Junior Field Naturalists SA Newsletter - July 2019

Hi Junior Field Naturalists,

July Meeting When: Thursday 25 July, 7.00pm, Bellevue Heights Primary School Topic: Biodiversity of the Mt Lofty Ranges

Overview: Did you know that Mt Lofty is a biodiversity hotspot? What does that mean and why are so many wonderful animals found in our back yards? Our speaker will answer this question and then reveal his 20 favourite animals in our space (and why) and encourage everyone to make their own list and choose their own special animal. Speaker: Prof Chris Daniels, inaugural Director of Cleland Wildlife Park and adjunct professor of Biology in the School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences at UniSA. He is a very well known science communicator and is focused on conserving wildlife and connecting people with nature. Among his many outstanding achievements, Chris has also published award-wining books on nature. As the Patron of Junior Field Naturalists SA, Chris also initiated the free memberships for each child member of our Club to Cleland Wildlife Park. He has provided enormous assistance to our Club over many years and is always ready to step in when needed. We are privileged to have Chris as the Patron of our Club, and we are delighted that he will be presenting the talk for this month. Not to be missed!

Field Trip: Dive into History The wonderful volunteers from the City of Clipper Ship have put together a special event just for our club. They are trying out new programs to present to the general public and they are trialling them with our Club members first.

When: Friday 23 August, 6.30pm - 8pm

Cost: $10 child (includes Cartesian Diver Kit) and $15 adult (includes tour of ship) Where: Dock 1, Port Adelaide. There is ample parking in the car park - entrance is off Wauwa St (originally Ocean Steamers Rd) and faces the old Colac Hotel. Another entry point is via McLaren Pde. A map of entry points will be sent on booking. Note: You will need to climb some stairs to board the vessel and, for safety reasons, everyone must wear enclosed shoes.

Bookings & Payment: Via Eventbrite at - https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/dive-into-history-tickets-66078934873 Your experience will include: 1. Tour of the vessel: Experience being inside an 1864 sailing ship at this special session for our club! Come on a guided tour of both the outside and inside of the City of Adelaide Clipper Ship, the most important existing historic ship in Australia. The City of Adelaide is one of the last 2 clipper ships surviving in the world today. 2. Presentation and activities with Dr Rob Morrison from The Curiosity Show: As well as sharing some of his wreck-diving experiences, Rob is also putting together some special activities, such as:  A mini silt-covered "wreck" where children can expose and recover small objects using a technique that Rob has employed on real wrecks.  Paper treasure coins to introduce us to "pieces of eight" and other features of coins. 3. Build your own Cartesian Diver: Then the children will make their own Cartesian Diver to take home. This is a classic science experiment which demonstrates the principle of buoyancy and the ideal gas law.

Don't miss this special opportunity to participate in activities under the guidance of the famous Rob Morrison! Program of Talks and Activities Below is our current program for the remainder of 2019. We are adding more activities to our program this year, so this list will be updated as we lock in more dates and programs. Have a particular topic or field trip you would like us to include? Let us know and we'll see what we can do to make it happen.

25 July - Prof Chris Daniels: BIODIVERSITY OF THE MT LOFTY RANGES

Friday 23 August, 6.30pm: DIVE INTO HISTORY on the Clipper Ship, Port Adelaide

29 August - Philip Roetman: CAUGHT IN THE WEB - The Wonderful World of Spiders

26 September - tba

31 October - tba

28 November - DAVID CHRISTOPHEL MEMORIAL QUIZ NIGHT

Parents attend meetings and field trips with their children and are responsible for their supervision.

Helpers Needed at Science Alive! Our Club will again have a stand at Science Alive! which is the largest National Science Week event in . We need your help! When: Friday 2 August 2019 | 9am – 3pm Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 August 2019 | 9am – 5pm Where: Adelaide Showground Approximately 7,000 school students are expected on the Friday, and over 20,000 general public on the weekend. We are particularly in need of help on the Saturday and Sunday. Our display comprises collections of rocks, shells, insects-in-resin, skulls and other nature- based specimens, plus some hands-on activities. Volunteers simply need to help keep a watchful eye on our exhibits and ensure everything is returned to its place once children have interacted with the activity / display. Please let me know if:  You might be available for 2 or 3 hours over that time  You have any interesting specimens that we can use as part of our display. If so, you could bring them along to our meeting this Thursday, or we can arrange to collect them from you before the event.

National Science Week is almost here!

Here is just a small sample of the huge range of exciting events coming up in National Science Week. Don't forget - in SA, Science Week runs for almost the whole of August! Check out www.scienceweek.net.au for further information.

The Alphabet of Awesome Science: Water When: Sat 10 Aug and Sun 11 Aug, Show times 1pm and 3pm each day Where: Star Theatre, 145 Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Hilton Cost: Free; Booking: https://bookwhen.com/awesomescience Join professors Lexi Con and Noel Edge for a thrilling voyage through the alphabet. This alphabetical, scientifical duo will team up with SA Water for a sleek and slippery water-infused iteration of their award-winning, critically acclaimed cracker of a show. An alphabet of wet, weird and wonderful words providing an inspirational diving board for 26 splishy splashy (and sometimes explodey) experiments.

Urrbrae Wetland Open Day When: Sun 11 Aug, 10am to 4pm Where: Urrbrae Wetland, Cross Rd, Netherby Cost: Free; Booking: Online at Eventbrite The day will showcase a series of interactive workshops hosted by Urrbrae students focused on the natural environment and sustainability, including fish, turtles, reptiles, invertebrates, plants, human impacts and cultural perspectives.

Kids Navigate Neuroscience When: Sun 11 Aug, 12.30pm to 3.30pm Where: Bonython Hall, , North Tce, Adelaide Cost: $5 participating child; Booking: Online at Eventbrite In this event children (aged 4-10) will explore how the brain works in a fun, hands- on way by participating in a series of interactive neuroscience exhibits. At each station children can collect a stamp in their ‘Passport to the Brain’ and work towards becoming a ‘Brain in Training’. Prior to the event enjoy free face painting, and balloon artists who will be showing off their neuron making skills!

AI Light Science Spectacular 2019 When: Fri 16 Aug, 6.30pm to 9pm Where: Braggs Lecture Theatre, University of Adelaide, North Tce, Adelaide Cost: Free. A science arena of stunning spectaculars and exciting discoveries selected from the forefront of new light science, from nano-scale bio-photonics to understanding the Universe and AI. The audience will be invited to control large colour light ribbons via their mobile phones using WiFi, and use their mobile phone cameras to see IR light.

Festival of the Magpie at Cleland Wildlife Park Cleland is running an exciting program of activities to celebrate Magpies! When: Sat 17 Aug and Sun 18 Aug, 9.30am to 5pm Where: Cleland Wildlife Park, 365 Mount Lofty Summit Rd, Crafers Cost: Admission fees to the Park apply; activities are free with park entry Booking: https://www.clelandwildlifepark.sa.gov.au/plan-your-visit/fees This festival is a weekend-long celebration of the marvellous SA native magpie and features a range of fun and exciting hands-on activities for the whole family, including kids building a giant magpie nest. There will also be a Marvellous Magpie talk by Park Director Professor Chris Daniels, co-author of The Fearsome Flute Players, and A Guide to Urban Wildlife. Learn about the importance of magpies in their local native environment.

The weekend also includes:

The Adventures of Mungo the Magpie

Show times: 11am and 1pm on each of the 2 days A delightful theatrical show features performers from the Adelaide Youth Theatre and is an adventure for the whole family in the beautiful surrounds of Cleland Wildlife Park. It explores some of the real and awesome interactions South Australians have experienced with magpies in and around their homes. The show is part of The Festival of the Magpie.

Article for The Naturalist The Field Naturalists Society of SA produces The South Australian Naturalist, a half-yearly journal featuring articles revolving around native fauna and flora.

They have extended an invitation to any of our club members who might like to submit a story for the upcoming publication. It could be about your favourite animal or plant, or what you learnt at one of our meetings, or about one of our Club's field trips - anything to do with the world of nature.

Let me know if you would like to write a story and I will put you in touch with the editor who can provide details on length of article and so forth.

From the Adelaide Hills Natural Resource Centre, The Summit Community Centre and the Adelaide Hills Council:

Get the paints and crayons out! Children are encouraged to explore their artistic creativity while learning about the many South Australian plants and animals which are facing extinction. Primary school age children have the opportunity to research a vanishing local native species and to express their feelings by creating an original painting, drawing or mixed media art work.

1st and 2nd prizes for passes to Warrawong will be awarded in each age group of 5-7 years old, 8-10 years old and 11-12 years old. Prizes will also be awarded for Most Unusual entry, Most Original and Best Written Explanation.

The competition is open for entries from July 9th till August 20th. The winners will be announced on Threatened Species Day, Saturday September 7th and selected art works will be on display at The Summit Community Centre.

For entry form, registration form and conditions of entry, email [email protected].

New Holland Honeyeaters Feeding On our bird banding excursion, our club members were able to feed nectar to the captive birds before releasing them back into the wild. Everyone was amazed at the speed at which the birds' tongues would lap up the nectar. One of our families came across a video of New Holland Honeyeaters feeding, filmed at 480 frames per second. The brush-like tongue is visible. The video is roughly 0.25 seconds normal time. The bird is drinking approximately 16 times every second. It is best viewed on a PC. Thank you for letting us all know about this amazing piece of footage. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pq8oyf2m4mz54om/New%20Holland%20Honeyeater%20Super %20Slow-Mo.mp4?dl=0

Have fun with science ...

Mouthful of Chemistry

For this experiment you will need:  Bicarbonate of soda  Citric acid  Icing sugar

What to do: 1. In a clean container, combine: 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1/2 teaspoon citric acid 3 teaspoons icing sugar 2. Mix thoroughly. 3. Spoon some of the mixture into your mouth.

What happened in this experiment? When an acid and a base combine, they usually form salty water and a gas. This is the principle behind the confectionery, sherbet. In their dry form, bicarbonate of soda (the base) and citric acid (the acid) do not react with each other. However, when you place the mixture in your mouth, the water in your saliva dissolves both into a solution, and a reaction takes place. The fizz that occurs is produced by carbon dioxide gas.

Did you know ...?

 Rats breed so quickly that, in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million relatives.  Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.  Sharks lay the largest eggs in the world.  The blue whale can produce the loudest sound of any animal. At 188 decibels, the noise can be detected over 800 kilometres away.  Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears' fur, it actually has black skin.  Horses and cows sleep while standing up.  Insects such as bees, mosquitoes and cicadas make noise by rapidly moving their wings.  The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks.

Rona Sakko, President - Junior Field Naturalists SA 0419 827 723 jfnsa.com.au [email protected] or [email protected] Patron: Prof Chris Daniels