Challenges and Competitions
Challenges |
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Junior Landcare Pumpkin ChallengeREGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSEDThe Junior Landcare Pumpkin Challenge is currently under way. If you are participating in the Challenge and want to update your pumpkin weight and photo, log in here. If you want to check out the pumpkins as they get bigger and bigger, you can look through the photo gallery on the Challenge website: www.juniorlandcarechallenge.com |
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Previous Challenges |
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Coles Plastic Bag ChallengeTHIS CHALLENGE HAS NOW CONCLUDEDAustralians have taken steps to help the environment by collecting more than 200,000 bags in support of the Coles Plastic Bag Challenge. Schools, businesses and individuals were urged to collect their unwanted plastic bags in October 2009 and place them inside new recycling bins in Coles stores nationwide, with all proceeds from the challenge donated to Junior Landcare and the Coles School Gardens Grants Program. In total, 229,712 bags were collected by more than 300 participants during the four week challenge, with the majority of bags being collected by 185 primary and secondary schools across Australia. See the winners here Read about the impact plastic bags have on our environment here. |
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You could be the face of Junior Landcare (and be on TV!)THIS CHALLENGE HAS NOW CONCLUDED |
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Junior Landcare Watermelon ChallengeThroughout Summer 2008-09 over 10,000 Junior Landcarers challenged themselved to grow Australia's biggest watermelon. Opened to schools, groups or individuals under 16, the challenge inspired kids to think about sustainability and the environment. It taught them about local food, "food miles", healthy eating, sustainable gardening practices and encouraged them to get off the couch and experiencing nature. Entrants received free watermelon seeds thanks to Yates as well as a project kit with tips and expert advice for growing a whopper melon. Go to www.juniorlandcarechallenge.com to download:
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Great Australian Dung Beetle ChallengeIn 2007-08, Junior Landcare called on Aussie kids to become Dung Detectives and take part in a national science project mapping the distribution of dung beetles across Australia. Over several months, kids tracked down dung beetles in their local paddocks, put them in matchboxes and sent them to CSIRO scientists for identification and registration. Why are Dung Beetles Important?Dung beetles work like wonderful pooper scoopers by eating and burying dung. This is important as there is a lot of dung dropped on Australian soil everyday - over 2 billion cow pads alone, not to mention all the other dung! So with all these droppings dropping it is important that they are broken down.If dung is not eaten or buried by Dung Beetles it can cause some big problems in our environment. When it rains unburied dung can wash out of paddocks and into rivers that we use for our drinking water and other fun things like swimming. Unburied dung provides a breeding place for nasty bush flies and the grass that grows around unburied dung pads tastes yucky to cows. Farmers love dung beetles as they help to make the soil on their farms much healthier. The digging and dung burying action of the beetles ensures that the soil is better aerated, the soil can absorb water more easily when it rains, and that the dung is more evenly dispersed amongst the soil (which works as a better fertiliser). Read more about dung beetles here |
