The Rotary Club of Orange funded the workshops through their chook tractor raffle to tie in to their sustainability week activities.

Club member Geoff Bargwanna said there was also a related teacher education component that linked in with the workshops.

“It’s encouraging students to be aware of science and what science does in the world and how it’s part of our existence and that science can also be a part of sustainability and it’s an important part of science,” Mr Bargwanna said.

Students from years 3 to 8 from Clergate Public School, Mullion Creek Public School, Borenore Public School, Calare Public School, Orange Public School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Canobolas Rural Technology High School took part in the program.

CSIRO education school experiences manager Darren Vogrig said there were two workshop topics, sustainability and creativity, in science and technology (CREST), which is linked to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) promotion that is already running in Orange.

“It’s to get kids to appreciate science in the wider society and getting them to think about how science can help our future planet,” Mr Vogrig said.

In one workshop students made sun shades for plants and had to take into account the use of materials, whether the shades allowed water through and placement to block the head of afternoon sun while allowing plants access to morning light.

CSIRO education officer Ollie Barrand also led a workshop where students had to work on a scenario of reports of fish and frogs dying in a lake so they had to test the quality of soil from nearby businesses where they looked for possible contamination by testing nitrate levels, salinity, acidity, phosphates and bacterial contamination.

tanya.marschke@fairfaxmedia.com.au