How will you be Fighting for Planet A?

The CPPA is getting on board with the Fight for Planet A: Our Climate Challenge. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s the ABC’s latest do-gooder campaign hosted by Craig Reucassel which explores how we can all reduce our individual and collective carbon emissions. The documentary series aims to empower and motivate Australians to take action on climate change and they provide a Carbon Counter and a community solutions plan too.

One of the community solutions put forward by ‘The Fight’ is to take part in the

‘Walk Safely to School Day’ on September 11.

Transport is a huge contributor to carbon emissions. Walking is not only good for the environment, but also has a favourable impact on our long-term mental and physical health – plus it’s free!

The CPPA, Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) and Coal Point Public School have taken up the challenge and will be putting our best feet forward by having a go at getting a Walking Bus on the move. 

What’s a Walking Bus?

A walking bus is a fun way for local children to walk to school together, thanks to adult volunteers and parents who walk with the group. The Walking Bus is accompanied by at least 2 adult volunteers, a ‘driver’ at the front and a ‘conductor’ at the rear.

For the Sept 11 event, which routes will be walked and the number of children who can join in will be determined by how many adults are keen to get on board.

COVID has changed many of our habits, our work days are different, our commute is not what it used to be. This is creating an opportunity to try something different. A way to build some exercise in the day, have a wander through some of our amazing bushland and enjoy some quality time with the kids and break down the fear of walking as a way of getting to school safely.

If you’d like to be a part of this community drive to reduce driving and help our kids get comfortable with walking to school get in touch with Suzanne by phone 0438596741 or email coalpointprogress@gmail.com. A video conference will be held on 31/8/20 with interested adults to work out what we’d like to see happen and map out a route.

Here are links to more reading about the Walking Bus concept.

The National Walk Safely to School Day site 

How to start a Walking School Bus Resource page. This includes a how to start guide, parents survey, participation pledge and certificate 

A 4-page pdf guide on how to get a Walking started  

Have an individual stoush for the Planet.

To celebrate National Science Week the ABC launched its Carbon Counter that allows you to see how much CO2 you could save with just one change to your lifestyle. If you want to do something about climate change but aren’t sure where to start, the ABC Science Carbon Counter can help you identify simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint – and see how much CO2 you would save.

Could you have shorter showers? Or try eating kangaroo instead of beef? What difference would composting make? You can compare the savings from different challenges to choose the one that suits you.

Climate change is a daunting problem that requires society-wide solutions. But Carbon Counter shows that individuals can also make a difference, especially if we work together.

Community consequence of COVID

The COVID19 ripples are still resonating throughout daily community life, shaping the way we communicate and the availability of social activities…but it’s not all bad especially if you can master the video-conferencing technology that’s now available.

The local art group that was meeting at the hall moved their meeting to video conferencing very quickly. It turns out that the social glue that binds the group remained sticky with increased benefits of not having to pack up the art materials and no travel time. Unexpected benefits were more extensive sharing of skills and critiquing of art work with everyone being involved, more time for art and an extra art session was easily accommodated. The group continues to happily meet online.

Local yoga moved online, downward dog from the comfort of your private space. Some studios were providing recordings for whenever the mood and time allowed, creating new flexible opportunities. Yoga is now back with face to face options.

Some of the national events that CPPA has been involved with in the past have had to make the call to do things differently this year.

National Science Week, in August, is providing the Scinema Film Festival for free to anyone! You can stream a wide range of award-winning science films by signing up to get the films delivered to your inbox!.

National Tree Day this year may have been cancelled by Planet Ark, but this is not deterring landcarers from popping a few plants in the ground around this time of year…it’s a good time for planting.

We’ll have 80 plants at Burnage Reserve on Thursday 30th July between 8am and noon as part of the regular Landcare session. If you’d like to lend a hand whilst out on your morning constitutional feel free to drop by and help with planting. Everyone is welcome, there’ll be suitable spacing, and morning tea is at 10am, BYO beverage.(The image is from 2001...those plants have grown)

COVID-19 is also mobilising and connecting community groups that can see the possibilities of a seismic shift in the way society operates, a window of opportunity to change direction, and build on the changes COVID has inspired.

Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), an internationally recognised climate change think tank, has recently commenced the Hunter Diversification research and engagement project - which will run 2+ years. BZE has also released the Million Jobs Plan showing that 115,000 new jobs can be created across the Hunter over the next 10 years, with rapid start up in industries such as Hydrogen & Green Steel manufacturing, Home Retrofits, Fly Ash Reuse, Electric Buses and Land Regeneration.

With energy production and mining a core part of our community, alternative employment opportunities that will fill the gap after coal will be needed. The Hunter Case Study of the BZE Million jobs plan can be viewed online 

Celebrate Science Week August 11-19

Celebrate Science Week August 11-19 by joining in the

Great Aussie Bioquest

In our community we are surrounded by some amazing plants, animals and fungi. We have lots of tracks to trek along as well. This makes for a fun adventure to join in for Science Week, The Great Aussie BioQuest, the largest bioblitz in Australia’s history.

Bioquest is run through the QuestaGame App. Your sightings contribute to real research and conservation , it’s free to join and there are even prizes.

All you need is a camera, and it can be the one on your phone or in the app. You don’t need to know what the lifeform is, but you get bonus points if you can identify it.

To better protect life on Earth (including ourselves), we need to learn more about what is out there. So far, we have only described a fraction of the species of life on our planet - and even for those we know of, there is a lot more we can learn about their distribution.

QuestaGamer’s sightings are shared with CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility - the world’s premier collection of biodiversity records. As of April 2017, our data has had 50 million record downloads - helping researchers understand how we can better manage and protect biodiversity in a changing world.

This image by John Sharples provides amazing detail of a local Orchid. There are a few tricks to getting an image to look like this...as John explains.

The Acianthus is a small ground orchid some 80mm high. The flower head is about 5 or 6mm high. The size of the flower dictated the type of photography applied; a process known as focus stacking.

To achieve the image a camera was set on a tripod with a macro lens and tethered to a laptop computer. The lens front was some 150mm from the front of the flower with a resulting in focus area, depth of field, of approximately 1 to 1.5mm. The software controlling the camera was set to take 60 images over a focal distance of 15mm. After each image is stored the software inches the camera’s focal distance forward about .25 of a millimetre.

This process takes around 10 seconds per image so about 6 to 10 minutes for the photography and nearer to half an hour for the setup. The 60 images are then taken into the stacking program where the in-focus part of each image is used to slowly build up the final, stacked, image.

After a small amount of cleaning up in Lightroom the flowers were cut out of their natural background and pasted into the uniform dark background you see.
From first observations of the bud to the image before you, I checked the plant over a period of some three weeks and then photographed the plant on four separate occasions plus some 10 or more computer hours to produce the final image.

Unfortunately, the flower head has wilted and a clearer middle image is not possible, but watch this space as a multiple headed stem is in bud. I think it was worth the effort.

Please enjoy.John Sharples

The Science of Success

The Science of Sustainability was comprehensively shared during August with an estimate of 656 visitors exploring Questacon’s hands on exhibits, the Fur & Feather exhibit and Scinema short films at Progress Hall. The Fern & The Burn observation trail was walked by 525 people and provided insights to the impact of fire on native vegetation, how garden escapes, especially Asparagus fern, can transform the landscape and also the ethics around biking in the bush.

Over the week 448 students and teachers attended. The local schools included Coal Point, Teralba, Awaba, Birriban, St Josephs and St John Vianney. Several groups from The Hunter Home Schoolers & Educators also visited. On the weekends 208 visitors were received.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.

“Exceptional, Really great afternoon, can’t do that sort of science in a classroom” “We go for a walk all the time and never look up, a great investigation”

“We all had a wonderful time. The science presentation was awesome and the kids loved the interactive displays and the observational trail walk. It was a truly educational, fun and amazing experience for children and parents alike”

The event was made possible by $8650 of community sponsorship and $18,566 of inkind contributions in the form of printing by Toronto First National and 510 hours of volunteer time by 18 amazing volunteers.

Will there be another science week event? Possibly but not for a few years.

The Science of Sustainability featuring Questacon's Earth quest

Months of planning and anticipation is about to come to fruition as time stands still for Science Week. One week with two weekends means several super-hands-on science sessions are available for all the community near and far to attend on 12-13 August and 19-20 August, or perhaps during the week.

What will be on show?

• 15 Earth Quest interactive exhibits from Questacon will spark an interest from Outer Space to Inner Earth. 
• A mini festival of the best short science films from Scinema - (no popcorn though). 
  
• Some local sensory exhibits around our feathered and furry friends with nestboxes built by the Toronto Men’s Shed 
• An observation trail in the bush out the back to wander along and discover some field science and the impacts of fire on garden escapes. 

Over 400 students have booked in for the mid-week sessions, which is very exciting including two sessions with the Hunter Home Educators-Schoolers. Some mid week 9am sessions are still available.

Whilst bookings aren’t essential for the weekends, if we do get overwhelmed with enthusiasm those with a ticket will get in and numbers will have to be regulated. If you’d like to lend a hand contact us.

Bookings can be made through Eventbrite- The Science of Sustainability – Questacon’s Earth Quest exhibits-Community.

Science Week is Sneaking up…helpers wanted!

It is less than one month to the biggest event Progress Hall has seen in quite a while and the sponsorship goal has been met thanks to the support of our amazing community and Origin Energy.

The next logistical hurdle to leap is having helpers on hand. We’ll need guides to assist with receiving the weekend visitors and supporting the mid-week students, 400 students have already booked.

There are other jobs too, meeters & greeters, and ticket receipters as well as catering for the volunteers and at the community event. If you’d like to lend a hand please contact Suzanne with your availability so a roster can be produced.

Looking for a contractor with a strong back and moving equipment.

The exhibition will also be required to be set up and pulled down. For this we’ll require some muscle and are looking for a contractor that can move big things without breaking a back. The exhibition states equipment required to include ‘Pallet jack, fork lift and any other equipment required’. If you know of someone who might be interested in this job please pass on their details.

A free social science session for locals!

What could be more fun than a Questacon exhibition? Catching up with friends and neighbours at the same time. The final session on Sunday 20th August from noon till 4pm will be a free session for locals. If you receive a Chronicle in your letterbox, bring the Science Week sponsors panel along, this is you free ticket. You’ll be welcome with open arms, some afternoon tea and friendly local faces.

If you want to come along to one of the other weekend sessions book through Eventbrite to avoid disappointment. 

There are session limits to ensure that everyone can enjoy the exhibits. Book Now!

Bookings with Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-science-of-sustainability-questacons-earth-quest-exhibits-community-tickets-36161875142

Details for school bookings and the exhibits on display
are provided on the Science Week page.

Seeking Science Week Sponsorship from Booming Businesses

Did you know that sponsoring the August Science Week extravaganza counts as a tax deduction? As the End of Financial Year rapidly approaches it is not too late to support this local educational endeavor.

So far our amazing community has chipped in $2900 and the CPPA has been active seeking additional funding. We are committed to hosting the event. It costs $6372 to loan and transport Questacon’s Travelling exhibition, $200 for extra insurance and there are other expenses. More details about the event are on the website.
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Science serves all of us

Earth Day this year, 22/4/17 is being marked with a March for Science, a global event bringing together people from all walks of life who believe we need more evidence and reason in our political process.

Science protects our air and water, preserves our planet, saves lives with medical treatments, creates new industries, puts food on our tables, educates the next generation, and safeguards our future, for all theses reasons and more the CPPA and TASNG are marching towards a science week event in August.

Planning is underway with all schools in Lake Macquarie having been contacted by post and email thanks to the silver sponsorship of John & Janet Johnson.

Platinum sponsorship has been gratefully received from the Toronto General Practice and this will support the hosting of the Earth Quest Travelling Exhibition.

The exhibition will be open to the community and general public over the weekends of 12-13 & 19-20 August.

Updates of the event can be viewed on the CPPA website at http://coalpointprogress.blogspot.com.au/p/science-week-2017.html