Melbourne, Australia

March 26, 2007

Step 3: Kiss a Kangaroo!

This week has been such a great week in Melbourne!! We have done so much work for our project and are learning SO much!! We have met some incredible people and made friends with some Australian animals! Life in Australia is NEVER boring!

The Project

With only 2 weeks until Easter Break for the Australian school children, our group has been working hard to contact as many science teachers, curriculum coordinators, integration aides, and Department of Education Officers as we can. Through phone interviews, we have learned quite a bit about what specialist schools and mainstream Australian schools are doing for students with disabilities. Through our interviews with the Officers from the Victorian Department of Education, we have gained a wider knowledge about the Australian Education system and where disabilities are incorporated into the big scheme of things.

One of the best interviews that I have done so far was at the Sunshine Deaf Facility, a little ways outside of the city. We took a train there and the man we were interviewing, John Geddes, picked us up from the train station and drove us to the deaf facility at the Junior School. He also arranged for us to speak to some of the other teachers at the deaf facility and my partner Nick and I asked heaps of questions and left with a much better understanding of how deaf and hearing impaired students learn and what adaptations are necessary for them to get the most out of hands-on science programs. One of the most important things that I learned is that students with visual and auditory impairments have the language barrier as their biggest obstacle and it is something that we need to do more research about.

Our group has observed more of CSIRO’s hands-on science programs and they are fantastic! We watched their Forensics session, which was so much fun and we have been taking note of all of the barriers we could potentially see for students with various disabilities. While doing this, we write down all of our ideas about how to make it more accessible and engaging for students with disabilities. We’ve also observed sessions about Energy, Forces, and Gene Technology.

This week was so busy and we spent so much time on our project doing more research and getting all of the interviews done. I cannot stress enough how helpful everyone we have spoken with has been and they are all very excited about our project, which makes us even more excited!! This project is becoming more challenging and more exciting every day and we’re having a great time doing it!

Incredible Aussie:

One of my advisors, Professor Ault, came into contact with a man in Melbourne who designed a remarkable wheelchair. He invited Professor Ault to bring some students and come over for a Barbie and she brought my group members and I along with her. Colin became paralyzed when he was around my age because of a hang gliding accident. After that happened, he developed an electric wheelchair that is lighter and more agile than any other wheelchair that I have ever seen. Watch the video of it in action. Colin and his wife, Moira, treated us to a delicious barbie of steak, sausage, bacon, and kangaroo! It was delicious and they were definitely two of the most gracious and generous hosts I’ve encountered while in Australia. After dinner, Colin showed us some of his other designs, including some modifications that he’s made to his car so that he can drive. It was so interesting to listen to him talk about everything and to show us everything that he has designed! I think that he is quite possibly one of the smartest and most interesting people that I’ve ever met! Meeting him was one of the best experiences that I’ve had here in Melbourne.

FINA:

FINA is the World Championships of swimming (including diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, too). Last week, some of the girls and I watched the Prelims for the Women’s 10 metre diving and it was awesome! On Sunday, some of the girls and I went to watch some of the swimming prelims and we had a blast! We got there early and got our faces painted like an Australian flag (we’re becoming more Australian every day!! ?) and cheered for Aussie and the US at the same time! It was awesome to be surrounded by the world’s greatest swimmers! Also, Aussies are CRAZY for sports…every time an Australian was swimming, everyone was cheering so loud…it was so much fun!! They showed the three of us on the big screen, too, which was sweet! On Wednesday, my friend Allison and I are going to the Finals for some of the events and we’ll get to watch Michael Phelps swim (and hopefully break the world record)!! We’re pumped!!

Aussie Animals:

A few of us took the train to Ballarat to go to a Wildlife Park to see some Australian animals. We walked into the wildlife park and were immediately greeted by a group of friendly Kangaroos! We were SO excited!! The kangaroos are so funny, because when you put Roo Food in your hand, they will grab your hand and eat out of it. As soon as you take out food, ten kangaroos will come to try and get some…it’s so funny! We also got to “have a pat” of a koala (which was adorable!), wombats, and snakes! We all had a BLAST!

Things I've Learned So Far

1. Don’t wear white if you plan to spend any time with kangaroos.
2. Sultanas = Raisins
3. Koala is aboriginal for “one without water” because they do not drink water. Instead, they get all of their water from the eucalyptus that they eat.
4. Queue = Line (ie Line up at the queue)
5. An “Aussie Burger” is a hamburger with a beet and an egg on it.
6. Dodgey = Sketchy
7. There is always something crazy and fun going on in the city, usually around Federation Square!!
8. Fair dinkum = is that true/its true
9. Bartering is key when at the market purchasing souvenirs.
10. “Good on you” = Good for you!