Welcome to the Butterfly Garden Project

 

Local schools working together to build native habitats for butterfly populations in the Cities of Cockburn and Fremantle.

 

Background

Primary schools in the Cities of Cockburn and Fremantle have come together to deliver a local Butterfly Garden Project. Each participating school will plant a butterfly-host garden to create a habitat corridor for native butterfly species.

 

In response to state and national calls for a greater focus on STEM and ‘creative thinking’ in schools, South Coogee Primary School initiated the district-wide Butterfly Garden Scheme. South Coogee Primary School is running the project as a whole-school initiative. As part of daily learning, students will investigate, plan, establish and evaluate the butterfly gardens and the release of butterflies.

 

Lyn Beard, Principal of South Coogee Primary school explains, “the Butterfly Garden Project offers purposeful STEM-based learning to the students and produces outcomes that will benefit the broader Cockburn and Fremantle communities.”

 

Project Aim

The aim of the Butterfly Garden Project is two-fold: to make available practical STEM-based learning opportunities for students; while boosting native butterfly numbers within the Cities of Cockburn and Fremantle.

 

Strategy

While all participating schools will be required to establish a butterfly-host garden, the initiative is flexible to allow the project to be customized to individual schools. It will be up to participating schools to decide to what extent this initiative will be integrated into their classroom teachings. For teachers wanting to undertake an in-depth cross-curricula approach, a range of educational resources will be made available online.

 

The project has been made possible by the City of Cockburn’s Environmental Education Grant and Cockburn Cement's generous donation of native butterfly-host plants and sponsorship.