Import/Export - all about shipping

We chose one of the coldest mornings in Melbourne to go on this excursion. Who'd guess that the next day would be so lovely, but THIS DAY was overcast, drizzly, and very, VERY cold!!

A local homeschool mum organised for a group of us to visit the Port Community Education Centre in Melbourne. Two groups were organised, the first being for grades 3-6, then high school ages; each session was 1 hour long and it's free of charge. I recommend a warmer day so that you feel more inclined to look out at the ships being loaded, or even travel down the road a bit to see the Spirit of Tasmania in at port.

From the Education Centre's veranda, Mariposa took these photos, just before the rain settled in again:

We had a talk about the difference between imports and exports, the types of ships used per type of cargo, the process of loading/unloading the ship, where the cargo goes once it leaves the port, what happens to the empty containers, plus a whole lot of other questions the children asked. It was lovely to see a very responsive group of youngsters, and I was surprised at how much the children already knew.

Outside the education centre was an empty container to walk around and inspect. My hubby regularly has to unload such a container when stock comes in to his workplace warehouse. Now the children appreciate how big it is and hopefully have a bit of a glimpse into the work required to get the goods in and then out again.

The lady who gave the talk was also interviewed for a children's science show that is airing on Channel 10 this week. The show is called SCOPE. She said she'd only be doing about a 3 minute segment on flotation and channel deepening. We don't usually watch tv in the mornings, but I'm glad to see that the site has previous episodes available to watch online (see HERE).

For teacher resources to support this excursion and a pdf brochure, go to this page. If you continue to scroll down that page, you'll also find lesson plans in pdf.