Our sustainability education programs for schools

Explore how human activity can impact our environment, including through climate change and waste. Through a variety of activities, students can discover how they can make a difference and learn about some amazing young people who have developed innovative approaches to reverse these impacts.

This activity can be delivered at any Mornington Peninsula beach. 

Early years: Students can explore Victoria's marine biodiversity and adaptations to the harsh coastal environment through a marine life mystery game. In a fun 'running game', students become hooded plovers and learn how they can protect our precious shorebirds. Through a beach clean-up and audit, students can learn about the impact of plastic ocean pollution and be empowered to reduce ocean litter. 

Primary:  By observing changes in coastal vegetation and coastlines over time, students from can explore how humans interact with and impact our coastal environments and the role of citizen science. Students can examine interconnectedness and relationships within trophic structures in a marine food pyramid building game. Where possible, students can observe features that identify Aboriginal middens, the threats to them and how we can protect them. Students can explore Victoria's marine biodiversity and adaptations to the harsh coastal environment through a marine life mystery game. In a fun 'running game', students become hooded plovers and learn how they can protect our precious shorebirds. We explore threats to the marine environment including climate change, erosion and litter and learn some simple things we can all do to protect our precious coastal areas.

Secondary:  Students will further develop their understanding of how humans have impacted our coastal environment over time, the relationship different stakeholders have to our coasts and how we can protect them. We explore the incredible biodiversity of Victorian marine life and how plants and animals have adapted to the harsh coastal environments. We explore threatening processes such as climate change, erosion and beach litter and how coastal managers can tackle these through adaptive management. By observing historical changes in coastal vegetation and coastlines, students from can explore how humans interact with and impact our coastal environments and the role of citizen science.  Where possible, students can learn the identifying features of Aboriginal middens and how we can protect them. Students can sketch changes in coastal zonation across a dune system and explore the role of coastal management in protecting coastal vegetation. A beach litter audit allows students to examine the issue of marine plastic pollution and explore mechanical versus hand beach cleaning. 

Activities can include:

• Rockpool ramble (K - 12)
• Erosion exploration (Y 7 onwards)
• Beach litter audit (K - 12)
• Shorebird/migratory bird game (K - 6)
• Animal, vegetable or mineral (K - 12)
• Marine animal trophic pyramid challenge (Grade 4 - Y 10)

Students will be guided through a series of age-appropriate activities designed to develop their awareness of the causes of climate change and empower students to understand changes they can make in their own lives to reduce their carbon footprint.

Activities can include:

• Climate change - what is it and what can we do?
• Carbonara footprint - Comparing the carbon emissions of different food using a hands-on, fun activity
• Climate change scavenger hunt/action plan tour - explore the Eco Living Display Centre for clues on how we can reduce carbon emissions at home
• Climate change Jenga - exploring different ways we can reduce our carbon footprint in our own lives
  

Students will be guided through an exploration of where our energy comes from and how we can reduce our use of non-renewable energy.

 They can explore the various sustainable energy solutions showcased in the Eco Living Display Centre through a scavenger hunt and be empowered to explore how they can reduce energy use in their own lives.

Older students can use energy meters to explore the energy usage of common household appliances and use the FLIR cameras to explore where heat and draughts can enter homes.

Students will learn how much drinkable water we have access to and how much water we use in our homes.  Follow the scavenger hunt to discover how we can reduce water use in our homes. Discover just how much water you really use per day and the impact it has on Australia’s water supply.  Older students can complete a waterbody and/or water quality assessment and learn about how we can protect our water catchments.

Students learn about the 9Rs and what products can be recycled, repurposed and re-used through the waste sorting activity.

Through the 'decomposition timeline' activity, students learn how long various items take to break down in landfill.

Students are empowered to reduce their own waste to landfill by exploring how to become a savvy shopper and solve solutions for common household items to divert them from landfill.

Younger students can explore organic waste disposal options including composting and worm farms, and meet some of the Eco Centre's resident worms!

This activity can be conducted at the beach or indoors.

Beach litter audit - Students conduct a guided beach clean-up and litter sorting activity. Students brainstorm how they can reduce litter reaching our coasts and what they can do to improve the health of our waterways and oceans.

Plastic Oceans - Students learn what happens when we drop litter and how it harms our sea birds & animals by engaging in a series of hands-on activities such as the nurdle challenge, 'what's for dinner?' and litter solutions. 

This activity can be delivered at any waterway or natural area on the Mornington Peninsula.

Students will explore common concepts of biodiversity, habitat and ecosystems, explore threats to biodiversity and how they can help improve it. Students will develop skills in classification, observation and analysis in a fun and interactive setting.

Activities include macroinvertebrate (water bug) identification, leaf litter audits, habitat assessments and a food chain activity and an exploration of how we can all undertake simple actions to protect biodiversity. 

This activity can be conducted at the Eco Living Display Centre or as an incursion to your school.

Students will explore different building materials and how they can be used in sustainable house construction. In groups, student can explore how the positioning of a house can affect its comfort and create their own sustainable house design.

This creative and interactive lesson gives students the opportunity to think outside the box, develop a broad understanding of environmentally sustainable design, how human lifestyles impact the availability of natural resources, how individuals can move towards a more sustainable future and the many benefits of constructing sustainable buildings.

This activity can be conducted at your school or at the Eco Living Display Centre

Early years - younger children can learn about how plants grow, explore the importance of composting and worm farms for food production and get to know some of the Eco Centre's worms up close!

Junior and senior year levels - Students explore our food systems and how we can make choices to reduce our impact. A tour of the Eco Living Display Centre explores various aspects of sustainable food production including water tanks and rain gardens, our kitchen garden, composting and worm farms.

Explore what we can all do to reduce our environmental impact of the food we eat. This can include exploring the greening of the food production chain, the carbon footprint of the food we eat, the surprising impact of food waste and steps to tackle it and innovations to feed more people with less environmental impact.