Over the last few weeks, the Loughs Agency’s education team have been busy informing and educating pupils and teachers within the Foyle and Carlingford catchment areas about our waterways.
Education officer Michael Cosgrove made several visits to St Mary’s College in Derry to help Year 11 and 12 students with some practical water-quality assessments, using samples from both strong and weak water-quality sites as a comparison exercise.
Michael talked about the history of the Loughs Agency as well as the work the agency does across the Foyle and Carlingford Catchments, before finally delivering a presentation on the science of water.
The workshops delivered by Michael helped the students complete their Science BTEC and afterwards the school showed their appreciation by sending a thank-you card.
Michael also visited Eglinton Community Pre-School to deliver a marine show-and-tell. He talked to the children about ocean literacy and marine biodiversity, before giving them a chance to look at different shells, seaweeds and marine objects.
Michael also brought along some of the Loughs Agency’s inflatable marine wildlife, which proved to be the star of the show!
Michael and fellow education officer Jack Porter visited Year 8 pupils at Castlederg High School in Co Tyrone to deliver a lesson on the science of water as part of their “Living Things” day.
Pupils at Castlederg High School got the chance to have a closer look at the macroinvertebrates that live within their local river
With one session in the morning and another in the afternoon, Michael and Jack engaged with 80 first-year students, offering them an introduction to the agency and teaching them about the important work it does in and around the local rivers. This was followed by a presentation which allowed the children to better understand the hydrological cycle and the biodiversity within our rivers.
A sample of river water was brought into the classroom as the pupils got the chance to have a closer look at the macroinvertebrates that live within the river. The education team divided these samples into separate trays and distributed these across the classroom. The pupils were then tasked with identifying the different invertebrates using ID sheets, with cased caddisflies being the clear favourite.
To conclude the day, pupils got the chance to use the salmon life cycle board game which is both fun and educational.
At Omagh County Primary School, Jack Porter and fishery officer Richard Farrow delivered a presentation on the role of the agency and the importance of water quality. They then split the 40 Primary 3 pupils into separate groups and asked them to identify the macroinvertebrates in their tray. This was followed by a talk from Richard on the importance of protecting and caring for our local waterways.
Jack Porter also delivered “Science of Water” workshops to six schools in Co Donegal — Dromore National School in Killygordon; Cloughfin National School in Lifford; St Baithin’s NS in St Johnston; Scoil Cholmcille in Greencastle; St Eunan’s NS, Raphoe; and Glencovitt NS in Ballybofey — that had completed the Something Fishy project which taught pupils across the River Finn catchment about their local waterways, aiming to heighten awareness of the agency’s role within conservation and protection, as well providing teachers the tools to educate children on the lifecycle of the salmon.
Jack returned to St Baithin’s to deliver a workshop to the Senior Infants and First Class pupils on the science of water. Afterwards the pupils engaged with some local macroinvertebrates, were taught the importance of protecting rivers and learned all about the various lives that exist within their local streams and waterways.
The children found the workshop very engaging, asking excellent questions and showing a desire to learn more about the local environment, the Loughs Agency says.
