DPI and Costa bring biosecurity to schools
21 Mar 2018
School students will next Tuesday find how they can support biosecurity as they take part in a live video program featuring the flamboyant host of Gardening Australia, Costa Georgiadis.
Costa will join the Biosecurity in your backyard program in a NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Department of Education Distance Rural Technologies (DART) Connections project to raise biosecurity awareness.
DPI project coordinator, Sarah Britton, said Biosecurity in your backyard will be streamed live into schools across the state on Tuesday March 27.
“Solid biosecurity keeps farmers in business, maintains our export markets, keeps the community healthy and protects our environment,” Ms Britton said.
“Education is a vital component of our efforts to ensure the integrity of NSW’s biosecurity.”
Primary school students will meet biosecurity professionals who use science, technology and animals to protect our primary industries from pests and disease.
Students will learn the four golden rules of food safety and how to care for fruit and vegetable gardens at home and at school.
High school students will learn of the biosecurity risks posed by travel, imports and online shopping and take part in a Q&A with Costa to discuss how we safeguard primary industries.
Most importantly, students will learn what they can do to help protect Australia from invasive pests and diseases as they hear from scientists, educators and bee specialists.
Ms Britton said it will be an eye-opener for students as they experience the biosecurity risks in backyards and find how to manage or eliminate the risks.
“Students will learn about biosecurity career paths they could follow and discover how they can play a role in our shared biosecurity responsibilities,” she said.
Virtual excursions will be streamed into classrooms at 10 am and 2 pm from NSW DPI’s Tocal College.
Schools are invited to join the excursions through the DART Connections webpage at https://dartconnections.org.au/
Everyone is welcome to watch the 10 am primary school excursion, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaYlyLCyK-U and a 2 pm high school excursion, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBwYlmcY-Ec
Media contact: Bernadette York (02) 6938 1664, 0427 773 785
