Years 4-6 Students were busy in the Homestead Library during the week working on a special project for Clean Up Australia Day. The aim of the project was to raise awareness of how waste and rubbish is polluting our environment. The students were challenged to build a turtle from recycled and discarded materials and upcycle it to become a vibrant work of art for the College Library to proudly display. The turtle was chosen to highlight the amount of plastic and other materials that end up in our oceans harming our marine wildlife.

The students worked on building the turtle from start to finish, with various students contributing to the build in their own special way. It was great to see the students design thinking skills in action, from planning to construction, choosing the materials and working together as a team and solving problems. They worked with constraints such as the size of the turtle, the weight, available materials, and the requirement for it to be hung on a wall as a work of art.

The turtle is already earmarked to visit the Lilly Pilly Learning Centre over the coming weeks to showcase the students’ work to our Prep to Year 3 students and to highlight the importance of looking after our environment.

The project was a great example of students coming together and enjoying the process of creating something out of discarded materials for it to be enjoyed for years to come.

Amy Carpenter | Library Services