lake Ranfurly 5/6 E and Data Collecting

On Thursday 13th Drade 5/6E went to Lake Ranfurly by bus. When we got there we did a small hike down a dirt track we went around  a bushy corner down to the lake. On the sand dunes we had to get a clipboard with a piece of paper on it a pen and a ruler. We took ten big steps at a time  towards the lake. Between steps we measured the closest plant and recorded it on the piece of paperand took ten more big steps towards the lake. When my groups paper was full we explored. We found bones, skulls, kangaroos, strange plants and heaps more. It was sad that we had to leave but we had lots of fun.

Lake Ranfurly

We travelled in a bus to Lake Ranfurly. We got there and met Catherine from the MRCC. At the side of the road  she gave us all highly visible vest. Then we started to walk to the Lake Ranfurly. We finally got there.  Catherine taught us about the wildlife and plants, such as pigface and salt bush.

Lake Ranfurly and Data Collection and Analysis -5/6E

Lake Ranfurly The closer we get to the Lake the smaller the plants due to salinity

On Thursday the 13th of August 5/6E (my class) the Data Collection and Analysis Action Team went to Lake Ranfurly to research plants. When we got off the bus we went on a long walk to the lake. When we got to there, Catherine told us what we had to do. We had to collect a ruler a pen and a piece of paper. We had to write down a plant in an area and the pecentage that it took up in the area and how high they were and other interesting things we found. The plants we found were salt bush, pigface and other strange plants. We also found wire, kangaroo tracks, three kangaroos and six bones. The closer we went to the lake the smaller the plants became. The reason for this was that these plants had to deal with the salinity problem. The salt bush is tolerant of the salt and further away from the lake the plants were larger as they had a better water supply and it wasn’t contaminated by the salt.

Lake Ranfurly- 5/6E Data collection and Analysis team

On Thursday 13th August, 5/6E went to Lake Ranfurly. We travelled by bus and when we got to the road leading to the Lake we met Catherine from the MRCC. We put on some brightly coloured safety vests that she had brought for us.
The adults started to walk down a narrow trail, taking us around 5 minutes to get to the end of the trail but when we got there it was worth it. Surprised, we all looked out towards the lake from where we standing. Mrs. Vorwerk spotted 3 kangaroos, one grey, one red and a little grey joey.

We had to pair up so Steph came over to me. She was given a green clipboard and I was given a blue flexible ruler.

We had to collect data. To do this we had to take 10 big steps towards the lake, then stop and look around us to collect information about the plants in that section. I measured the tallest plant in the area and called out the most common  to Steph, who was madly writng down the feedback. When we had finished that area we took ten more big steps towards the lake and then collected that data.

The plants we saw included; Pig face, Saltbush, some spiky ones (I didn’t like them) and much more.

On the unusual side there was a goats skull and some odd kangaroo bones.

We took the information  back and to Catherine and headed back to school. it was interesting and very fun.

Collecting data at Lake Ranfurly

Lake Ranfurly black box trees well away from the edge of the lake

Last Thursday our class went to Lake Ranfurly. We got a clip board, a ruler and a pen. We started a long way form the lake and then we went to the area near the lake. We took ten steps towards the lake and then collected more data. We looked around in that area and counted the different plants. We did that until we were almost to the water. 

Before we started the data collection we saw lots of animals including three kangaroos, birds, insects and some caterpillars. The plants that we saw were pigs face, strange  spiky plants and some salt bush. We measured the heights of the plants and counted the different types of plants. We saw a goats skull and some bones.

The plants were much bigger further away from the lake and when we got closer to the lake there were more salt bushes and spiky plants . We took samples of the plants. We got there by bus and then we had to walk down this long path and then we caught the bus back. It was a really fun day.

Lake Ranfurly – 5/6E Data Collection Team

Lake Ranfurly Quadrant Sampling

On Thursday 13th of August, 5/6E went on the bus to Lake Ranfurly.  We then met a lady called Catherine, the Biodiversity Officer from Mildura Rural City Council and put on some yellow or orange safety vests.  Then we followed the adults down a track that took us around five minutes to get to the other end.  Surprised, we all looked out to the lake and spotted two kangaroos with their joey. 

We paired up and I was with Sophie.  I was given a clipboared and Sophie was given a flexible ruler.

We took ten big steps towards the lake and had a look around us, Sophie measured the plants and called out the information while I was madly writing down the feedback. 

The plants we saw included pig face, salt bush and spiky bushes.

Some unusual things we saw were a goats skull and some kangaroo bones.

We took the information back to Catherine and headed back to school.  It was very interesting and fun. 

Thank you

Rio Vista Data Collection and Analysis Team

On Thursday 13th August 5/6E went to Lake Ranfurly with Mrs Vorwerk. It was a long bus drive, but when we got there we met up with Cath.  She was going to help us with our research. We got in to groups of 2 or 3 Kayla went with me. We talked to Cath for a bit then we all went of and started to get some data about the taller plants and trees growing a long way from the Lake compared to the small plants growing closer to the Lake.

Lake Ranfurly-5/6E Data Collection team

Kangaroos at Lake Ranfurly

On the 13th August 5/6E arrived by bus to Lake Ranfurly to collect data about the environment and plants there. When we arrived we were greeted by Catherine a member of the Mildura Rural City Council. She explained to us what we were going to do and then we got into pairs. We got a clipboard with a sheet on it to write down the data, a pen and a ruler to measure the plants.

We saw 2 kangaroos with a joey. We also saw different types of plants including spikey plants, saltbush, pigface and many more. We saw many animal bones including a goats skull. It was a good afternoon.