Students to learn more about the Cotter Dam

ACT school students will have the chance to learn more about the environmental, historical, and water supply significance of the Cotter Dam through a new education program. 

This morning I launched the Cotter Dam Education Kit at Duffy Primary School, one of the first ACT schools to implement the new education resource. 

The Cotter Dam Education Kit is made up of 12 curriculum units and targeted at students from preschool to year 10. The resource focuses on three key curriculum strands: sustaining water for life, securing water for life and saving water for life. 

Students will have the chance to learn more about the significance of the Cotter River and the catchment area to the ACT through the program. 

Water is important to all Australians. It is a source of life and of cultural and historical significance. But in Canberra, like many parts of Australia, it is vital that we all learn to conserve water. 

The Cotter River and its catchment area is a primary source of water for the ACT and provides an important habitat for various plants and animals including some vulnerable and endangered species. 

I hope this education program will instil in students an understanding and an appreciation of water and encourage students to visit the Cotter Precinct and see the expansion of the Cotter Dam during and after construction.

The education units in The Cotter Dam Education Kit complement the ACT curriculum framework Every Chance to Learn. The content draws on the experience of the Bulk Water Alliance as well as local educators. 

Primary students will learn what flora and fauna can be found in the Cotter area and the importance of environmental sustainability and biodiversity, the survival needs of plants and animals in the Cotter environment and their dependence on water, and investigate how the scale of built structures impact on the environment. 

High school students will learn about the Canberra river system and other river systems in Australia, analyse the difference between terrestrial and water ecosystems and learn about natural and human processes that form and transform Australian environments over time. 

Schools can also organise to go on guided tours of the Cotter Dam Discovery Trail to further student learning.