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Water Catchment

About this Lesson Plan

Lessons designed for years 7-9

Use these lessons, designed for years 7-9, to draw links between soil and water catchment, and the geography and land use of the Port Phillip region.

This lesson, Water Catchment shows students that water catchments link places in the city to the food bowl, and examines some of the decisions people make in managing the health of the catchment.

The lesson, Soil Health includes hands-on activities that explore soil types while students learn some of the ways plants work in a symbiotic relationship with soil microbiota.

Both lessons build on and refer to material in the Soil Health and Water Catchment videos, and can be used to cement and extend learning from the case study videos.
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Summary and links

Victorian Curriculum Links
Geography Years 7, 8 & 9
VCGGC101, VCGGC104, VCGGK106, VCGGC132, VCGGK135, VCGGK136

Science Years 7, 8 & 9
VCSSU089, VCSSU090, VCSSU101, VCSSU093, VCSSU115, VCSSU116, VCSSU121, VCSIS134

Key Concepts
  • The function of a water catchment is not just to move water to the ocean or the lowest point.
  • In a catchment, inputs that affect the water upstream can have an effect on everything downstream.
  • Recent scientific and ecological understanding has changed people’s understanding and altered the way people manage water courses and catchments.
  • Modern agricultural practice focuses on reducing pollutants and organic matter in waterways.
Key terms and concepts
Introduce key terminology and revisit any terms that need reviewing, such as:
Use the Glossary for these terms and others.

Part 1: Viewing rain as a resource - city and country

Flash flooding, hail and damaging winds hit Melbourne as storms sweep across Victoria - ABC News 14th Feb 2020

Watch the Water Catchment Animation

Part 2: Water in the food bowl

Port Phillip Bay: Present Day vs Ice Age
Port Phillip Bay Catchment area map
Marine geology of Port Philip, Victoria

Holdgate, Guy & Geurin, B. & Wallace, Malcolm & Gallagher, Stephen. (2001). Marine geology of Port Phillip, Victoria. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 48. 439 - 455. 10.1046/j.1440-0952.2001.00871.x.

Bathymetric view of Port Phillip Bay

Bathymetric map of Port Phillip, Victoria (adapted from Commonwealth of Australia Port Phillip 100 000-scale map).

Groundwater flow demonstration model (video, duration 3:49)

Part 3: Waterway health

Watch the Water Catchment Video

Waterwatch data portal
Waterwatch sites map
Swinburne University, Healthy Rivers, Healthy Bay

Research and useful sources

Port Phillip Bay: Present Day vs Ice Age
DELWP – Wetlands and Floodplains
Marine Geology of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
Melbourne Water – Yarra Valley catchment information
Stormwater drains and how they work (video)
Waterwatch map portal
Waterwatch catchment data portal
Water cycle (U.S. Geological Survey)
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