Students step up on water

Venk Venk Srinivasan, from Dandenong High School, explaining the environmental impacts of the life-cycle of a car to students at the Kids Teaching Kids Conference

By Nicole Williams
STUDENTS from Dandenong High School became the teachers during the 2011 Melbourne Water Kids Teaching Kids Conference.
The conference saw secondary school students step in to the teacher role on Thursday 23 June to teach primary children about sustainable water practices.
Dandenong High School students taught the other kids about the life-cycle of a car – from birth to death.
They made a short movie starring a ghost from the past who provided a list of environmental considerations that all new car buyers should investigate, examined pollution, future technologies and how car purchasers could reduce environmental impacts.
Founder of the Kids Teaching Kids environmental educations conferences and former Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year, Arron Wood said creativity was important.
“It’s wonderful to see kids communicating in a way that resonates so strongly with their peers,” Mr Wood said.
“The kids aren’t writing on blackboards either – they’re making music videos, hosting game-shows and taking their peers on virtual round-the-world trips to get their messages across. It’s fantastic to see.”
Over 450 primary and secondary students from across Victoria attended the two-day conference at Etihad Stadium and Melbourne Zoo.