Engineering solutions for platypus protection

Learning hook

Blending engineering and ecology can lead to advances in conservation. As a class, watch the video Living Seawalls.

Students can learn more about the Living Seawalls project here. Discuss the different specialist knowledges and skills that would be required to conceptualise and enact a project like this.

Living Seawalls is just one example of a collaboration between engineers, ecologists and industrial designers with the aim of conservation. Other Australian conservation collaboration projects include:

• nest boxes
• coral frames
• glider poles
• fish ladders
• seahorse

Learning input

Conservation projects consider the needs of multiple stakeholders. The Living Seawall project shows that human infrastructure can be designed to have less impact on marine organisms.

One Australian animal that is increasingly negatively affected by human activity is the platypus. Platypuses are endemic to rivers and creeks of eastern Australia from Cooktown to Tasmania, with a small introduced population on Kangaroo Island. Severe reduction and even apparent extinction of some platypus populations have been documented in recent decades (for instance by the Australian Platypus Conservancy) and the overall decline in numbers has led to the platypus being listed as ‘near threatened’.

How many of your students have seen a platypus in the wild?

You can check if platypuses have been sighted near your school using this map from the Platy Project, which shows recent and historic sightings of platypuses.

If your students haven’t seen a platypus in the wild, they may be interested in checking out the Platycam livestream of the Grange Burn in Hamilton, Victoria, Gunditjmara Country. Note that the best viewing times are from 6am to 8am and 6pm to 8pm, so this might be a good home viewing opportunity.

Students can watch The platypus guardian documentary to develop an understanding of platypus behaviour and threats to platypus populations.

As a class, compile a list of the threats to platypus populations, including both biotic and abiotic threats. The list should include:

• litter in water ways
• dams
• polluted run-off from washing cars
• polluted grey water from household chemicals
• introduced predators (foxes, cats and dogs)
• loss of habitat through land clearing

Learning input

Engineers can play an important role in slowing and hopefully reversing the decline in platypus numbers in eastern Australia. Challenge students to think like ecological engineers and design interventions to improve platypus habitats. Students will produce a Platypus Recovery Plan for a local creek. If there isn’t a local creek with historic or current sightings, the class could focus on the Hobart Rivulet, basing their ideas on The Platypus Guardian documentary.

Explain that the report will be submitted to local council, and will be designed to persuade the council to invest in creek infrastructure that will improve platypus habitat and increase population numbers. Students will work in teams, and take on the roles of different STEM specialists to develop the recovery plan.

Roles should include:

• platypus ecologists – experts in platypus environmental needs and threats
• environmental engineers – experts in ensuring the sustainability of natural ecosystems and urban environments
• hydrology engineers – experts in controlling water and managing water quality
• structural engineers – experts in building and infrastructure, with a focus on construction design to ensure it can withstand all loads and forces.

The report will need to include:

1. the current and historic status of platypus populations
2. platypus environmental requirements (biotic and abiotic)
3. platypus environmental threats (biotic and abiotic)
4. a current site evaluation as platypus habitat
5. proposed infrastructure or engineering solutions to improve platypus habitat.

Students may like to consider engineering solutions that:

• improve water quality
• improve the structure of waterways and waterside vegetation (for example, the construction of log jams to help reduce bank erosion and create refuges)
• mitigate the effect of dams
• reduce litter in water ways.

As a class, view this Platypus Recovery Plan for some inspiration and notice key features of the text, such as text structure, voice used, images and diagrams, tables, bulleted lists and references.

Support students to structure their text by designing a class template for their report and discussing the purpose of each section.

Students can begin their research using the websites listed in the Resources section. They should consider the appropriateness of different interventions for their local site. If possible, it would be useful to visit the local creek site and collect observations about the current environment before designing the recovery plan.