Melba Copland Secondary School is located across two campuses (Campus One 7 - 9 and Campus Two 10 - 12) in the West Belconnen water catchment area. Between the two campuses lies a new wetlands area (completed in 2019) that will remove over 49,000 kilograms of nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended sediment every year from urban stormwater destined from the Ginninderra Creek.

In National Science Week students from both campuses will come together together to explore the physical and biological aspects of the wetlands. They will get to learn about the importance of wetlands in the maintenance of biochemical cycles (Year 10 Earth Science Curriculum).

We will survey and assess the relative abundance of native and invasive flora and fauna in this highly disturbed urban environment to emphasise the impact urbanisation has on ecosystems (Year 9 Biology Curriculum and Science Inquiry Skills). S

tudents will use modern water testing instruments to evaluate the health of the water at various locations around the wetlands (Science Inquiry Skills).

Finally, Melba stands on Ngunnawal country and we aim to examine how the Ngunnawal people maintained their waterways to ensure sustainable access to clean water and a reliable food supply (Science as a Human Endeavour).