Practical science – Schools explore Source to Sea

We highlighted the Source to Sea project earlier, reporting the water and sediment samples being taken for analysis by a team from Teesside University. The project is all about the impact of plastics on our water system.

Also part of the project is the practical science of seeing what litter lies along the River Wear. For this Durham Wildlife Trust has been out with pupils from Wearhead, Wolsingham and Chester-le-Street, undertaking litter surveys along the river.

This followed classroom activity using the FREE online Source to Sea education resource pack.

DWT's Rachel Richards has been out with the young people. Having marked out a survey zone pupils searched and collected any non-natural materials spotted and recorded their finds by material and origin.

Summarising the experience out on the riverbank with Wearhead Primary, Rachel says:

"Though the upper reaches of the wear are a beautiful and relatively pristine area, we never-the-less found scraps of black plastic, carrier bags, crisp packets,plastic clothes pegs and an assortment of old metal farm waste. The children have now been tasked with presenting their findings in a report which we look forward to reading."

Living Uplands looks forward to seeing all the University and Schools data brought together in a report later this year as a contribution to learning more about what the project tells us about how plastics impact the water courses in Co. Durham.

Source to Sea offers a FREE downloadable Educational resource pack for school and home learning. If your school would like to be involved contact Rachel Richards at Durham Wildlife Trust.