A drop in the pond discovery gives Kelso High science students a big thrill

Blake Evans and Sebastian Winterswijk were on their Year 9 science excursion, which focused on determining whether the water systems around Bathurst could support the endangered Booroolong frog.

But, never did it cross their minds that they would actually find a member of the endangered species.

The students were examining the river at Flat Rock, conducting water testing, observing the flora and fauna in the area, and water bugging, all to determine whether the environment would be a suitable habitat for the Booroolong frog.

With the International Union for Conservation of Nature declaring the species critically endangered, meaning it's at high risk of extinction, this made the find very exciting for the students.

Right at the end of the excursion, when it was time to make their way back to the bus, Blake and Sebastian were jumping along the rocks on the riverbed, when Blake stumbled across the frog.

"We were just going from rock to rock and I slipped down and looked down there was the frog," Blake said.

After alerting the teachers to the frog, a photo was taken and the students made their way back to Kelso High - still not realising how significant their discovery was.

"I just thought it was a normal frog," Blake said.

After the students returned to Kelso High, science teacher Sophie Thrower used the FrogID app to see what breed they had found.

She said her and the other teachers thought it looked like the endangered Booroolong frog, so they got it verified and sure enough, confirmation was received.

"It was really, really exciting," Ms Thrower said.

"We never expected to actually find one, we just wanted to give the students a sense of making these observations of an environment and creating a hypothesis that maybe the frog might live in this place."

In addition to the excitement of finding the frog Ms Thrower said the students were surprised by how good the water quality was.

The program required the students to conduct multiple tests to determine how habitable the area was.

This process began at the school's man-made Boona Wetlands, before the students ventured out to the Macquarie River and Flat Rock.

The purpose of the program is to engage the students my giving them outdoor, hands-on experience, and this is something that Sebastian really enjoyed.

"It's fun seeing all these interesting things and being able to properly understand how they work and how these systems in our life function," he said.