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The awesome Kids Greening Taupo website has Online Nature Classroom Units designed for kiwi kids. The Nature Connectors on the site are a one stop shop of activities/resources to connect New Zealand children with nature, and to teach about biodiversity and conservation! Check these fantastic resources out at: https://www.kidsgreeningtaupo.org.nz

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The awesome Kids Greening Taupo website has Online Nature Classroom Units designed for kiwi kids. The Nature Connectors on the site are a one stop shop of activities/resources to connect New Zealand children with nature, and to teach about biodiversity and conservation! Check these fantastic resources out at: https://www.kidsgreeningtaupo.org.nz

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How to report these

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The public is being asked to stick by monarch butterflies and help determine the extent of their plight at the hands of a nasty parasite.

Victoria University entomologist Phil Lester is investigating the prevalence of a disease affecting monarch butterflies, caused by a protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE), which leads to deformed wings.

To help find out how widespread the disease is around New Zealand, he's requesting people become citizen scientists and send him samples of spores, collected by pressing a bit of Sellotape against the butterfly's abdomen.

With an unseasonably mild autumn, there is still an abundance of monarchs hatching across the country.

For those who fear that carrying out this procedure will damage the butterfly, Lester says the insect is far more robust than many believe.

"They are actually amazingly tough. They aren't as damageable as you might imagine them to be," he says.

"You look at the butterfly and think 'if there's ever an insect that shouldn't be able to migrate and fly long distances it looks like a monarch butterfly. But in Autumn every year in North America, they will fly 50 to 100km per day to get from Canada to the middle of Mexico. They do it well, they ride the winds, and thermal air masses amazing well."

He said handling the butterfly wouldn't harm them if they were held correctly when collecting the spores.

You can go up to a butterfly and grab it gently at the wings and take a little piece of clear Sellotape and you just touch it on their abdomen and from that you'll get a few scales from the butterfly, but you'll also pick up any spores.

"So, you put it on a piece of paper you describe the condition of the butterfly, whether it's male or female and you send it along to me."

Lester became concerned about the butterfly from observing a significant number of deformities in the insects in his own garden this year.

The scientist, like very many Kiwis who grow swan plants each year to watch the butterflies develop, watched as many of the butterflies struggled to fly and thrive.

"This year we started to see many butterflies that didn't develop all that well," he says.

After receiving similar reports from other parts of the country, he decided the beloved insect would be best served by carrying out a survey to find out the extent of the disease.

The parasite had come over from Australia in about 1870.

"It's probably quite common, but devastating in high numbers," he said.

The project started in Wellington, but has since expanded to other regions such as Nelson, where a parasitic wasp has also devastated the local population.

He also has advice for those who struggle each year seeing more caterpillars than swan plant leaves in their garden, leaving some smaller caterpillars starving.

"You'll have to cull, reduce eggs, or otherwise, get more swan plants."

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Citizen scientists enlisted to help monarch butterflies

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Victoria University entomologist Phil Lester is investigating the prevalence of a disease affecting monarch butterflies - and he's enlisting the help of citizen scientists.The disease, caused by a protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE, is causing deformed wings in Monarchs.

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Enviroschools Task BackyardEcosystem Bug Hunt

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Take a virtual tour of Tongariro National Trout Centre

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Take a virtual tour of Tongariro National Trout Centre

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Ok, so it's not quite as good as the real thing, but there's heaps to learn and do :)

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The Kiki Kiwi & Friends 'Litter Less' programme is presented as six inquiry questions, separated into three interconnected themes and delivered over 12 lessons. Each theme is supported with activity sheets and resources which can be found in our resource section.

Inquiry question 1: What is litter?

Inquiry question 2: How and why do people litter?

Inquiry question 3: How does litter move, and where to?

Inquiry question 4: How does litter break down?

Inquiry question 5: What does litter look like in our school community?

Inquiry question 6: How do we create a litter-free school?

Download the full unit of work or individual themes below. You can view the supporting resources and activity sheets here.

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Full Unit Of Work | Litterless / Keep New Zealand Beautiful

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The Kiki Kiwi & Friends 'Litter Less' programme is presented as six inquiry questions, separated into three interconnected themes and delivered over 12 lessons. Each theme is supported with activity sheets and resources which can be found in our resource section. Inquiry question 1: What is litter?

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What happens when we connect with nature?

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What happens when we connect with nature?

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Humans have long intuited that being in nature is good for the mind and body. From indigenous adolescents completing rites of passage in the wild, to modern East Asian cultures taking "forest baths," many have looked to nature as a place for healing and personal growth.

Why nature? No one knows for sure; but one hypothesis derived from evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson's " biophilia" theory suggests that there are evolutionary reasons people seek out nature experiences. We may have preferences to be in beautiful, natural spaces because they are resource-rich environments-ones that provide optimal food, shelter, and comfort. These evolutionary needs may explain why children are drawn to natural environments and why we prefer nature to be part of our architecture.

Now, a large body of research is documenting the positive impacts of nature on human flourishing-our social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.

In other words, science suggests we may seek out nature not only for our physical survival, but because it's good for our social and personal well-being.

How nature helps us feel good and do good

The naturalist John Muir once wrote about the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California: "We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us." Clearly, he found nature's awe-inspiring imagery a positive, emotive experience.

But what does the science say? Several studies have looked at how viewing awe-inspiring nature imagery in photos and videos impacts emotions and behavior. For example, in one study participants either viewed a few minutes of the inspiring documentary Planet Earth, a neutral video from a news program, or funny footage from Walk on the Wild Side. Watching a few minutes of Planet Earth led people to feel 46 percent more awe and 31 percent more gratitude than those in the other groups. This study and others like it tell us that even brief nature videos are a powerful way to feel awe, wonder, gratitude, and reverence-all positive emotions known to lead to increased well-being and physical health.

Positive emotions have beneficial effects upon social processes, too-like increasing trust, cooperation, and closeness with others. Since viewing nature appears to trigger positive emotions, it follows that nature likely has favorable effects on our social well-being.

This has been robustly confirmed in research on the benefits of living near green spaces. Most notably, the work of Frances Kuo and her colleagues finds that in poorer neighborhoods of Chicago people who live near green spaces-lawns, parks, trees-show reductions in ADHD symptoms and greater calm, as well as a stronger sense of connection to neighbors, more civility, and less violence in their neighborhoods. A later analysis confirmed that green spaces tend to have less crime.

Viewing nature in images and videos seems to shift our sense of self, diminishing the boundaries between self and others, which has implications for social interactions. In one study, participants who spent a minute looking up into a beautiful stand of eucalyptus trees reported feeling less entitled and self-important. Even simply viewing Planet Earth for five minutes led participants to report a greater sense that their concerns were insignificant and that they themselves were part of something larger compared with groups who had watched neutral or funny clips.

Several studies have also found that viewing nature in images or videos leads to greater "prosocial" tendencies-generosity, cooperation, and kindness. One illustrative study found that people who simply viewed 10 slides of really beautiful nature (as opposed to less beautiful nature) gave more money to a stranger in an economic game widely used to measure trust.

All of these findings raise the intriguing possibility that, by increasing positive emotions, experiencing nature even in brief doses leads to more kind and altruistic behavior.

How nature helps our health

Besides boosting happiness, positive emotion, and kindness, exposure to nature may also have physical and mental health benefits.

The benefits of nature on health and well-being have been well-documented in different European and Asian cultures. While Kuo's evidence suggests a particular benefit for those from nature-deprived communities in the United States, the health and wellness benefits of immersion in nature seem to generalize across all different class and ethnic backgrounds.

Why is nature so healing? One possibility is that having access to nature-either by living near it or viewing it-reduces stress. In a study by Catharine Ward Thompson and her colleagues, the people who lived near larger areas of green space reported less stress and showed greater declines in cortisol levels over the course of the day.

In another study, participants who viewed a one-minute video of awesome nature rather than a video that made them feel happy reported feeling as though they had enough time "to get things done" and did not feel that "their lives were slipping away." And studies have found that people who report feeling a good deal of awe and wonder and an awareness of the natural beauty around them actually show lower levels of a biomarker (IL-6) that could lead to a decreased likelihood of cardiovascular disease, depression, and autoimmune disease.

Though the research is less well-documented in this area than in some others, the results to date are promising. One early study by Roger Ulrich found that patients recovered faster from cardiovascular surgery when they had a view of nature out of a window, for example.

A more recent review of studies looking at different kinds of nature immersion-natural landscapes during a walk, views from a window, pictures and videos, and flora and fauna around residential or work environments-showed that nature experiences led to reduced stress, easier recovery from illness, better physical well-being in elderly people, and behavioral changes that improve mood and general well-being.

Why we need nature

All of these findings converge on one conclusion: Being close to nature or viewing nature improves our well-being. The question still remains...how?

There is no question that being in nature-or even viewing nature pictures-reduces the physiological symptoms of stress in our bodies. What this means is that we are less likely to be anxious and fearful in nature, and thereby we can be more open to other people and to creative patterns of thought.

Also, nature often induces awe, wonder, and reverence, all emotions known to have a variety of benefits, promoting everything from well-being and altruism to humility to health.

There is also some evidence that exposure to nature impacts the brain. Viewing natural beauty (in the form of landscape paintings and video, at least) activates specific reward circuits in the brain associated with dopamine release that give us a sense of purpose, joy, and energy to pursue our goals.

But, regrettably, people seem to be spending less time outdoors and less time immersed in nature than before. It is also clear that, in the past 30 years, people's levels of stress and sense of "busyness" have risen dramatically. These converging forces have led environmental writer Richard Louv to coin the term " nature deficit disorder "-a form of suffering that comes from a sense of disconnection from nature and its powers.

Perhaps we should take note and try a course corrective. The 19th century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote about nature, "There I feel that nothing can befall me in life-no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair." The science speaks to Emerson's intuition. It's time to realize nature is more than just a material resource. It's also a pathway to human health and happiness.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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What Happens When We Reconnect With Nature

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Humans have long intuited that being in nature is good for the mind and body. From indigenous adolescents completing rites of passage in the wild, to modern East Asian cultures taking "forest baths," many have looked to nature as a place for healing and personal growth. Why nature?

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Has your school got a neglected patch of playground that would benefit from a make-over? Want to make your own garden or backyard more wildlife friendly? Maybe you're looking for a weekend activity that adults and children can enjoy together.

Why not make a lizard garden. It's fun, it's easy and we can show you how!

Create a lizard friendly garden infographic

Making a garden for mokomoko is a great way for kids to engage and connect with our native species as they learn about creating a lizard-friendly habitat. Predator Free NZ Trust wanted to pull together the wealth of lizard garden knowledge that's out there into a succinct instruction page to inspire kids, schools and families - so we got together with some other conservation-minded, lizard-friendly colleagues.

Project Crimson shared their lizard garden expertise with suggestions for some of the twiggy groundcovers and native grasses that will make local mokomoko feel safe and right at home. Les Moran at DOC also added his support and expertise. Then artist Phoebe Morris put all the information together into a colourful, easy-to-follow guide.

The guide shows what lizards like and how to assemble your lizard-friendly patch of sunny basking spots and safe hiding places. Check it out and see what you think.
Download the guide
Now it's over to you to add your own personal style. So what are you waiting for? Start assembling some rocks, logs, branches, old flowerpots and twiggy, twisty native plants and create your own highly desirable reptile real-estate. Add in a little dish of water and leave the mokomoko to it. They might not move in tomorrow, but leave it be and hopefully skinks and geckos will discover your haven in their own good time.

What's more - you don't have to 'garden' in a lizard garden. Lizards like their spot to be a little wild. Just relax, sit back and let nature move in. Once they find your patch of mokomoko paradise, those skinks and geckos out there won't ever want to leave.

Read more stories about lizards here:

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Create a Lizard Friendly Garden - Predator Free NZ

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Has your school got a neglected patch of playground that would benefit from a make-over? Want to make your own garden or backyard more wildlife friendly? Maybe you're looking for a weekend activity that adults and children can enjoy together. Why not make a lizard garden.

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What really happens to the plastic you throw away - Emma Bryce

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6 Videos about waste and recycling in NZ

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6 Videos about waste and recycling in NZ

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Join Kate Meads on a journey through our key waste streams, learn about where all of our waste goes and what we can do to make a difference!

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A good scavenger hunt bingo game (pictures only, for the younger kids) and a bit trickier scavenger hunt that requires writing some information for the older kids.

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Awesome explanation by a scientist, as to why being outside is important

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Awesome explanation by a scientist, as to why being outside is important

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In today's world of powerful technology, many people feel the urge to simplify and get back to nature. To experience the health benefits of outdoor recreation, it's necessary to unplug and recharge in the wilderness. Those who are able to soak up everything nature has to offer find out why being outside is important-it comes down to health.

Long before smartphones and self-driving cars, Japan deemed "forest bathing" an essential part of its national health program. With forest bathing, the soaking isn't literal. Bathing takes on a new meaning-immersing yourself in the natural environment.

The concept stems from Japanese Shinrin-Yoku Forest Therapy, and goes back to 1982. Over three decades later, the goal of forest bathing is still to reintroduce people to the healing power of nature. Much study and research has confirmed what the Japanese have long believed-nature benefits wellbeing in many ways.

The popularity of forest bathing has risen in the United States, particularly in metropolitan areas. Individuals, families, and friends have taken to the woods together for therapeutic hikes and nature walks. But forest bathing isn't the only thing you can use the outdoors to improve your wellbeing.

There are so many ways you can take advantage of the benefits of nature. We'll leave the how to you-hint: it starts with putting down your phone and experiencing the outdoors. We'll supply the why. Here are 10 reasons why being outside is important to improving the health of you and your family.

1. Relieve Stress

Getting outside can help you escape the stress of work or school. Stress can tear up a healthy mind and immune system. High levels of stress at work and school are associated with depression, obesity, and high blood pressure. Stress is unhealthy when not managed properly. Luckily, there is a natural stress reliever right in your backyard.

Spending time in nature relieves stress in teens and adults. Bloodstream levels of the stress hormone cortisol are lowered after time spent outside. For a group of male students in China, those who spent their break from school hiking and camping returned with lower cortisol levels than those who spent time in the city. And these lower cortisol levels persisted for several days after their retreat to the wilderness.

The results suggest regular trips outdoors are a reliable way to manage stress. Experiences in nature are low cost and accessible to everyone. For the next long weekend, choose to spend time in nature over a trip to the city. You will reduce your stress load and return feeling rejuvenated.

Pro tip: Nature can help create more job satisfaction. Office workers with window views are more satisfied and less stressed at work. If you don't have a window, take time every day to look outside and feel the stress-busting effects of nature views.

2. Strengthen Immunity

Staying indoors can have a negative impact on your immune health. The immune system works best when challenged regularly. That doesn't happen when we spend time indoors.

Healthy doses of nature will help prepare your body fight. Here's how it works.

A study published in 2010 evaluated the effect of forest bathing on immune function. For a group of Japanese adults, a three-day trip to the forest increased the number of white blood cells in their blood. These levels of white blood cells stayed elevated for more than 30 days after their adventure in the woods. White blood cells are crucial to your immune system. They help your body battle germs by recognizing pathogens and harmful intruders with the help of antibodies.

The boost in immunity from a trip into nature can help keep you feeling healthy. For active adults and growing children, increased immunity is a valuable asset in a healthy lifestyle. Strengthening your body's natural germ-fighting power with a regular trip into the wild.

3. Sharpen Your Focus

In the general population, studies have shown that attention is almost uniformly enhanced by exposure to natural environments. A study published in 2009 found that the same holds true for children with attention deficits. Spending twenty minutes walking in a nearby park was sufficient enough to elevate attention performance in children with ADHD. This so-called "dose of nature" could prove to be a more natural solution to attention deficits in children.

The same effects can be seen in adult attention. Views of nature from an office window and breaks from work in the outdoors have both been shown to increase productivity and concentration.

For a significant boost in focus and creativity, escape to the woods for longer periods of time. Creative problem solving and cognitive function can be boosted by nearly 50 percent after spending several days exploring the outdoors. Wilderness retreats may help you tackle a big assignment or personal goal. If you're still wondering why being outside is important, it can enhance your creativity.

4. Helps Develop a Healthier Diet

Looking for a hobby to get you outside? Gardening is a great way to increase your time outdoors. Not only does gardening keep you active, it provides you with access to healthy fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.

Outdoor recreation has long been associated with a healthy lifestyle. But being active in your garden also lets you can reap the healthy dietary rewards of your labor and get exercise at the same time.

Read more reasons why you can grow health in the garden.

5. Calm the Mind

Anxiety and depression can be crippling. Coping with mental illness is difficult and methods vary from person to person. Most physicians and therapists recommend regular exercise in addition to therapy and medication. Getting that recommended exercise outdoors can help ease emotional and mental pain while improving mood.

There are several physical responses our bodies have to being in nature. Sitting outside can reduce blood pressure, lower heart rate, and decrease cortisol levels. When we are outside our body slows down, helping us feel peaceful and calm.

Our minds work in a similar way. Spending time outside improves mood and reduces feelings of anxiety. We can focus better in nature, and our improved concentration can help us address feelings of stress and anxiety. Self-esteem can also receive a boost after time spent wandering outdoors.

Peace and mental clarity is a big reason why being outside is important. Find it by adding time in nature to your mental healthcare regimen.

6. Aids in Weight Management

Nature offers beautiful views and fresh air, so choose an exercise regimen that will get you outside. Research at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than one third of American adults are obese.

Exercise and proper diet are the two most effective ways to stop the spread of obesity. You can burn 149 calories each half hour of walking in the park, and 372 calories every half hour by riding your bike. To encourage kids to get exercise outside, find a fun activity to do as a family. Increase your time walking, biking, running, and playing outside and lower your risk of obesity. Take your exercise outside the gym and enjoy all the health benefits nature has to offer.

7. Better Your Short-Term Memory

Nature could be the answer to remembering names, not forgetting your keys, and taking better notes in class. There is growing evidence that both short-term and working memory can be improved by time spent outside.

At the University of Michigan, a simple experiment backed this theory. Two groups of students were given a memory test and then assigned to take a walk through a garden or down a city street. After their walks, the participants performed the memory test again. Those who walked through the garden improved their scores by 20 percent. No consistent improvement was observed in the participants who walked in the city.

Natural scenery and garden views calm our minds and help us focus. Urban settings are full of traffic, street noise, lights, and lots of people. These things pull our attention in several directions. This makes it hard to sharpen our focus and recall things we just learned. Pondering new information in a peaceful, natural setting may help enhance your short-term memory.

8. Improve Vision

Your eyes provide another reason why being outside is important. A study following Australian school children linked time spent outside and better vision. Of the 2,000 children followed during the study, those who spent more time playing outside significantly reduced their risk of becoming nearsighted. This suggests that outdoor activity has a protective effect on the eyes of children.

These results are striking because the same was not observed in children who spent time playing indoor sports. Being outside in fresh air and sunlight protects growing eyes more than equal physical activity indoors.

Dim indoor lighting makes it difficult for young eyes to focus on an image. This causes the eye to change shape in order to see clearly. The ample light of the outdoors keeps kid's eyes from working harder than they need to. So when encouraging play time and exercise, take the fun outside and protect your child's eye health.

9. Fight Nature Deficit Disorder

We're spending more time inside than ever before. Computers, tablets, cell phones, and video games hog our attention and keep us from getting into nature. That's especially bad for our children.

Playing outside encourages kid's creativity, builds their attention spans, and increases their desire to explore. The book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv outlines this growing pattern. Louv coined the term nature-deficit disorder to explain what happens when kids spend too much time indoors.

Recent findings show children ages 8-18 spend more than six hours each day with electronic media. A study published in 2002 found that 8-year-old children could better identify Pokémon characters than plants or animals in their neighborhoods. As children spend less time outside, unhealthy habits begin to form.

Children who spend little time outside are at risk for developing chronic health problems. Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and depression are common companions of a sedentary indoor lifestyle. Help your family learn healthy habits and encourage playing outside over electronic devices.

10. Increase Longevity

A 2015 study followed 108,630 American women to determine the relationship between nature and longevity. Women who lived near parks, lawns, trees, and forests had significantly lower mortality than women living far from nature. The results held regardless of urban or rural settings.

The longer life expectancy associated with living near vegetation could be caused by several factors. Air quality is known to increase longevity and is better in areas of more dense vegetation. Being close to parks and nature trails can encourage more frequent exercise, which helps maintain heart health. Time spent outside also increases social engagement and can improve mental health.

Whatever the exact cause, getting outdoors will help you live happier and longer-and that's the ultimate reason why being outside is important. So, when establishing a place to live, pick a location where you and your family have regular access to nature.

Get Healthy, Get Outdoors

Find time today to venture outside and take advantage of the health benefits of the outdoors. Replace time spent inside on electronic devices with a bike ride or a walk to a local park. Take up forest bathing or gardening as a new hobby. And remember outdoor recreation can be enjoyed alone or as a family.

There's no wrong way to get outside and so much to be gained by exploring the natural world. You know why being outside is important. It's time to reconnect with nature. Your body and mind will thank you for it later.

About the Author

Sydney Sprouse is a freelance science writer based out of Forest Grove, Oregon. She holds a bachelor of science in human biology from Utah State University, where she worked as an undergraduate researcher and writing fellow. Sydney is a lifelong student of science and makes it her goal to translate current scientific research as effectively as possible. She writes with particular interest in human biology, health, and nutrition.
Berman MG, Jonides J, Kaplan S. The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychol Sci. 2008;19(12):1207-12. Driessnack M. Ask the expert. Children and nature-deficit disorder. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2009;14(1):73-5. Lauren F Friedman and Kevin Loria. "11 scientific reasons you should be spending more time outside." Business Insider, Business Insider, 22 Apr. 2016. Haile, Rahawa. "'Forest Bathing': How Microdosing on Nature Can Help With Stress." The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 June 2017. "How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing?" Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing. Maas J, Verheij RA, Groenewegen PP, De vries S, Spreeuwenberg P. Green space, urbanity, and health: how strong is the relation?. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2006;60(7):587-92. Mao GX, Lan XG, Cao YB, et al. Effects of short-term forest bathing on human health in a broad-leaved evergreen forest in Zhejiang Province, China. Biomed Environ Sci. 2012;25(3):317-24. "Professional Practice." Health Benefits of Nature. Taylor AF, Kuo FE. Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park. J Atten Disord. 2009;12(5):402-9. Tennessen CM, Cimprich B. Views to nature: Effects on attention. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 1995;15(1):77-85. "This Is Your Brain on Nature." National Geographic, 7 June 2017.

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10 Reasons Why Being Outside is Important

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In today's world of powerful technology, many people feel the urge to simplify and get back to nature. To experience the health benefits of outdoor recreation, it's necessary to unplug and recharge in the wilderness. Those who are able to soak up everything nature has to offer find out why being outside is important-it comes down to health.

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Get young children engaged in nature!

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I recently gave a talk at a nature play group, in the middle of the woods, about activities to do with your child that involve natural resources and that encourage interaction with the natural world. Here are those ideas that I gave in that talk, plus many more, with links to some fabulous articles from some talented writers around the web!
Concoct with it in a mud pie kitchen
Paint with it The Chocolate Muffin Tree

Have a princess mud tea party The Golden Gleam

Simply play with it Sun Hats and Wellie Boots

Make instruments, weave material, and play games with them The Good Long Road

Push them into play dough Mummy Musings and Mayhem

Wood and recycled materials sculptures Let the Children Play

Collect rocks and write a journal Creative Family Fun
Simply sort and play with them
Paint them Putti's World

Create some woodland people Red Ted Art
Make herbal play dough
Discover their magic tricks Creative Family Fun
Print with them Nurture Store
Make homemade lavender play dough
Grow a Sunflower Fort in the garden Let's Lasso the Moon
Make rose petal perfume
Pound them to create beautiful art Rhythm of the Home

Make a sculpture The Chocolate Muffin Tree
Serve them in a pretend play cafe
Create pine cone people Red Ted Art

Turn them into funny creatures Mummy, Mummy, Mum

Water
Jump and Splash Word Play House

Make natural ice boats Reading Confetti
Paint with the rain Sunhats and Wellie Boots
Search through rock pools Tinkerlab
Make your own rock pool at home
20 Ways to explore the rain Sun Hats and Wellie Boots

Collage
Make a contact paper collage using natural materials The Chocolate Muffin Tree
Add natural elements to the art table Let the Children Play
Stick leaves to make a crown

3D sculptural art Sun Hats and Wellie Boots

Try out geocoaching Messy Kids

Go on an outdoor sound hunt Sunhats and Wellie Boots

Land Art
Create art with natural materials in a tray Smiling Like Sunshine
Make pebble patterns on the beach Taming the Goblin
Make land art outside with found materials

Dinosaur land with beans and plants
Frog pond with water and rocks Let the Children Play

Make a magical fairy garden

For the days that you can't get outdoors and explore nature first hand, go and gather some natural materials from your local woods, fields or beach and gets creative at home! Bring the nature home and let the connection with the natural world continue whatever the weather.

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60 Nature Play Ideas for Kids! - The Imagination Tree

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Here are 60 amazing ideas for exploring nature with your child through play, art and investigation! I recently gave a talk at a nature play group, in the middle of the woods, about activities to do with your child that involve natural resources and that encourage interaction with the natural world.

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Great Magazine to Subscribe to, also lots of dowlooadable activities

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Great Magazine to Subscribe to, also lots of dowlooadable activities

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$100 for school subscription for 30 magazines, 4 times per year

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Wild Things Magazine - Kiwi Conservation Club

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Project Tongariro offers many conservation experiences to gardeners, students, nature lovers, trampers, trappers, tourists, visitors, volunteers and more. Get involved with our projects or visit the areas where we are doing our work and you will be thrilled about those experiences. You will realise why we are so passionate about it.

Kiwi eggs are often uplifted by DoC staff when it's observed that the eggs are being neglected and hatching is at risk. The eggs are carefully packed, padded and kept at a comfy temperature for transport from the forest by foot and or quad bike then ute to Turangi. Here they are met by volunteers who then transport them to the "Kiwi Encounter " at Rainbow Springs, Rotorua.

On arrival the eggs are met by a professional team and the procedure turns into almost hospital admission before the process of reaching the hatching room/incubator area.

After hatching the chicks go on to the brooder room for health checks, DNA gender and feeding. Release depends on health, evidence of the ability to forage and feed etc. All kiwi are released to the forest to the area from where the egg was uplifted. Mostly this is done when the chick reaches 1kg but sometimes small chicks are released weighing as little as 300 + gms.

They all have interesting names. All relevant information, ie; gender, health, weight, sired by etc. is displayed on their "discharge sheets". These kiwi are carefully packed into kiwi carry boxes with some fronds, then into the back seat of the car, belted up, secured and transported to DoC staff at Tongariro where they are fitted with transmitters prior to release.

Recently an 11 month old kiwi named "Fly girl", named by Fly Fishing Women in support of Breast Cancer and whose DNA incidentally proved to be male was released. He had struggled to gain and maintain weight and health. This was a special egg that we had delivered and had been to visit over the 10 months he was at Kiwi Encounter, so with parenting pride we were glad to see this bird was strong enough to gain freedom.

What a wonderful thing DNA is!

Dactylantus

Dactylanthus ( Dactylanthus taylorii) is a highly unusual plant, and holds a special place in New Zealand's indigenous flora as the only fully parasitic flowering plant and the southern most member of its mainly tropical family.

This fascinating plant grows as a root-like stem attached to the root of a host tree. In response to dactylanthus, the host root moulds into the shape of a fluted wooden rose, which gives the plant its previous common name of wood rose. It is through this placenta-like attachment that dactylanthus draws all its nutrients.

The Maori name for dactylanthus is "pua o te reinga," meaning 'flower of the underworld,' and alludes to the way its flowers emerge from below ground.

Dactylanthus is currently regarded as being in serious decline. A Department of Conservation Recovery Plan is in action.

Has no green leaves or roots of its own.

Has a strong scent, which is useful for attracting pollinators.

Is pollinated by the short-tailed bat.

Has separate male and female plants.

Dactylanthus occurs in widely scattered sites. It prefers damp but well drained places, and is often found growing at the head of small streams. It lives where trees form a dense, leafy canopy and the ground is well covered in tall forest, or marginal shrub land. It is normally found on flat sites, but is sometimes found on vertical rock faces where roots are exposed.

In March 2011, Project Tongariro members Shirley, Ardy, Kevin, Beth, Noel, Lyn, as well as DOC biodiversity rangers Fiona and Jo had a very productive and enjoyable day up at Kakaramea which is one of New Zealand's top Dactylanthus sites. Dactylanthus is New Zealand's only completely parasitic flowering plant. Dactylanthus is endemic to New Zealand and is currently listed as chronically threatened and in serious decline. It is completely dependent on its host plant (often lemonwood, mahoe, lancewood and others) for water and food and has a unique relationship with the short tailed bat (another endangered New Zealand species). The bats pollinate Dactylanthus and are attracted to the sweet smelling nectar produced by the flowers. Unfortunately possums are attracted to these flowers as well and rather than pollinating the flowers, they eat them. There are nearly 300 known Dactylanthus plants up at Kakaramea and our main effort to ensure the survival of Dactylanthus is to cage the plants to protect them from browser damage. On their trip up to the site with Project Tongariro members they managed to cage 110 plants.

Tongariro Forest is a national kiwi sanctuary for threatened North Island brown kiwi, as well as being one of five national security sites for the threatened whio, or blue duck. An extensive trapping program is underway in this area. Dactylanthus is also found in this area and groups of DOC rangers and Project Tongariro volunteers have been caging these unusual plants to help them and the bats survive the on-going battle with introduced species. Hopefully one day the introduced species can be caged as a historic memorial of this battle and the cages can be removed from the Dactylantus. You may be able to help with 'Predator Free Tongariro Forest'.

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Conservation Experiences - Project Tongariro

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Project Tongariro offers many conservation experiences to gardeners , students, nature lovers , trampers, trappers , tourists, visitors, volunteers and more. Get involved with our projects or visit the areas where we are doing our work and you will be thrilled about those experiences. You will realise why we are so passionate about it.

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Search for awesome project based learning plans for primary school aged children here. Awesome authentic learning!

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Great project based learning / Inquiry learning units for Primary school aged children

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Great project based learning / Inquiry learning units for Primary school aged children

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Search for any topic that you are interested in. Great biomimicry, environment, nature units.

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our expanding library of project ideas that are standards-aligned, and cover a range of grade levels and subject areas.

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Great Local Resources for Tongariro National Park

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Great Local Resources for Tongariro National Park

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Shop

A library full of the results from many years of exploration, restoration, conservation, fieldwork, organisation and contribution. Start with a small contribution yourself to get the inspiration to join us in paradise!

Wholesalers please contact us direct for a wholesale prices for our publications - info@tongariro.org.nz

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A library full of the results from many years of exploration, restoration, conservation, fieldwork, organisation and contribution. Start with a small contribution yourself to get the inspiration to join us in paradise! Wholesalers please contact us direct for a wholesale prices for our publications - info@tongariro.org.nz

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New Zealand Environmental Artist- Martin Hill

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New Zealand Environmental Artist- Martin Hill

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A great artist to look at before heading out to create art in nature using natural resources

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Ephemeral Sculptures | Martin Hill - Environmental Artist

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Beautiful art in nature using leaves, twigs, rocks etc.

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Selection of recent works Its been a while since I updated with any new work so here goes.

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A great book to buy if you're studying native trees

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A great book to buy if you're studying native trees

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A great book if your students are observing invertebrates

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A great book if your students are observing invertebrates

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Great website for our 'Pest Detectives'!

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An online visual guide for identifying pest animals in New Zealand from the signs they leave in the field. Usable on mobile devices.

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Figure out the pest using droppings, tracks and other clues!

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Pest animals are often hard to spot because many are nocturnal and/or reclusive. So, we look for the characteristic sign (or indicators) they leave in the field. Browse the different types of indicators below.

Remember that some animal sign can look very similar to that of other species. The clues are grouped by species with similar sign for easier comparison. You can be more certain of your pest culprit if you can find several indicative clues. e.g. droppings, vegetation damage and footprint

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Pest animals are often hard to spot because many are nocturnal and/or reclusive. So, we look for the characteristic sign (or indicators) they leave in the field. Browse the different types of indicators below. Remember that some animal sign can look very similar to that of other species.

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Ideas for preschoolers and younger primary aged children

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Ideas for preschoolers and younger primary aged children

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100 fantastic acivities for getting younger children outdoors into nature

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100 fantastic acivities for getting younger children outdoors into nature

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Here are 100 no-prep and low-prep activities for kids that you can try just steps from your home, right in your own backyard! Sometimes getting outdoors is a challenge, but this free printable checklist can help! I hope these simple prompts will help your family spend more time outdoors this year.
These are great activities to try at home during long breaks from school or if you are just trying to spend more time outdoors as a family! I included activities you can try year-round and in all types of weather to encourage outdoor play throughout the year. Some of these activities will keep kids entertained for a while and some will only last about 10 minutes. My hope is that these prompts will get you out the door and inspire you to stay out longer!

1. Lay in the grass and cloud gaze. Do you see any shapes or animals?

2 Go bird watching. How many different types of birds can you find? What are they doing?

3. Paint nature. You can paint sticks, rocks, or any other types of nature you find.

4. Look for animal tracks. Bring a magnifying glass and look closely at the details! Check out this indoor extension activity for when you are back inside.

5. Watch the sunset. What colors do you see in the sky?

6. Go puddle jumping.

7. Make mud pies. Decorate them with flowers, rocks, leaves and sticks!

8. Paint nature with water. Just bring a paintbrush and water outside and you are all set!

9. Pick up sticks and put them in piles. Who can make the largest pile? Sometimes the easiest activities keep kids busy for the longest amount of time!

11. Pick up garbage. The spring thaw is happening here so there's always a few pieces of garbage to collect in the ditches that surround our home. This might inspire a larger clean up in another area!

12. Go on a nature scavenger hunt. You will get a free nature scavenger hunt when you subscribe to the blog! You can also find another fun scavenger nature journal here.

13. Make a nature bracelet. You just need some contact paper and nature!

14. Create land art. Collect pieces of nature and make beautiful designs and pictures. This also looks beautiful in the snow!

15. Make a fort. We like using Stick-lets when we build outdoor forts.

16. Make tree and leaf rubbings. Just tape paper on a tree or put leaves under a piece of paper and rub a crayon over the pieces of nature.

17. Search for bird nests or other animal homes. What animals do you think live in the homes?

18. Go on a mushroom hunt. How many different types can you find? What colors are they? Can you identify them?

19. Search for signs of the changing season.

20. Make letters out of nature. Sticks make great straight lines. You can make curved lines with rocks, leaves and flowers!

21. Count pieces of nature. Line them up and practice one to one correspondence. One-to-one correspondence is an early learning math skill that involves the act of counting each object in a set once, and only once with one touch per object.

22. Thread beads on sticks. Work on fine motor skills, color recognition, patterns, and so much more with this fun outdoor activity for kids!

23. Build a bonfire. Tell spooky stories and make these fun mummy rocks.

24. Play flashlight tag at night.

25. Make up a story together about an animal that you spot. What is the animal doing? Where is it going? What is it's name?

26. Bring a basket of books outside and read them together!

27. Free play! Let the kids go outside and choose the activity.

28. Draw pictures with chalk.

29. Blow bubbles.

30. Bring a favorite toy outside.

31. Make a nature tic-tac-toe board.

32. Make nature prints. Paint pieces of nature and stamp them on paper.

33. Play tag or chase. Play sticker tag and try to put a sticker on the other person as you tag him/her.

34. Look for bugs. How many can you find? Can you identify them?

35. Make art. Bring a large piece of paper outdoors with crayons and markers. There is a lot of inspiration outdoors!

36. Weave nature. Cut a piece of cardboard, wrap rubber bands around it and weave pieces of nature!

37. Stack snowballs. How tall is your snowball tower before it falls over?

38. Sort nature by color, size or shape.

40. Have a picnic outside.

41. Wash your car.

42. Give your baby dolls a bath or wash toy cars in a large bin with water!

43. Make sun prints on this special paper.

44. Play a sport together.

45. Make nature jars. Just fill water in jars and just add nature!

47. Set up a musical area outside. Here is a musical hiking stick that we love to make and use on our nature walks!

48. Make a nature sensory writing tray. You can cut leaves, flowers or pine needles, put them in a tray and practice writing letters, numbers, or drawing pictures in the tray.

49. Drop items in a puddle or bucket of water and see what sinks and what floats.

50. Jump in a pile of leaves.

51. Shovel snow.

52. Make a stick crown. Paint sticks and hot glue them to a thick strip of card stock.

53. Cook a meal outside together. This doesn't need to be complicated, just fire up the grill!

54. Run around the house 5 times.

55. Identify plants. Walk around your yard and find trees and flowers to identify.

56. Run through the sprinkler or set out the hose.

57. Make muddy tracks with toy cars.

58. Check the moon phase. Track to track it through a whole month long cycle.

59. Roast marshmallows and make s'mores.

60. Make a nature portrait. Use pieces of nature to make a face.

61. Climb a tree.

64. Color with nature. Rub flowers and leaves on paper and see the colors!

65. Search for seeds. What plants did they come from?

66. Make a hopscotch with chalk.

67. Look for symmetry in nature.

69. Make a bird feeder. You can just find a pinecone and cover it with peanut butter and bird seed or try this low-prep bird feeder.

70. Paint with nature. We mashed berries and drew flowers with the nature paint.

71. Go stargazing.

72. Beginning sounds in nature. Point at different objects in nature and figure out their beginning sounds. Flower= f, grass=g

73. Freeze nature or toys in ice. Then give kids some things to help them dissolve the ice such as a bowl of warm water and some eye droppers.

74. Make mud faces on a tree. Put mud on a tree and use nature to make the face. The pieces of nature will stick to the mud!

75. Use sticks to draw in the mud.

76. Make a nature puzzle. Collect pieces of nature in your yard, trace them on a piece of paper, and match the items to the correct outline. Here is an example with leaves. You can use a variety of nature or just one type as pictured below.

77. Take photos of nature together.

78. Find flowers to press. You can make flower rocks with them!

79. Take binoculars outside and explore!

80. Listen to music together and sing songs.

81. Fly a kite.

83. Get some duct tape and make a nature badge.

84. Throw a frisbee.

85. Make an icy suncatcher. Just freeze pieces of nature outdoors and hang it from a tree.

86. Hide a few toys or painted rocks around the yard and search for them. Don't forget where you put them!

87. Go on a five senses walk. What do you see, feel, hear, taste, and touch?

88. Cut pieces of nature. Practice scissor skills and cut grass growing from the ground or fallen leaves.

89. Search for all the colors of the rainbow in nature.

92. Hug trees.

93. Put a hula hoop on the ground and try to throw objects in the hoop.

94. Plant something in the ground or planter.

95. Dig in the dirt. So simple, but a hit every time!

96. Stack and balance rocks.

97. Make a map of your yard.

98. Pick flowers and used them as paintbrushes. Pine branches will also work!

99. Start a nature journal. Go outside everyday and draw something you see in the journal.

100. Make a magical snow garden with snow and artificial flowers. Such a beautiful way to add color to a snowy white landscape.

Print off the checklist and challenge your family to check off as many boxes as possible!

Save it for later and Pin it!

I hope you give these activities a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love them as much as my boys.

∼Tara

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100 Low-Prep Activities You Can Do In Your Own Backyard * Little Pine Learners

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Here are 100 no-prep and low-prep activities for kids that you can try just steps from your home, right in your own backyard! Sometimes getting outdoors is a challenge, but this free printable checklist can help! I hope these simple prompts will help your family spend more time outdoors this year.

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ECE/Early Primary Resources- sorted into age appropriateness and seasons

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ECE/Early Primary Resources- sorted into age appropriateness and seasons

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Some activities may need adapting for NZ, as they are a British resource, but fantastic bank of ideas and activities for getting young children into nature. Printable activity cards.

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The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344) and in Scotland (No. SC038885). A non-profit making company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 1982873.

Woodland Trust (Enterprises) Limited, registered in England (No. 2296645), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Woodland Trust. Registered office: Kempton Way, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6LL.The Woodland Trust and Woodland Trust Nature Detectives logos are registered trademarks.

Images © protected Woodland Trust. VAT No. GB520 6111 04.

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Help youngsters learn about trees and wildlife with our outdoor learning resources and interactive activities.

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A great video showing how to make a bug hotel

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A great video showing how to make a bug hotel

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Tracking cards are used to identify what type of predators are roaming around your backyard or in the bush. Tracking cards and tunnels are specifically designed for tracking small mammals such as mice, rats and stoats. They can be used before and after predator control occurs to show the effectiveness of your predator control.

How do tracking tunnels work?

They work by encouraging predators into a tunnel using a lure in the middle of the tracking card. Predators walk across the sticky ink on the tracking card to reach the lure and leave high definition foot (and sometimes body) prints on the blank section of the card.

Prints on this section of the card do not smudge so you can compare to the reference print sheet provided to identify what type of predator has been in your tunnel.

What are the tunnels made of?

It depends on the model you purchase.

Typically tunnels are light, durable stand-alone corflute that come in flat sheets that need to be folded along crease lines to form the tunnel. Instructions are provided and they're pretty easy to set up. The standard size is 500mm length and 100mm wide. Larger sizes are available as are other models made from different materials. Check out where to purchase tracking tunnels.

Does the tracking card come with ink already on it?

Most pest control suppliers stock pre-inked tracking cards.

Alternatively you can purchase plain tracking cards and ink separately and make up yourself. Compare efficiency and price before deciding which option is best for you. Replacement tracking cards are sold separately.

What sort of lure should I use?

Peanut butter is the standard lure used to attract rats and mice. The lure for ferrets, stoats and hedgehogs is raw red meat or uncooked eggs.

Where I should place them?

Predators will use regular pathways in the grass, along fence lines, down the side of the house, near compost and waterways. To be most effective place at intervals of no more than 50 meters apart. If you don't have multiple tunnels be selective where you place your tunnel.

How long do I leave them out?

As a general rule the manufacturer suggests 1 night. If you don't get a result, try moving to a different position and leave out for another night.

How do I read the prints?

When you purchase your tracking card and tunnel it should come with a reference print sheet that shows the foot and body prints left by targeted species. Compare the prints from your tracking card with those on the reference sheet to identify what predator has been in your tunnel. Be aware that you may have multiple predators roaming around your backyard.

What next?

Now that you know the type of predator you've got, do some research to find the trap that best suits your budget and capability. Some people are very comfortable handling predators and others are not. For that very reason there is a variety of different trap options available on the market today.

PFNZ recommend the use of National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) tested and approved traps.

When placing rat traps in urban backyards ensure your trap is placed in a tunnel to protect children and pets/native birds from harm.

Where can I buy tracking tunnels and pre-inked tracking cards from?

There are many retailers and pest control companies who sell predator control equipment. Check out our list here.

Tracking cards and tunnels are inexpensive and the cost will depend on the model, and whether cards are pre-inked or not.

Should I use these instead of chew cards?

Chew cards and tracking cards and tunnels have a common purpose, to identify what type of predator(s) you have and therefore what you will need to start trapping. Tracking cards & tunnels are specifically designed for tracking small mammals such as mice, rats and stoats. So if you think your problem is with possums, go with chew cards. The tracking cards are also useful once your trapping programme is in place. By replacing the tracking card and setting again you can detect the presence of lizards, weta and other insects to confirm predators have been removed.

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Tracking cards and tunnels - Predator Free NZ

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Tracking cards are used to identify what type of predators are roaming around your backyard or in the bush. Tracking cards and tunnels are specifically designed for tracking small mammals such as mice, rats and stoats. They can be used before and after predator control occurs to show the effectiveness of your predator control.

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Chew cards are a simple tool used to help identify the presence of predators on your property. Learn about how to use them, download our guide on how to make your own or buy some ready made from our shop.

OPBG volunteers deploying chew cards to monitor the presence of animal pests on the Otago Peninsula

What are they used for?

Chew cards are cards filled with a lure that is attractive to predators. They can be used to identify rats, stoats, possums and hedgehogs. Animals chew the card and allow you to identify what predators are present.

Tracking tunnels or wax tags for possums can also be used. Chew cards are a useful way of identifying where predators are on your property and where to place your traps or bait stations.

When should chew cards be used?

Chew cards are an easy way to identify what predators you have and where they are active on your property. The bite marks on the card allow you to determine what animal has chewed the card so you can select the appropriate tools to target them. Places where you find activity on chews cards are often good places to place traps or bait stations.

You can use chew cards as a way to monitor the effectiveness of your predator control programme (read our monitoring page).

What's in them - do they contain toxins?

Chew cards are non-toxic and include a lure to attract introduced predators.

Depending on the brand you purchase the formula may be different. Some use a highly palatable formulation while others use a long life lures, both are in paste form and are non-toxic. If kept in a warm dry place the shelf life can be up to 12 months.

Where can I get chew cards?

You can buy packs of chew cards on our online shop or you can make your own with corflute and peanut butter - we've created a simple guide:

Where I should place them?

A chew card in the field. Image: Birdlife Centre of New Zealand.

Start by placing them in areas where you have seen evidence of introduced predators. Along a fence line, near compost or rubbish bins, at the base of trees are a good place to start.

Predators will only investigate food - and therefore a trap - in places where they feel safe, so not in an open space. For comprehensive instructions on setting up chew card lines over large land areas, see page 28 of DOC's A practical guide to trapping.

How do I install them?

Before installing them name and/or number each card so you can record individual results. Installation depends on which product you purchase. In most cases you nail or screw them to a tree or post. Instructions are generally provided with the product or check out the manufacturer's website for more detailed instructions.

If you have created your own chew cards fold in half and leave the top flap open approximately 45°. Nail 30cm above ground level.

As a general rule the suggestion is to leave chew cards out for seven days before interpreting results. We recommend you check the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Remove chew cards after you have finished.

How do I read the results?

If predators are interacting with the chew cards you will see bite marks on the card. Unique bite or tooth mark impressions on the chew card accurately indicate what predator is present.

Instructions provided with the product (or on the manufacturer's website) will help you to identify what predators you have. Or you can use Manaaki Whenua's " Guide to the interpretation of animal tooth impressions " to identify which animal has been biting.

Chew card bite marks.

What next?

Once you know what predators are present you can buy a trap and get trapping. Do some research to find the trap that best suits your budget and capability. Some people are very comfortable handling predators and others are not. For that very reason there is a variety of different trap options available on the market today. See our trapping best practice section.

If you are using chew cards to monitor the difference you are making then you should record your results so you can compare them to future results. Record information such as location and date, what activity, what weather was like. Having a record means you can see how results compare year to year.

Read our section on Tracking Cards and Tunnels

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How to use chew cards - Predator Free NZ

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Chew cards are a simple tool used to help identify the presence of rats, stoats, possums and hedgehogs on your property. Learn about how to use them, download our guide on how to make your own or buy some ready made from our shop.

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In Taupō, Kids Greening Taupō are helping students of all ages to connect with nature and take part in real life conservation projects contributing to their community. Thea DePetris and Rachel Thompson are education coordinators for Kids Greening Taupō, an environmental education programme based on a model of Collaborative Community Education where schools work with community partners on conservation projects.

Collaborative Community Education involves real-life projects, lots of community collaboration and fostering student-led opportunities. Connecting with nature can involve all kinds of activities, depending on the age, interests and passions of the children taking part.

"It all depends on the student year level and where the school is in terms of their own priorities for using the natural environment as a learning context," says Thea. "I really believe in working with early childhood centres, with plenty of nature-based play and sensory activities to foster connection with nature."

It can change the way children view and interact with nature in very fundamental ways.

"When we look inside a compost bin, initially many children want to 'smoosh' the worms and slaters," says Thea, "But once we talk about the worms as living creatures and hold them in our hands it's incredible how quickly the children's attitudes change. I believe early childhood is a really pivotal stage of development so its important children have plenty of access to nature."

Kids Greening Taupō also works with primary and secondary schools.

"The primary kids are like sponges," says Thea. "They suck up everything and really get stuck into practical restoration work."

Thea and Rachel encourage schools taking part in the programme to adopt a nature space or restoration area within walking distance. Then over time, the idea is to create a long-term plan through student feedback and begin the mahi necessary to turn the plan into reality. Through teacher professional development and encouragement of managerial buy-in, Kids Greening Taupō supports school-wide participation within these spaces, not only using them as a place for the hands-on work but also for integrating nature as a learning context across the curriculum.

Every second week, approximately two hours of coordinator time is spent at each school on the ground with teachers and students.

"The support depends on what the teacher's passion is. We also try to link with a 'champion' teacher in schools who will have meetings and enthuse the whole staff to contribute to 'greening' our town," Thea says.

Schools that have their own restoration area have the opportunity to set up T-Rex traps, but not all schools have a trapping programme.

"Trapping needs the right teacher to be involved," Thea believes. "They need to be committed to keeping it going and ensure regular rebaiting happens for example."

"We also have a Ranger Programme in our participating primary schools for those tamariki who are especially keen to further develop their conservation knowledge and skills," Thea explains. "In Terms 1 and 4 we have four ranger sessions with the really keen kids, exploring the themes of 'invertebrates', 'plants', 'weeds' and 'introduced predators'."

For secondary school pupils there is the opportunity to apply for a space on the Kids Greening Taupō's 'Student Leadership Team' whose members work closely with the community to organise collaborative community projects. It's a serious application process as these students represent our future community environmental leaders.

"Last year was the first year we had a full application process," says Thea. "It is a formal selection process, like applying for a job, which the students need to take seriously. There is a sense of accomplishment for team members, and plenty of encouragement to reapply the following year for those who do not make the cut."

The 2020 selection process is taking place at the moment.

Both the primary-age 'Rangers' and the secondary 'Leadership Team' are coordinator-led rather than teacher led. Both teams do plenty of hands-on restoration work like setting out tracking tunnels to detect introduced predators, carrying out bird surveys, planting of native trees and biodiversity surveying. For the leadership students, local experts facilitate learning about a range of knowledge and skills, such as effective communication and consultation, all which better enable these young people to organise and lead community events and programme development.

Taupo's 'Spa Park' is becoming something of a showcase project for the Kids Greening Taupō Student Leadership Team.

"Spa Park is a recreational park in the town centre and for those of us who know about native vegetation, it is a 'nature void', full of plenty of grass and weeds," says Thea. "The Student Leadership Team have adopted the area, where they hold a big community planting every year. With support from the Taupō District Council and Waikato Regional Council, they're slowing getting rid of the weeds and bringing back the bird song. It's a journey with the local community. Taupō is seen as a 'magical environment' with the volcanic lake," she continues, "but there's actually not much bush where native fauna and flora thrives."

Slowly, steadily, Kids Greening Taupō hopes that will change. Last year, for example, those taking part in the Collaborative Community Education programme notched up some impressive achievements:

2268 student volunteer hours actively restoring project areas

373 volunteer hours from representatives from partnering organizations and local experts

6000 trees planted

$74,335 in-kind donations from local businesses and organizations

$104,090 funding from sponsors and funders

4 kindergartens, 8 schools and 40 link teachers involved

Already this year, as part of cross-curriculum work on the theme of 'Giving Back to Community', fifty Year 9 secondary pupils have been doing their bit to improve Spa Park, with a recent working bee carrying out mulching at the park.

The 'Collaborative Community Education' which underlies 'Kids Greening Taupo' was inspired by and based on 'Kids Restore the Kepler', a long-time conservation education programme running in Te Anau.

"Back when the Department of Conservation was taking a stock take of what was happening in the conservation education space around Aotearoa, Kids Restore the Kepler caught their eye," says Thea, "The programme's underprinning principles of utilising a real-life opportunity, plenty of community collaboration and fostering student-led opportunities were identified then as best practice education. Kids Greening Taupō was initiated as a means to determine if a similar programme could be replicated in an urban area."

Commencing in 2015, Kids Greening Taupō became the pilot programme of the Collaborative Community Education Model.

"Now there are five other projects around New Zealand, including 'Townbelt Kaitiaki' in Dunedin, the Healthy Opawaho project in Christchurch and another project emerging around the Porirua Harbour," says Thea. "Collaborative Community Education is an opportunity to create positive change in communities based on an authentic context and lots of collaboration with the local community. In a complex, uncertain world, it is a great way to give our rangatahi hope that they can make a difference and make the world a better place. Today, I think this is paramount."

It's not just about the students either.

"An important goal and key part of the programme is teacher professional development," says Thea, "giving teachers the confidence to regularly take rangatahi outdoors and utilise the natural environment and sustainability as an engaging and effective learning context."

The experience can be life-changing for some of those taking part in the programme.

"Some kids have special talents and interests, and we do our best to help them pursue these" says Thea. "For one of our leaders, trapping is his thing. So we connected him with a professional pest control expert from the Wairakei International Golf Course and Sanctuary through which he gained hands-on experience. Now recently graduated, James looks set to enroll in a Trainee Ranger course through which he is hoping to work for the Department of Conservation eventually."

Then there is Sian Moffatt who was a member of the first Kids Greening Taupō Student Leadership Team as a Year 13 student.

"Way back when Sian was applying for university, she was pretty sure she was headed for a degree in design," says Thea. "But as Sian will tell you, becoming involved in Kids Greening Taupō and then soon followed by participation in the Sir Peter Blake Youth Forum and Kiwi Forever programmes, she found her passion. Design was scratched and a degree in environmental science and conservation biology at Victoria University eventuated instead."

"During university, Sian co-led the Forest and Bird youth chapter, and following graduation, came back to Taupō and got a job with Kids Greening Taupō. She's young, enthusiastic and committed to connecting youth with nature - we could have never asked for a better asset to our team of education coordinators!"

Check out more school success stories:
St Andrew Primary plants to trap predators and feed rescue raptors Lynmore School raises awareness of trapping

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Kids Greening Taupō fosters leadership and community collaboration - Predator Free NZ

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In Taupō, Kids Greening Taupō are helping students of all ages to connect with nature and take part in real life conservation projects contributing to their community. Thea DePetris and Rachel Thompson are education coordinators for Kids Greening Taupō, an environmental education programme based on a model of Collaborative Community Education where schools work with community partners on conservation projects.

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Looking for field trip options for your class?

We've identified field trip opportunities - some teacher only led - in New Zealand that support predator control projects.

Field trip at Whakatane Kiwi Trust

Select one of the regions below to see what field trips are available. Note, there are also nationwide opportunities as well:

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Looking for field trip options for your class? We've identified field trip opportunities - some teacher only led - in New Zealand that support predator control projects. Select one of the regions below to see what field trips are available. Note, there are also nationwide opportunities as well:

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Can we make NZ pest free? Inquiry Unit resource

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Can we make NZ pest free? Inquiry Unit resource

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Student wonderings in the garden leading to design and research

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Biodegradable Fruit Stickers

By Brooke

Room 3, age 8

When I was out in the garden at school I saw lots of plastic fruit stickers in the soil. I wondered how they got there? I realised that they were probably there because the apples and other fruit from the compost had biodegraded, but the stickers hadn't. I also noticed them stuck on our concrete at school.

Finding fruit stickers in the garden when we cleaned it up

Fruit stickers litter our concrete at school

Burying them in our biodegradability garden to see if they would biodegrade.jpg

I had an idea to come up with a prototype for biodegradable apple stickers. I made some out of paper and cardboard.

Cardboard prototype

Brooke's prototype

After some research, I discovered that biodegradable apple stickers had already been made from apple. Some high school girls had already come up with the idea.

Then I saw in the news that a company has started to use biodegradable fruit stickers in New Zealand. I feel excited about that. It's a shame that I didn't come up with the idea first!

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By Brooke Room 3, age 8 When I was out in the garden at school I saw lots of plastic fruit stickers in the soil. I wondered how they got there? I realised that they were probably there because the apples and other fruit from the compost had biodegraded, but the stickers hadn't.

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Technology Design Process- to solve the issue of single use plastic

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Technology Design Process- to solve the issue of single use plastic

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Written by Imogen, 8 years old

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After learning about all the single use plastic in the world and about all the poor animals who die from plastic I felt sad. Mrs Thompson set us a challenge to design something to help solve the plastic problem. She showed us the design process and taught us about prototypes.

Written by Imogen, 8 years old

Later, when I was at the pool I needed a tissue. My mum handed me a tissue and I realised that the packet was single-use plastic. I had a lightbulb moment! I decided to design a reusable tissue pouch. My first prototype was made out of a tea box because I know cardboard is biodegradable. I decided to use glue because tape is made from plastic.

Single use plastic vs my biodegradable cardboard pouch

Tea box prototypes

My second Prototype was also made out of a tea box. It looked very nice, but it was too short. I had to cut off the bottom of the tissues. That got me thinking about the size. Mrs Farquhar suggested that I made one out of fabric. Quite soon after that, Emily came in with a prototype made out of a fabric called felt. This got me wondering about all the different materials I could use to make tissue pouches. I decided to make a tissue pouch out of felt, the material that Emily used. I could only hand sew, so I used string and a needle to make one.

Emily's felt prototype

Hand sewn purses and pouches

I learned how to sew on the machine when Diana from Boomerang Bags came to Room 3 for a Boomerang Bags session. I sewed my next ones on the sewing machine. My first and second attempt didn't work out how I wanted them to. They were too tight and skinny. It was hard to fit in even one tissue.

Imogen sewing in class

Machine sewn felt prototypes

I thought that I should use a different fabric. I also thought I should make it bigger. I used some cotton fabric and surprisingly, it worked very well. Mrs Thompson taught me how to zigzag around the edges to stop the edges fraying. It took a while to get the size we needed.

The next problem I had was that I sewed it the wrong way, so I couldn't turn it inside out. You could see all the seams. The Boomerang Bags lady had taught us how to sew things inside out, so that you can't see the seams. My next challenge was to sew one with the seams inside.

If you want to see my prototypes you can come to our Celebration Day, which is the fourth of July. I will be taking orders. There will be a contest to see who can guess how many stitches there are on one of my prototypes too!

Fabric prototypes

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Written by Imogen, 8 years old Later, when I was at the pool I needed a tissue. My mum handed me a tissue and I realised that the packet was single-use plastic. I had a lightbulb moment! I decided to design a reusable tissue pouch.

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A blog written by Piper, 8 years old

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By Piper, 8 years old

I got a book from my aunty and I looked in the back of it and discovered how to make recycled crayons. I had a lightbulb moment! I thought I could make my own crayons and show the class. Mrs Thompson had told us to think of ways to reduce waste.

The book that I got my idea from

At home I made my first prototype. I used old broken crayons. The first thing I did was sort them into colours. The instructions said to melt the crayons in the oven, but we decided to try doing it in the microwave. We thought it might be faster, but it wasn't. We put the crayons in a microwavable plastic container. Then once they were liquid, we poured them into moulds on baking paper. I made love heart shapes, kiwi shapes and round ones. We waited for them to harden and then we tested them. They worked well!

Making them with my brother at home

I brought them to school to show the class and Mrs Thompson asked if I wanted to run a workshop with the whole class. I got more crayons from classrooms. I asked the teachers if they had any old crayons that they didn't need anymore. I showed everyone what to do. They looked a little bit confused, but they finally got the hang of it. We made multi coloured crayons in muffin trays.

Old crayons that I collected

Running my workshop with the class

Trying the oven method at school

The class had a discussion about the crayon prototypes. They thought the round crayons were too fat and you couldn't draw on skinny drawings. Ava put her hand up and said I should make pointy ones. That night I talked about this with mum and she said that I could use an ice block mould. I tried this and broke the microwave, because it heated up too much! We tried it in a pot on the stove and it worked better than anything else. Even though the microwave finally woke up, mum said we weren't ever going to use it again for crayons!

Shaped Prototypes

Round prototypes

My final prototype was the skinny crayons made in the ice block mould. I thought they were the best ones so far because they could be used for skinny drawings.

I thought this was an amazing project . I think maybe nobody has ever recycled crayons before at school. I would love to make more recycled crayons next term.

Moulds

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By Piper, 8 years old I got a book from my aunty and I looked in the back of it and discovered how to make recycled crayons. I had a lightbulb moment! I thought I could make my own crayons and show the class. Mrs Thompson had told us to think of ways to reduce waste.

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Rongoā is the traditional Māori healing system. Rongoā is a holistic practice that often includes using the medicinal properties of New Zealand native plants.

Early Māori and rongoā

Although early Māori may not have known what today's scientists know about our immune system, they had worked out how to treat diseases and infection. The use of rongoā prevented many sicknesses and provided remedies for those who were already sick. Joseph Banks, an 18th century scientist who travelled with Captain James Cook, observed that Māori were in good health and appeared to suffer from few diseases.

Traditionally, Māori had a holistic approach to healing. It included the mind, body and spirit - mauri (spark or life force), tapu (natural law) and wairua (spirit). Whakapapa (genealogy) was also a factor to consider in the healing process. Tohunga, the medical practitioners or healers of the Māori world, passed their knowledge down through the generations, and modern Māori healers still use many of the concepts and practices.

Rongoā fighting infection

Rongoā is still used extensively today - many of the medicines from plants are used to fight infection. It was, and still is, important that the gathering of rongoā plants be carried out in a sustainable way to ensure that there will still be some the next time it is needed. Some of these plants can be toxic and should only be prepared by people who have been trained in the art of rongoā.

The following plants are some examples of plants that can be used for rongoā and that are used to fight infection.

Koromiko
The young leaf tips can be chewed for diarrhoea and dysentery. Dried leaves sent to New Zealand soldiers in the Second World War for this purpose were very effective.

Koromiko leaves can also be used for ulcers and sores and have been used as a poultice on babies for skin sores. The active ingredient is phenolic glycocide.

Kōwhai
All the parts of the kōwhai including the bark, inner bark, flowers, leaves and juice can be used as rongoā. Kōwhai can be used for cuts, infected skin, wounds and skin diseases. Colds and sore throats have been treated with infused kōwhai bark. There are toxic alkaloids in the tree, so people have to prepare the rongoā carefully.

Harakeke (flax)
The sticky gum in flax is used as an external treatment for boils and wounds. Leaves can be used as a dressing to aid healing, and the juice acts as a disinfectant for wounds. A poultice of the root can be used to treat intestinal parasites.

In this article Stephen Tauwhare talks about The Harakeke Project and how scientific knowledge can be combined with traditional Māori knowledge. Watch this video to learn more about the medicinal benefits of harakeke.

Pōhutukawa
The inner bark, when infused, can be used to treat dysentery and diarrhoea (it contains ellagic acid), and the nectar of the flowers has helped to alleviate sore throats.

Pūriri
Pūriri leaves can be infused and used to treat ulcers and sore throats, best gargled and not swallowed

Kawakawa
The leaves can be used to heal cuts and wounds. Chewing the leaves eases the pain of toothache and abdominal distress.

High school student Chris Ryan researched the medicinal properties of kawakawa, read about it in this Connected journal article.

Fungi and rongoā

A number of fungi were used in rongoā, for example, pukurau (puffballs) were used to stop bleeding and for pain relief from scalds and burns. Learn more in the interactive below.

Nature of science

Activity ideas

Useful links

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Rongoā is the traditional Māori healing system. Rongoā is a holistic practice that often includes using the medicinal properties of New Zealand native plants.

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Register to receive this amazingly detailed unit plan for teaching biomimicry to junior aged primary school students

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Students explore the structures and behaviors of plants and animals that protect them from danger or otherwise increase their chance of survival. By performing observations, constructing explanations, and building on prior experiences, students design nature-inspired solutions to a student-identified problem faced by humans.

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Use this form to report a sighting of any butterflies and moths you see in New Zealand (Reports of sightings from countries other than New Zealand will be discarded from research data.)

You can also record pests affecting plants/lepidoptera by clicking on pest.
Start typing the address of the sighting below, eg. "123 Charles Street". Then select the correct location from the list of matches which appear.
Please note that a Park Name may cause problems, even if the system seems to recognise it at first. If that happens use this tool to find the nearest location with a postal address and in the 'description' column add further details, e.g. 'tree about 200 metres north of this address'.

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Use this form to report a sighting of any butterflies and moths you see in New Zealand (Reports of sightings from countries other than New Zealand will be discarded from research data.) You can also record pests affecting plants/lepidoptera by clicking on pest. Start typing the address of the sighting below, eg.

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Use this form to report a sighting of any pests you see in New Zealand (Reports of sightings from countries other than New Zealand will be discarded from research data.)

Please note that a Park Name may cause problems, even if the system seems to recognise it at first. If that happens try http://www.getaddress.net and see if the park has a street number type address.

To identify the predatory wasp species please check out the information by clicking on this link HERE

If you need further advice about a pest please post details in the Forum and/or search the Hot Tags for information that others have posted in earlier years.

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Use this form to report a sighting of any pests you see in New Zealand (Reports of sightings from countries other than New Zealand will be discarded from research data.) Please note that a Park Name may cause problems, even if the system seems to recognise it at first.

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The Great Kererū Count is New Zealand's biggest citizen science project to help gather information on the abundance and distribution of the endemic New Zealand pigeon. The 2019 count takes place from 20-29 September. Your observations - regardless of whether you see kererū or not - will help build a clearer picture of where kererū live, how many there are and what they are feeding on.

This annual event began in 2014 and will likely run until 2021. Datasets for each of the prior counts are available and provide practice for interpreting data and viewing trends over time.
URL: www.greatkererucount.nz
Reach: Regional, national

Nature of science focus: Online citizen science (OCS) projects can be used to develop any of the Nature of Science (NoS) substrands. What is important is to identify aspects of NoS that your students need to be better at or understand more fully and then frame your unit to be very clear about these things when you do them.

Science capability focus: Gather and interpret data, Interpret representations, Engage with science
Some suggested science concepts:
Science focus: ecology - species distribution, habitat and animal behaviour

Ecosystem dynamics - the kererū is an important species. The loss of kererū from a location can have a significant impact on the local ecosystem. Kererū are essential for seed dispersal of native trees such as karaka, miro, tawa and taraire.

Adaptations - native birds like the kererū have evolved to become well suited to a particular habitat. They have unique structural and physiological adaptations.

Competition for resources such as food, shelter and mates - changes in habitat can affect the survival of living organisms in an area and the relationships between them.

Some examples of learning outcomes:
Many concepts could be learned - focusing on a few can often be more powerful. Develop your learning outcomes and success criteria from these concepts as well as the Nature of Science strand and the science capabilities.

Students can:

accurately gather and log data

make and record observations about flight behaviours

make and record observations about food sources and feeding.

About The Great Kererū Count project

Kererū are protected birds but their numbers have fallen over the last few decades. The Great Kererū Count is the only centralised data gathered to monitor the national trends of this keystone species. Kererū are the only birds in New Zealand that are capable of dispersing the large fruits of our native trees as some seeds actually have to pass through the gut of a bird to properly germinate. Information and data collected from this nationwide citizen science project will be used to better protect kererū and to help save our native forests.

Large flocks of more than one hundred kererū were once a common sight in the skies over New Zealand ... our vision is to see them again
The Great Kererū Count

In 2019, The Great Kererū Count has three ways to record kererū observations:

Via computer, tablet or smartphone.

Add your observations via the iNaturalistNZ website.

Via the iNaturalist app.

Each method has the option to add photos and video.

The website has an education pack with teacher resources, activities and a quiz. It also has links to LEARNZ Kererū Count virtual field trip videos.

Nature of science

Related content

Useful links

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The Great Kererū Count is New Zealand's biggest citizen science project to help gather information on the abundance and distribution of the endemic New Zealand pigeon. The 2019 count takes place from 20-29 September. Your observations - regardless of whether you see kererū or not - will help build a clearer picture of where kererū live, how many there are and what they are feeding on.

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So many Citizen Science opportunities! Check them out!

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So many Citizen Science opportunities! Check them out!

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Citizen scientists are volunteers who contribute to scientific projects, usually by collecting or analysing data. The number of opportunities to be involved as citizen scientists continues to grow, and teachers are increasingly using them to make science education more relevant and engaging and to develop students' science capabilities. Explore the projects below, find one that sparks an interest or is local. Check out these tips for planning your science programme and the Getting started with citizen science and Online citizen science webinars.

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Citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research. Here are some projects that KCC is supporting at the moment. We would love for you to get involved!

Identify New Zealand Animals

Victor Anton (PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington) is studying introduced mammals in our NZ cities. He has over 70,000 images taken using motion-activated cameras, and he needs some help from owl-eyed kids to identify what is in them. Can you help?

Go to: www.zooniverse.org/projects/vykanton/identify-new-zealand-animals

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The Great Kererū Count - 2019

Info coming soon

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Citizen Science Projects - Kiwi Conservation Club

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Citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research. Here are some projects that KCC is supporting at the moment. We would love for you to get involved! Victor Anton (PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington) is studying introduced mammals in our NZ cities.

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Download the resource
Exploring your local environment (PDF, 4,158K) Inquiry cycle for working through the 'In the environment' resources (PDF, 421K) Inquiry plan for your green space (Google Doc)
Learning outcomes

Using this resource students will:

appreciate that people are part of the natural world

build knowledge and understanding of ecosystems

investigate what is living in a green space

understand how birds, invertebrates and other native and endemic animals are part of a healthy ecosystem

contribute to increasing biodiversity in a green space.

Curriculum links
Level 1-4 Science

Living World: Evolution, ecology, life processes

Nature of Science: Investigating in science, communicating in science, understanding about science, participating and contributing

Science capabilities

Gather and interpret data

Use evidence

Critique evidence

Interpret representations

Engage with science

Level 1-4 Health and Physical Education

Healthy communities and environments

Resource contents

1. Introduction

2. DOC's conservation education 'In the environment' resources

3. Connections in an ecosystem

4. Health and safety considerations

5. Getting started - Teaching in nature

6. Starting your learning inquiry

7. Inquiry plan for your green space

8. Place-based learning in the outdoors

9. Māori perspectives and values

10. Science capabilities

11. Curriculum links and example unit plan

12. Inquiry plan for your green space

13. Integrated inquiry cycle for working through the 'In the environment' resources

Learning levels

Topics

Curriculum learning areas

Science

Social science

Education for sustainability

English

Health and PE

Webinars

Webinars are available to view on the Science Learning Hub website. They use the Exploring your local environment resources to model how conservation education can support student inquiry into a local green space:

Special thanks to Science Learning Hub for partnering with us to deliver these fantastic webinars.

Feedback

We would love to get your feedback about our resources so they are useful to you and your students - email conservED@doc.govt.nz and tell us what you think.

Contact

For questions or feedback about these resources, email conservED@doc.govt.nz.

Viewing files on this page

If you can't view these files contact us to request another format.
About our files

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Exploring your local environment (PDF, 4,158K) Inquiry cycle for working through the 'In the environment' resources (PDF, 421K) Inquiry plan for your green space (Google Doc) Using this resource students will: appreciate that people are part of the natural world build knowledge and understanding of ecosystems investigate what is living in a green space understand how birds, invertebrates and other native and endemic animals are part of a healthy ecosystem contribute to increasing biodiversity in a green space.

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Download the resource
Investigating weeds in your green space (PDF, 4,592K)
Factsheets

Learning outcomes

Students identifying weeds

Using this resource students can:

gather and interpret data about weeds living in a local green space

identify and learn about introduced weeds and how they affect native plants and animals

begin to understand how weeds have an impact on the environment and wider ecosystem.

Curriculum links
Level 1-4 Science

Living World: Planet Earth and Beyond Level 1 and 2: Interacting systems: Describe how natural features are changed and resources affected by natural events and human actions.

Living World: Ecology Level 3 and 4: Explain how living things are suited to their particular habitat and how they respond to changes, both natural and human-induced.

Nature of Science: Investigating in science, Communicating in science, Understanding about science, Participating and contributing.

Science capabilities

Gather and interpret data

Use evidence

Critique evidence

Interpret representations

Engage with science

English: Listening, Reading and Viewing

Learning sequence

1. Getting to know weeds in your green space - Students have outdoor experiences to spark their interest in weeds.

2. Planning an investigation - Start or continue a learning inquiry about weeds. Students reflect on knowledge and then ask questions about weeds.

3. Gathering and reflecting on data about weeds in your green space - Survey and identify weeds in your green space. Students add to their knowledge, reflect on predictions, and use and critique their evidence/data about weeds.

4. Finding out more about weeds and how they change an ecosystem- Students identify how weeds could change local ecosystems.

5. Sharing knowledge and taking next steps- Students share their findings with the community and then take the next steps in exploring and enhancing their green spaces.

Learning levels

Topics

Forests and green spaces

Pests and threats

Curriculum learning areas

Science

Social science

Education for sustainability

English

Maths and statistics

Webinars

Webinars are available to view on the Science Learning Hub website. They use the Exploring your local environment resources to model how conservation education can support student inquiry into a local green space:

Special thanks to Science Learning Hub for partnering with us to deliver these fantastic webinars.

Feedback

We would love to get your feedback about our resources so they are useful to you and your students - email conservED@doc.govt.nz and tell us what you think.

Contact

For questions or feedback about these resources, email conservED@doc.govt.nz.

Viewing files on this page

If you can't view these files contact us to request another format.
About our files

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Investigating weeds in your green space (PDF, 4,592K) Students identifying weeds Using this resource students can: gather and interpret data about weeds living in a local green space identify and learn about introduced weeds and how they affect native plants and animals begin to understand how weeds have an impact on the environment and wider ecosystem.

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Inquiry Unit- Predators in your Green Space

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Inquiry Unit- Predators in your Green Space

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Download the resource
Investigating introduced predators in your green space (PDF, 4,119K)
Factsheets

Google slideshow

Who's that animal pest?
Students can use the factsheets (above) to help solve the introduced predator crimes outlined in this slideshow. Each case involves a different pest culprit.

Setting up tracking tunnel
Image: Shan Walker

Learning outcomes

Using this resource students can:

gather and interpret data about introduced predators living in a local green space

identify and learn about introduced predators and how they affect endemic and native plants and animals

begin to understand how introduced predators have an impact on the environment and wider ecosystem.

Curriculum links
Level 1-4 Science

Living World: Planet Earth and Beyond Level 1 and 2: Interacting systems: Describe how natural features are changed and resources affected by natural events and human actions.

Living World: Ecology Level 3 and 4: Explain how living things are suited to their particular habitat and how they respond to changes, both natural and human-induced.

Nature of Science: Investigating in science, Communicating in science, Understanding about science, Participating and contributing.

Science capabilities

Gather and interpret data

Use evidence

Critique evidence

Interpret representations

Engage with science

Level 1-4 Social Sciences

Level 1: Understand how the past is important to people.

Level 2: Understand how places influence people and people influence places; Understand how time and change affect people's lives.

Level 3: Understand how people make decisions about access to and use of resources.

Level 4: Understand that events have causes and effects.

English: Listening, Reading and Viewing

Maths: Statistics

Technology: Technological practice, Nature of technology

Learning sequence

1. Introduced predators in your green space - Individual students have personal experiences to spark their interest in predators and start to think about impacts.

2. Planning an investigation and learning more about introduced predators in NZ - Start or continue a learning inquiry. Students reflect on knowledge and then ask questions about predators. They make predictions and plan an investigation to learn more about introduced predators.

3. Gathering and reflecting on data about introduced predators in your green space- Monitor introduced predators in your green space through constructing and placing a monitoring tool such as tracking tunnels.

4. Extending thinking about introduced predators- Continue the learning inquiry: Investigate patterns and themes and form new ideas about predators. Explore Māori perspectives.

5. Sharing knowledge and next steps - Students share their findings with the community and then take the next steps in exploring their green spaces

Learning levels

Topics

Forests and green spaces

Pests and threats

Curriculum learning areas

Science

Social science

Education for sustainability

English

Maths and statistics

Webinars

Webinars are available to view on the Science Learning Hub website. They use the Exploring your local environment resources to model how conservation education can support student inquiry into a local green space:

Special thanks to Science Learning Hub for partnering with us to deliver these fantastic webinars.

Feedback

We would love to get your feedback about our resources so they are useful to you and your students - email conservED@doc.govt.nz and tell us what you think.

Contact

For questions or feedback about these resources, email conservED@doc.govt.nz.

Viewing files on this page

If you can't view these files contact us to request another format.
About our files

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Investigating introduced predators in your green space

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Investigating introduced predators in your green space (PDF, 4,119K) Who's that animal pest? Students can use the factsheets (above) to help solve the introduced predator crimes outlined in this slideshow. Each case involves a different pest culprit.

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Inquiry Unit- Native Trees in your Green Space

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Inquiry Unit- Native Trees in your Green Space

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Download the resource
Experiencing native trees in your green space (PDF, 5,447K)
Learning outcomes

Using this resource, students can:

connect with and learn about widespread New Zealand native trees

identify key native trees

begin to understand how native plants and trees are part of a wider ecosystem.

Individual sheets

Tree factsheets

1. Kōwhai - Sophora microphylla (PDF, 978K)

2. Cabbage tree / tī Kōuka - Cordyline australis (PDF, 921K)

3. Mānuka / tea tree - Leptospermum scoparium (PDF, 717K)

4. Lancewood / horoeka - Pseudopanax crassifolius (PDF, 664K)

5. Māhoe / whitey-wood - Melicytus ramiflorus (PDF, 794K)

6. Kōtukutuku / tree fuchsia - Fuchsia excorticata (PDF, 628K)

7. Lemonwood / tarata - Pittosporum eugenioides (PDF, 819K)

8. Patē (Patate) / seven finger - Schefflera digitata (PDF, 816K)

9. Rātā (Northern and Southern) - Metrosideros robusta/ umbellate (PDF, 500K)

10. Broadleaf / kapuka - Griselinea littoralis (PDF, 671K)

11. Nīkau palm - Rhopalostylis sapida (PDF, 971K)

12. Silver tree fern / ponga - Cyathea dealbata (PDF, 876K)

13. Kahikatea - Dacrocarpus dacrydioides (PDF, 610K)

14. Tōtara - Podocarpus totara (PDF, 808K)

15. Rimu - Dacrydium cupressinum (PDF, 1,563K)

16. Matai - Prumnopitus taxifolia (PDF, 899K)

Tree connection factsheets

Google slideshow

New Zealand trees
Outlines what a tree is, parts of a tree (leaves, trunk, flowers, fruit), NZ trees, their place in an ecosystem and why they are important.

Supporting resources
AUT NZ Tree App
Curriculum links

Level 1-4 Science
Living World: Life Processes

L1 & 2: Recognise that all living things have certain requirements so they can stay alive.

L3 & 4: Recognise that there are life processes common to all living things and that these occur in different ways.

Planet Earth and Beyond: Earth systems

L1 & 2: Explore and describe natural features and resources.

L3 & 4: Appreciate that water, air, rocks and soil and life forms (e.g. trees) make up our planet and that these are Earth's resources.

Nature of Science: Investigating in Science and Communicating in Science

L 1-4: Extend their experiences and personal explanations of the natural world through exploration, play, asking questions, and discussing simple models.

L 1-4: Build their language and develop their understandings of the many ways the natural world can be represented.

Science capabilities

Gather and interpret data

Use evidence

Critique evidence

Interpret representations

Engage with science

Minor curriculum links

Science: Living World: Evolution, Ecology

Nature of Science: Understanding about science; Participating and contributing

English: Listening, reading and viewing; Speaking, writing and presenting ideas

Mathematics: Statistics.

Learning sequence

1. Introducing native trees in your green space - Using hands-on, outdoor learning experiences, students explore leaves and trees, encouraging interest and connection.

2. Planning your investigation and learning about New Zealand trees - Students continue their learning inquiry, reflecting on knowledge and then ask questions about NZ trees and their connections.

3. Identifying native trees in their environment- Gathering and reflecting on data. Students add to their knowledge, reflect on predictions and use and critique their evidence/ data about trees.

4. Extending thinking about native trees - Explore Māori perspectives. Add to big picture knowledge about the green space and how trees influence the ecosystem.

5. Sharing knowledge and taking the next steps- Students share their findings with the community and then take the next steps in exploring their green spaces.

Learning levels

Topics

Curriculum learning areas

Webinars

Webinars are available to view on the Science Learning Hub website. They use the Exploring your local environment resources to model how conservation education can support student inquiry into a local green space:

Special thanks to Science Learning Hub for partnering with us to deliver these fantastic webinars.

Contact

For questions or feedback about these resources, email engagement@doc.govt.nz.

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Experiencing native trees in your green space

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Use this resource to experience native trees in your school grounds or another local green space.

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Inquiry Unit- Invertebrates in your Green Space

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Inquiry Unit- Invertebrates in your Green Space

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Experiencing invertebrates in your green space

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Use this resource to experience invertebrates (insects) in your school grounds or another local green space.

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Inquiry unit | Outdoor activities | Levels: 1-4: Use this resource to experience birds in your school grounds or another local green space.

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Contact
robyn@greeningtaupo.org.nz

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With many projects underway you'll find one in your own backyard!

From larger scale community projects to smaller neighbourhood teams, there is a range of trapping networks in across the Taupo region. Join one of the existing teams or if you want to start up a trapping network in an area not identified below - get in touch with us and we will help you get started!

Join one of the existing teams or if you want to start up a trapping network in an area not identified Above - get in touch with us and we will help you get started!

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From larger scale community projects to smaller neighbourhood teams, there is a range of trapping networks in across the Taupo region. Join one of the existing teams or if you want to start up a trapping network in an area not identified below - get in touch with us and we will help you get started!

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Win medals and certificates for your class with Kiwi Guardian activities and local experiences!

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Win medals and certificates for your class with Kiwi Guardian activities and local experiences!

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Toyota Kiwi Guardians for schools and groups

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Information for schools and groups about how to use Toyota Kiwi Guardians

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30 Animals That Made Us Smarter - AskNature

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A collection to complement the animals and innovations featured on the new BBC Podcast "30 Animals that Made Us Smarter"

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If the constant stream of bad climate news is getting you down, get ready for a big dose of hope.

This year, middle and high school students from across the U.S. took part in the first-ever Youth Design Challenge, learning how to use biomimicry to create solutions to climate change. From an oriental hornet-inspired method to increase the efficiency of solar panels, to a Saharan silver ant-inspired roof designed to stay cool in extreme heat, to a kelp and fish-inspired method of generating energy and more, these students learned to apply lessons from nature to solve tough sustainability challenges.

All of the judges and the team here at the Biomimicry Institute were blown away by the students' creativity, depth of research, and skill at explaining their ideas. If the students in this Challenge are any indication, we think this new generation of problem-solvers - the ones growing up "bio-lingual" - will be the key to keeping our planet healthy and thriving.

Here are the winners in both the middle and high school categories. You can learn more about each team in the winners' gallery.

1st Place - Team Hornet
Richland Two Institute of Innovation, Columbia, SC
This team wanted to create a more efficient way to produce renewable energy, so they developed a device, based on the oriental hornet's ability to generate electricity from sunlight with its exoskeleton, to reflect and concentrate UV rays on solar panels.

2nd Place - KimHeamTeam
Woodbridge High School, Irvine, CA
This team's design, the Piezoelectric Kelp Forest, is designed to harness wave energy (an underutilized energy resource) by using strategically-placed synthetic kelp blades to create an electrical charge. The team studied how schools of fish conserve energy by moving in certain flow patterns to learn how best to place these kelp blades in order to maximize their energy-generation potential.

3rd Place - HuMANGROVE
The Harley School, Rochester, NY
This team mimicked the root structure of mangrove trees to create a quickly-deployable structure to battle erosion due to climate change. This solution is designed to be implemented and removed as needed and to have limited impacts on the ecosystem, since water can still flow within the structure.

Honorable mention - Emperor Insulation
Wilbur Wright Middle School and Munster High School, Munster, IN
This team wanted to create a energy-efficient way for people to prevent the pipes in their homes from bursting in cold weather. By looking at how emperor penguins stay warm in extreme cold by trapping air with the structure of their feathers, the team created an insulated pipe using non-toxic materials that helps keep the temperature of the pipe above freezing.

Honorable mention - SpiDust
Gretchen Whitney High School, Cerritos, CA
This team created a way to trap unhealthy particulate matter from cars by looking to spider webs for inspiration. This energy-efficient covering for wheels and exhaust pipes traps dust pollution using static electricity generated from the car being in motion, similar to how spider webs trap prey, pollutants, and fine dust.

Middle School category

1st Place - SunTile
Punahou School, Honolulu, HI
This team looked to the Saharan silver ant's ability to reflect light, the desert scorpion's ability to withstand sandstorms with its erosion-preventing exoskeleton, and the honeybee's hexagonal honeycomb shape to create the SunTile. This innovation fits on roofs in a hexagonal pattern, and is covered in grooves to withstand erosion and microscopic prisms to reflect the sun, creating a long-lasting, sustainable way for desert homes to stay cool.

2nd Place - Coolest Building on the Block
Wilbur Wright Middle School, Munster, IN
This team wanted to create a better way to cool computer rooms, which generate a lot of heat. After studying how jackrabbits use their ears to stay cool in extreme heat, they developed a pipe system that uses flowing water in order to cool computer rooms without the use of HFC-spewing air conditioning units.

3rd Place - Team SS

This team was so eager to reduce the effects of the built environment on climate change, that they came up with TWO solutions. The first is an environmentally-friendly, low-cost shelter that is constructed out of vines that grow on a scaffolding made out of a biodegradable material. The vines absorb CO2 and make use of local materials, preventing climate impacts resulting from transporting traditional building materials. The second solution is to create a self-healing building by using fungal spores in building blocks, inspired by how white blood cells respond to protect open wounds from bacteria. This would prevent building material from being wasted due to breakage or needing excess material for repairs.

Honorable mention - AntHouse
Wilbur Wright Middle School, Munster, IN
This team developed an entire house that can stay cool without the use of air conditioning. By looking to the Saharan silver ant for inspiration, they created a home design with legs to keep it off the hot ground and infra-red-reflecting materials on its roof.

Honorable mention - Sequestering Carbon Dioxide Filter
AdVENTURE STEM, San Jose, CA
This team wanted to create a way to restore our oceans back to health, so they created a filter that increases the ph levels in oceans and strengthens the ocean's ability to sequester carbon dioxide. This filter was inspired by how dermal bones in sea turtles release calcium and magnesium carbonates into the bloodstream to reduce acidity.

Congratulations to all of the winners and their coaches, as well as all of the teams who entered the 2018 Challenge.

If you're a middle or high school educator who is interested in bringing the Youth Design Challenge to your classroom, sign up here to receive more information about the next round, launching in Fall 2018.

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Can hornets, kelp, and ants help us solve climate change? These kids think so. - Biomimicry Institute

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If the constant stream of bad climate news is getting you down, get ready for a big dose of hope. This year, middle and high school students from across the U.S. took part in the first-ever Youth Design Challenge, learning how to use biomimicry to create solutions to climate change.

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Make your own Flip Book depicting the life cycle of the monarch. These are easy and fun to do...

1. Print out the template and colour in the pictures.
2. Cut along the dotted lines to create 8 flip pages.
3. Arrange the pieces in numerical order. Make sure the bottom edges line up.
5. Put a staple in the bottom of your book.
5. Flip through the pages to demonstrate the life cycle!

Click here for the template:
Make your own Pooter!
Click on the links below to download other educational stuff and fun activities:

Monarch Metamorphosis and Butterfly Gardening (notes)

my-milkweed-diary (Word document) - for students to complete, term project from when they plant the seed of their swan plant (milkweed) through to the laying of an egg on the leaf and the life of a butterfly.

Measuring Butterflies instructions (pdf)

Thinking Skills (pdf) This resource was prepared by Denise Tarlinton, Curriculum Support Teacher at Kurwongbah State School. Kurwongbah is a P-7 Multiage school in Queensland, Australia. Thanks Denise!

Munchin' Monarch - a Flash video, can be played using a Real player

Also check out the resources on the Science Learning Hub of the University of Waikato:

- Rearing Insects

- Write an Insect Mihi

- Interview with Dr Robert Hoare

- Make A Wanted Poster for an Insect

and more - go to Science Learning Hub to find out more.

Camouflage theme (coming)

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Butterfly Songs (Word document)

Then there's a wonderful song by Rob and Denise Gibbs in the USA about the monarch migration from Canada to Mexico. Very catchy tune and simple lyrics for children...

https://www.monarch.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/My-Long-Journey-South2.mp3

Here are the lyrics and chords for the above:
Monarch Migration Song chords and lyrics
Then Elementary 5th graders who visited Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont in 2015 put together this song. They chose the topic, researched monarchs and their plight, chose the song, wrote the lyrics, and recorded the video during their visit. It was made as part of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute Tremont's educational music video program 'Creative Outlets for Outdoor Learning' or .
https://vimeo.com/124953669
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Monarch Crimped 1015 (art project - pdf)

monarch-colour-in-1015 picture (art project - pdf)
Origami Monarch
How to draw a monarch butterfly using markers and coloured pencils

Butterfly pop-up card (coming)
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Monarch Maze puzzle (pdf)

Monarch Wordfind puzzle (pdf)

Flip Book Craft activity suitable for 8-11 year olds. Illustrates the life cycle of a butterfly (or plant, bird).

Jigsaw puzzle (on line) wth monarch butterfly.

Monarch Life Cycle Dice Game and cards Dice game

monarch-migration-outdoor-game A game for outdoors - great for a sunny day!
Butterfly Investigations Science - University of Waikato Landcare's Pollination Project for Teachers "Monarch Journey" Resources
On the Journey North website there are some great activities for use in schools. Try this link here.

Studying flight? Here 's a great craft activity, a stylised representation of a Monarch which you cut out, fold and fly:

The Teachers' Guide - free worksheets

From the ' Flight of the Butterflies' the educational guide, adapted from the Canadian resource is Flight of the Butterflies.

On the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project's website, there are artistic expressions from their volunteers. Check it out: videos, essays, poetry and prose. You'll find it by clicking HERE.

Still looking for more resources? This excellent guide describes and contains links available in North America for monarch conservation. Remember, that this guide and resources is intended for North America, where the monarchs migrate... many of the plants and other biodiversity is, obviously, relevant to N America, but you can always adapt the lessons for NZ.

Here are articles about some of the schools we've profiled in our magazine - we would LOVE to profile your school - please contact jacqui@monarch.org.nz
2019 Autumn Grey Lynn Kindergarten pdf 2017 Winter Makauri Albany Junior High schools 2017 Summer Manchester St School 2018 Spring Corinna Hurunui schools From time to time we hope to add more resources. If you have something to share please let us know by emailing trust@monarch.org.nz.

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Make your own Flip Book depicting the life cycle of the monarch. These are easy and fun to do... 1. Print out the template and colour in the pictures. 2. Cut along the dotted lines to create 8 flip pages. 3. Arrange the pieces in numerical order.

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Order your tags in February or March!

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Tagging begins in autumn. A new series of tags will be sent out soon. Please ensure you are signed up for our e-news to find out when to request tags (most probably February/March).
Due to ever increasing costs tags are no longer free. In 2019 sheets will be $1.00 each, six or more is $5.00, which includes P&P.
Learn more about our Citizen Science projects below by clicking on the links. If you have any additional questions once you have registered, please post them in the forum.

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Tagging begins in autumn. A new series of tags will be sent out soon. Please ensure you are signed up for our e-news to find out when to request tags (most probably February/March). Due to ever increasing costs tags are no longer free.

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Biomimicry Resources and links to Websites

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Biomimicry Resources and links to Websites

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Resources
Teaching ideas/posters

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Excited about biomimicry and want to learn more?

Interest in biomimicry has skyrocketed over the past decade, and there are now thousands of resources-including books, articles, videos, lesson plans, groups, training programs, and more-available to folks who want to learn, teach, and practice this valuable problem solving approach.
Get started with a collection of our favorites resources on AskNature.

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Biomimicry Resources - Biomimicry Institute

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Interest in biomimicry has skyrocketed over the past decade, and there are now thousands of resources-including books, articles, videos, lesson plans, groups, training programs, and more-available to folks who want to learn, teach, and practice this valuable problem solving approach. Get started with a collection of our favorites resources on AskNature.

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Biomimicry Teaching to Children of all ages

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Biomimicry Teaching to Children of all ages

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Sustainable Energy -Solar

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Solar energy is transformed into other energy forms for our use on Earth - energy for food (chemical energy), electrical energy and heat energy.

Food

Solar energy (sunlight) is crucial for our survival on Earth. Sunlight (visible light) falls on the leaves of plants where a process called photosynthesis takes place. The energy (red and blue light) that plants absorb from the Sun is the energy supply for the building of simple sugars that are then converted into starch for storage. The plant can then use this energy store to grow. When we eat plants, the stored chemical energy from the plant is transferred to us. This provides us with an energy store for all our life processes such as growing, moving, making sounds and breathing. All life is dependent on the Sun's energy.

Electricity

Just as solar energy is transformed to a useful form of energy in plants and animals (through the food chain), scientists have discovered that we can also convert solar energy into electrical energy (electricity) for our needs.

There are at least 2 ways currently used for converting solar energy into electricity:

Solar (photovoltaic) cells are used to convert solar light energy into electricity.

Concentrating solar power (CSP) allows a large area of sunlight to hit a trough where solar collectors (lenses, mirrors and tracking systems) concentrate it into a beam that boils liquid in order to make steam, which moves turbines to make electricity.

Using solar energy for electricity is environmentally friendly. It does not produce greenhouse gases or other atmospheric emissions. The major component for this power generation is just sunlight. Using this power source means we can reduce our use of fossil fuels, which are a limited resource.

With new technology, bright sunlight is not needed to generate electricity from solar energy. Solar cells can work on gloomy days if the temperature is moderate.

Solar energy can be used to supply electricity in underdeveloped countries where there is no access to electricity but there is an abundance of sunlight (such as some African countries). Solar power generation facilities can be set up to provide electricity for a whole village.

Heating

Scientists have found that dark coloured objects become warmer than light coloured objects in the Sun. This is because dark colours absorb more light energy. The light energy from the sun causes the particles of the object to vibrate, transforming the light energy into heat energy. The heat energy is then radiated out as infrared light. The article Heat energy explains these processes in greater detail.

Dark objects heat up and cool down faster than light coloured objects because they are better at absorbing and radiating infrared light. Materials that are not good at absorbing visible light will reflect it away again. This is why these objects appear as light colours. Light coloured objects then reflect most of the light energy and therefore are cooler than darker objects.

Passive heating is when the Sun warms objects with no extra help. The Sun warms buildings through the roof, walls and windows in this way. Buildings in cooler countries are often designed to face the Sun to trap a lot of solar heat energy. Painting the walls dark colours or black make the surfaces very good at absorbing light to produce heat energy. In hot parts of the world, people paint their houses white or other lighter colours to reflect solar energy to help keep their houses cool.

Water can be heated using solar energy. This is done through solar collectors. Solar collectors trap and absorb the Sun's energy. Generally, the solar collector has three layers. The first layer is a see-through layer that lets in the Sun's rays. The bottom layer is painted black to absorb as much solar energy as possible (which is then radiated as heat energy). In between these layers are pipes filled with water that are warmed by the radiated heat energy. The pipes then conduct the heat energy to the water. The heated water might be used for household needs, to heat the interior of the house (through insulated piping) or for swimming pools.

Heat energy can also be collected using large arrays of mirrors as solar collectors. Some industries in the world (refining metals and firing ceramics, for example) use mirrors to focus sunlight on an oven or furnace. Temperatures from these ovens have yielded more than 3,300°C.

Nature of science

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Solar energy is transformed into other energy forms for our use on Earth - energy for food (chemical energy), electrical energy and heat energy. Solar energy (sunlight) is crucial for our survival on Earth. Sunlight (visible light) falls on the leaves of plants where a process called photosynthesis takes place.

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The Koha Jar Project aims to provide an accessible alternative to single use coffee cups - from cafes, markets, or even school fairs. The underlying principle is that by working together we can create real behaviour change. Please feel free to download the guide, posters and jam jar toppers below - use them as inspiration, use them as they are, or contact us to get our designer to make up something just for you - no cost - never.

The Koha Jar Project is presently happening at the Otago Farmers Market where a local high school are collecting jars, wrapping them in rescued fabric and offering them to market visitors for kosha - which can be a coin or a promise to reuse the jar, keeping Aotearoa beautiful. This provides the market with a wholesome waste stream solution that is easy on the market coffee vendors, is hassle free for the market management and is gorgeous as heck for shoppers and visitors - and it's social media gold. Many cafes are working with local primary schools to get jars for travellers - It's a win for everyone.

The exciting thing for us is how easily this can be adapted for cafes and how it gives schools a real, practical and tangible tool to make change, to feel empowered, to connect and strengthen communities and most of all, to normalise reuse. Hands on activities, undertaken together, utilising waste products to give them life before recycling, providing solutions for hospitality that really means there is no excuse for single use.

No need to use the UYO logo, the expression 'Koha Jar' or anything at all if you don't want to. We just want to support goodness in any way we can. Own it, make it yours, and just let me know if I can help.
WE ARE A SCHOOL/COMMUNITY GROUP - HOW DO WE DO THIS?
COLLECT

A large coffee (in NZ) is 12oz, that's 340ml, so that's the largest jar you will need for coffee. For example, a 380g jar of pics peanut butter is perfect. A little coffee can fit in a large jar, so all good. If you want to be precise, a small coffee is 8oz, 227ml. Are you going to be loaning jars at places where they serve smoothies or juices to go? If so, how about a selection of larger jars? Pickles, coconut yoghurt, olives?

Put the word out in your community that you are on the hunt for clean jars. A note in the school newsletter, on a supermarket notice board? Ask health food stores or other community focussed places (local markets, doctors, community centres, craft groups) to be a collection/drop-off point for you? Ask them to share the request on their social media?

Give them a damn good clean. Get the labels off (olive oil is surprisingly good for this) and run through a dish washer. If you have access to a local cafe steriliser, even better, but not vital. This is about common sense.

CREATE

First, the practicalities. We're going to need some kind of heat band for those folks who like black coffee or like it super-hot. Now, number 1, use what you have. Look around you. Fabric, string, wool, rubber bands, even reuse paper or card - write a message on it!- and secure it around the jar with string. Coffee sacks, the tops of odd socks, cabbage tree fronds - get creative!

These jars are not intended to be returned to the cafe for processing or washing - once they leave the cafe or famers markets, they are the responsibility of the coffee drinker. They can remove your heat band if they want, add their own upgrade or own personality to it - use it forever, or simply pop it into the recycling where it would, hopefully, have ended up without your intervention!

Personalise the lid? Cut paper circles and decorate? Write your school's name or a message of thanks from you, because this coffee drinker has chosen to reuse.

Got someone who is handy with a drill? We have found that drilling an 8mm or 10mm hole, just out form the jar edge (filing it smooth, to be safe) works well as a sippy hole, but really, this isn't a necessary step. Handier for smoothie or juice koha jars to avoid a smoothie moustache...I love a smoothie moustache!

Create something to carry them in, to leave with the cafe, that can be refilled. A wicker basket from the local op shop, a cardboard box that you cover and line with fabric or paper? Something that means you can deliver the jars to the cafe all set up and sturdy. They may choose to display elsewhere, but best to be prepared.

And now your sign. We have free downloads you can print and display, or make your own! Use ours to get your started. The box of jars and the sign are your gift to the cafe.

Do you want to collect Koha? The real Koha is the promise to use the jars, but if you are fundraising for a school project etc, why not let folks know that they can drop a coin or two into this wee box or jar to help you reach your goal. However, make sure it is clear that these jars are free to take. Giving is everything. You are creating a world that is kind and generous.

CONNECT

Ok, you have your first stash. Now to get them into the world. Write letters, make a phone call, or even better, go see the cafe with your Koha Jar Project kit in your hands. Would they like to be a part of this. Adopting a cafe is a lovely way to get your jars to customers. It cuts waste, it gives the jars extra life and it creates a connection where your school or group can show their commitment to action and change.

Famers markets. Their contact details are almost always available on line. Ask for assistance in contacting them. Would the market give you a free patch to set up your table and Koha Jar stall to help them reduce single use waste? Talk to the coffee vendors at the market - give them a sign that lets their customers know you have free reusable jars for them to take away.

Work together - Reach out to other schools in your area and suggest a collaboration? Ask if they would like to take a weekend each at a local market? Or share the adoption of a cafe?

Think about how you can spread the idea of reuse, repurpose, refill? How about school fundraisers? Christmas gifts? A way to make your school fair single use cup free? The jars are meant to be taken away, so washing them after use is not an issue. You are givers, not washers. This means it can work at all sorts of events.

The goal is to change the way we humans behave. If you give these jars, there is no excuse not to rinse it out and use it again and again. You are making change. Real, hands-on change.
If your school, envirogroup is keen to take on the Koha Project and you'd like our assistance, with a chat, a classroom visit or skype call, some funds for op shop fabrics or twine/string, to knock around ideas, to connect you with cafes or markets, to share your work via our social media, to connect you with local or national press (because being seen to make change gives hope and inspires change in others), then just give me a call or an email and we're there.

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The Koha Jar Project aims to provide an accessible alternative to single use coffee cups - from cafes, markets, or even school fairs. The underlying principle is that by working together we can create real behaviour change.

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Love Food Hate Waste

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No Such Thing as Waste song -Formidable Vegetable

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No Such Thing As Waste (Permaculture Principle 6: Produce No Waste)

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Jack Johnson 3 'Rs' Song

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Jack Johnson: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - 3 R Song | Explore Films

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Why we should set aside our devices and prioritise eye contact

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Research has confirmed time and time again that what children are naturally and unabashedly drawn to, unrestricted outside play, contributes extensively to every area of childhood development. The importance here cannot be understated and yet we are losing much of childhood to screens, 1200 hours a year on average. With so many opportunities vying for our attention one easy way to make sure nature time doesn't get lost in the shuffle is 1,000 hours outside, though daunting, is doable over the course of a calendar year.

Childhood is finite at just shy of 9.5 million minutes. We only get one shot at it. One of the biggest decisions we make is how we will use our time. The options are endless, many carry with them a lot of pressure.
​

simply to keep track of it. We track all sorts of important things: calories, finances, steps, etc. It's an easy way to visually see if we are providing this essential part of child development to our kids. Download a free 2020 tracking sheet HERE.
The entire point of 1000 Hours Outside is to attempt to match nature time with screen time. If kids can consume media through screens 1200 hours a year on average then the time is there and at least some of it can and should be shifted towards a more productive and healthy outcome.

Here's to a 2020 childhood to remember!! Happy tracking but much more importantly, happy memories!

There is something magical about being outside after dark. As we head into a dreaded season for many (myself included), I've found that embracing activities we normally wouldn't be able to do are making the shorter days more exciting! In the summer, it's stays light too late to enjoy the enchantment of being out in the dark, lighting our own way with lanterns and flashlights.

Instead of wishing this season away, we are embracing it for the new and different opportunities it allows.

We are embracing the chill with warm drinks, like homemade hot chocolate or warm cider.

We are embracing the tendency toward seasonal affective disorder with purposeful morning sunlight.

We are embracing the snow with all the delightful snow activities like fort and snow painting, ice balls and frozen hair-dos.

And we are embracing the short days with evening lantern hikes, which our kids are absolutely thrilled about! Their lanterns were easy and fun to make, using many items you may already have on hand. They love this open-ended and customized craft because they were able to choose their own colors and designs. We will use their lanterns all season long for hikes in the dark as well as for porch and indoor decor. These lanterns also make beautiful gifts and are an excellent craft idea for a holiday party! There are many variations on homemade kids lanterns but we found this was the simplest way to go and they turned out lovely.

Supplies needed (You may even have much of this on hand already!):
Mason Jar
Mason Jar Lantern Kit with Firefly Lights
Mod Podge
Foam Brush
Assorted Tissue Paper Colors

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Finger knitting is a fun and easy craft for children and grown-ups alike! Our ten-year old daughter can complete this entire craft unassistedThere are in less than three hours but kids as young as four or five can finger knit with some assistance. 91 colors to choose from including Crimson, Constellation, Fern and Harvest. Check back often as prices can occasionally be as low as four or five dollars a skein! What a deal for a warm, soft wool hat or neck gaiter.

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This is a great foray into knitting. Kids love the soft feel of the wool and it is less cumbersome than knitting needles for small hands. Having a skein of yarn on hand always gives busy hands something to do. Finger knitting is great for long car rides or for waiting at the doctor's office.

Just one skein of yarn will make an entire hat or neck gaiter! We've tried many brands but for beginners I highly recommend Lion Brand Yarn 640-611 Wool-Ease Thick and Quick Yarn. The thickness and feel of the yarn will affect the outcome of your hat and it's easiest to be successful with this kind when you are just starting out.

Time is truly the most precious gift we have to give. When we take our kids outside, we give them the gift of being fully present. -Ginny Yurich

When holidays (or birthdays) roll around so often we think, "Our kids don't need anything." Current culture trends provide us with much needed encouragement to minimize and slow down. But at the same time, presents and surprises are fun! Since memories last a lifetime and toys tend not to, here are some ways you can actually wrap up experiences!

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1. Give the gift of a challenge.
There are so many exciting challenges out there for kids and for families!

The 52 Hike Challenge is an average of one hike per week (which you probably could have figured that out on your own). Wouldn't it be exciting Christmas morning to begin dreaming of your 2020 hikes?! And if you want something to open, you could snag a t-shirt or some stickers or even a medal to wrap up.

A Stamp Your Way through the USA book (or two or five) will help get you planning on visiting some National Parks, getting your official park stamps along the way! These books are wonderfully written and illustrated, geared toward kids with interesting and useful facts.

And of course, you can wrap up a free tracking sheet from 1000 Hours Outside or snag a t-shirt, tote bag, iron-on patch and more! What a gift for a child to be able to experience 1000 hours of nature time within one year.

This fall we bought two round hay bales. While we do have goats, these bales aren't for them. They are set up solely for our kids to be able to jump around on them in our yard. Hay bales are a far cry from your typical toy but they cost about the same. I read once that for around the price of a video game you could have a payload of dirt delivered instead. These may seem like odd choices but anyone who has spent time around children would attest to the attention-grabbing quality of these natural elements. Long after a new plaything finds it way to the bottom of a toy chest, kids will still be jumping off round bales, making up new games and activities along the way.

Parents and grandparents are marketed to so often these days it is hard to sift through the advertisements and find the things that are really worthy to buy along the journey of childhood. One of the things our family has chosen to invest in is clothing that allows for outdoor play in any season and (almost) any weather. As the saying goes, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing."

We realized long ago that an investment in outerwear is actually an investment in childhood itself. Kids who are comfortable in nature will play for hours upon hours. These periods of nature immersion are research-backed to provide countless developmental benefits. In fact, ask any pediatric occupational therapist and he or she will tell you that free play, ideally outdoors, is a necessary component of a well-rounded childhood. These therapists are on the front line, witnessing the rapid decline in childhood skills and seeing the waiting lists for services grow longer and longer.

Recently our children were able to try out some new rainwear from wore the MK Nordika. Our 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son wore the Didriksons Slaskeman Printed Rain Set. This was our first foray into rainwear and I was immediately impressed with the quality. These rainsuits will definitely stand up to rough play and we are absolutely planning on passing them down once the older children have outgrown theirs. Elka Waterproof Rainset and our two younger daughters (ages six and three)

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Research has confirmed time and time again that what children are naturally and unabashedly drawn to, unrestricted outside play, contributes extensively to every area of childhood development. The importance here cannot be understated and yet we are losing much of childhood to screens, 1200 hours a year on average.

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Using Poetry to Share an Environmental Message

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Using Poetry to Share an Environmental Message

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This term our inquiry "In our own words" has led to a focus on reading, writing, publishing and performing different types of poetry. We were very lucky to have a visiting poet, Te Kahu Rolleston, work with us.

Before his visit we watched some of his slam poems. We focussed on one of them called 'Rena'. Te Kahu is from Matakana Island, so the Rena disaster had a huge impact on him and his whanau. We could see his passion for this issue come through in his poetry and the way he performed it. We also looked at how he played with words and used puns, rhyme, similes and metaphors to get his message across. Our class had been learning about plastic pollution and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is an issue that we felt strongly about, so we decided to write our own slam poem about this to perform for Te Kahu when he came.

We worked collaboratively on the poem. After reading about plastic pollution, looking at pictures of it, and watching short videos about it, we decided to write about the life of a plastic bag. In our poem, we wanted to follow its journey from Taupo to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and to show the damage that it could do on its way. Our hope was that we would make people think twice before using plastic, and to understand what happens when we litter. We wrote our ideas down on big sheets of paper. Some of us wrote similes, like Carly, "plastic is floating down the river, flowing out to sea, like people on a swimathon." Joe wrote a metaphor, "Caught in the wind, an eagle looking for prey." Some of us played with words and used puns, like Ty's "...plastic swirling around like a cycle, but not a re-cycle. If it had been recycled it wouldn't be there!" and Wiremu with, "One piece of plastic, but there is nothing peace-ful about it."

All of our ideas were compiled and we collaborated to turn them into our slam poem. Each of us had a part of it to present. We had to think of how we could present our part in a dramatic way to make people listen to our message. Te Kahu was a great inspiration, as he is such a passionate poet. We practised lots and were very excited to perform it for Te Kahu when he came. He loved it! He said that he had never seen a slam poem performed by more than three people, so 26 children performing one was very impressive. He asked us to video our poem and share it with him. Below you can see our video and also read a copy of our final poem. We hope you enjoy it! Can you identify all of the different poetic devices that we used?

Video- Plastic- not fantastic- Slam Poem here

slam poem

We had a fantastic workshop with Te Kahu. He inspired us and helped us to write more poetry. He taught us about rhyme and personification. There is also a video of him performing for us, making up poems on the spot from topics that we gave him. It was amazing.

Te Kahu Freestyle Poetry video here

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Before his visit we watched some of his slam poems. We focussed on one of them called 'Rena'. Te Kahu is from Matakana Island, so the Rena disaster had a huge impact on him and his whanau. We could see his passion for this issue come through in his poetry and the way he performed it.

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Student Led Inquiry- 'How Can We make a Difference?'

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Student Led Inquiry- 'How Can We make a Difference?'

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After learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Room 6 started to notice plastic everywhere.

We sifted through a container of Lake Taupo sand - that Mrs Thompson had scooped up from by the yacht club - and found a huge amount of plastic pieces. We were shocked at how much litter we saw around our school and village, but the thing that shocked us the most was that other people did not even seem to notice it.

Plastic we found in one container of Lake Taupo sand

We decided we needed to do something about it. We asked Mrs Thompson if we could try to spread the message about plastic, where it ends up, and how dangerous it is for our animals and environment. Mrs Thompson got us to brainstorm ways that we could spread these messages. We came up with lots of ideas; posters, videos, events, selling honey wrap, making a play, taking photos etc. Most of all we wanted to shock people and show them where their plastic ends up. Our goal was to make people change their attitude towards plastic!

We split into five groups. One group decided to write and perform a play that would teach people not to litter. The second group decided to make posters for around school, in town and on our recycling bins. They wanted to show people where our rubbish ends up if we litter and promote recycling at school. The third group decided to collect rubbish, do a rubbish audit and shock people by showing them what was being littered around us. They had plans for a huge rubbish sculpture to show how much litter was found at school. The fourth group wanted to improve our lunch boxes by encouraging nude-food and selling honey wrap. The fifth group chose to make a video showing what plastic does when it gets into our waterways.

All of the groups worked really hard on their projects over the next few weeks. They consulted people like Diana Fitzsimons who runs our enviro-group, Anaru our caretaker, Mrs Farquhar our principal, and Carol Lamb from Tidy Taupo.

There were some hiccups along the way and each group had times that they had to work together to solve problems. Our class was a buzz of excitement with so many different projects happening.

The honey wrap girls made fliers and promoted their initiatives at the mini-conference, in the newsletter, at the assembly, and in each classroom. They had some issues with their honey wrap production that took some trial and error to sort out, but they got there in the end. They ended up making and selling a lot of honey wrap. The nude food picnic that they organised and promoted was a huge success, with over 75 students participating. We can see the changes that it has made to lunchboxes in the school.

Honey wrap promotion at the mini conference

nude food flier

Nude food lunchboxes 1

Nude food lunchboxes 2

Nude food lunchboxes 3

nude food picnic

Nude Food Picnic Prize Winners

Nude food poster

Honey wrap girls 1 video here

Honey wrap girls 2 video here

Honey wrap girls 3 video here

The poster group had to design their posters, thinking about font, text, choice of pictures and layout. They then had to find places to put their posters up and then promote them. They took them around classrooms, put them up in town and around the school. They also consulted Anaru and Diana about the recycling bins and what should go on the poster for them.

recycling poster

Arion s poster

Harrison s poster 2

Harrison s poster

Jemma s poster

Jemma s recycling bin poster

Mitchell s poster

The rubbish audit group had issues with their rubbish going missing. The cleaners kept throwing their collection out! Their plans for making a sculpture with all the rubbish that they collected had to change. They still photographed, recorded and graphed all the rubbish that they found. They led the rest of our class on a huge clean up of the school, Playcentre and surrounding areas. The huge amount of rubbish collected was shocking! It was also this group that emailed Carol lamb and organised getting hi vis vests, grippers and buckets from Tidy Taupo, that are now used daily at school to pick up litter.

Tidy Taupo gear

Litter collected by Room 7

Sorting litter for audit

Litter sorted for the audit

The movie group worked hard to choose images that would shock people. They then put them together with text and music to create a powerful movie.

Movie group video here

The playgroup worked hard to perfect their production. There was a script to write and costumes to make for the play. Then there was a lot of rehearsing to learn their lines off by heart before the performance.

All of the groups presented their work at our celebration of learning at the end of the term. They were proud to get up and speak about what they had learnt and what they had achieved. It was fantastic to see their passion and hear their message.

Playgroup performance video here

Rubbish audit group performance video here

End of Rubbish audit group performance video here

Honey wrap girls performance video here

Poster group performance video here

Movie group performance video here

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Room 6's Passion Projects - Saving the World

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We sifted through a container of Lake Taupo sand - that Mrs Thompson had scooped up from by the yacht club - and found a huge amount of plastic pieces. We were shocked at how much litter we saw around our school and village, but the thing that shocked us the most was that other people did not even seem to notice it.

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A blog written by a student about her attempts to solve the plastic waste problem

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Ava's Inventions

by Ava, 8 years old, Room 3

The Aratiatia team at Wairakei Primary School has been learning about using plastic products. Our challenge was to make an invention so people don't have to use so much plastic.

Mrs Thompson chose to look at big and serious problems to sort out. We ended up doing plastic as our problem. Our teacher didn't especially choose plastic as our topic. Our class all decided together that plastic was a problem. We all knew that New Zealand had a plastic problem, but we wanted to find out if plastic was a worldwide problem. So we watched some videos about different countries to see if plastic was a problem and it is. So we worked on that problem for a very long time.

After we knew plastic was a worldwide problem we did a design process. What we did first was we thought about what emotion we felt about so much plastic being wasted, like single-use plastic. Next, we saw a problem. After that, we had an idea, like a lightbulb moment. Next, we started making prototypes and making little changes to our prototypes. Lastly, we shared our ideas with other people.

My Design Process:

I feel scared because plastic can take over our world and a mixture of angry and sad is going over me because of what people are doing to our planet. The problems I saw were plastic in lunchboxes and plastic cutlery, which are both single-use plastic. Then I had a lightbulb moment that I should make reusable snack bags and reusable cutlery pouches. Then I made 2 prototypes for snack bags and 3 prototypes for my cutlery pouches. Then I shared my learning with other people at our Celebration Day.

My first topic was using plastic packaging in your lunchboxes. I designed reusable washable snack bags. My first prototype I used string on the top to tighten it, and my second prototype I used elastic.

I realised one topic wasn't enough for me, so I created a cutlery pouch to put utensils in for when you have takeaways. This saves using and throwing away the single use plastic cutlery. It would also be great to use for when you go camping, on school camps or to take on picnics.

Ava's cutlery pouches and snack bags

Ava's reusable cutlery pouches

After studying for a while Mrs Thompson gave us a 31-day challenge sheet to try. It had different challenges to save our world. Things like say no to plastic straws. Drink it straight from the cup. One small change can make a big difference. Persuade other people to do these challenges. You can make a difference. If you see a problem you can help by using the design process. Make up your own challenges to try on other people. Also, we made posters using a topic off the 31-day challenge to persuade people when they come in the classroom.

Keywords: Enviro, Technology, design, student-led inquiry, global issues, student voice, Room 3

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by Ava, 8 years old, Room 3 The Aratiatia team at Wairakei Primary School has been learning about using plastic products. Our challenge was to make an invention so people don't have to use so much plastic. Mrs Thompson chose to look at big and serious problems to sort out.

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Using Nature to lead into Science and Maths 

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Using Nature to lead into Science and Maths 

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Room 12 had a snowman day. The weather played along and we woke up to our first real frost of the season. We went for a walk and explored the frosty school.

Arabella Tori

We noticed that the frost had melted in the sunny places, but was still there in the shady spots. This led to some good discussions. We ran our hand along the leaves of the flax bushes and noticed that they were wet, but it hadn't rained. This led to discussion about frost changing to water. As our focus for this week is changing states of matter this led very nicely into our snowman experiment.

Mrs Thompson had a bag of snow and we made a snowman in the electric frying pan. We discussed what we thought might happen to him when we turned it on. Most of us predicted that he would melt, turn into water, and then the water would heat up. We turned it on and watched with excitement as he got smaller and smaller until he was just a bubbling puddle. We were very interested in the steam that came off him, and we noticed that if we put the lid on we could catch the steam and it changed back into water. Our big surprise was when our snowman disappeared completely! None of us had guessed that would happen! We had great discussions about where he had gone to. We also wrote stories and drew diagrams of this experience.

Tessa Piper

Macey, Dallas

Haylen Trend

Hana Isaac

For mathematics we are focusing on measurement skills, so we made paper snowmen and compared the size of their bodies, hats, noses and arms. We used measurement language like bigger, smaller, shorter, taller, longer, narrower, wider. Penny finished our day off with a snowman story in the library. Snowman day was lots of fun!

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Arabella Tori We noticed that the frost had melted in the sunny places, but was still there in the shady spots. This led to some good discussions. We ran our hand along the leaves of the flax bushes and noticed that they were wet, but it hadn't rained.

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On Wednesday afternoons the junior school have discovery time. We have been focused on creating purposeful play opportunities for our tamariki. Teachers have been learning about the importance of learning through play and have been implementing the ideas from this professional development into discovery time. We want to allow our children time to be creative and learn through play.

Team work in the sun

Portrait sculpture

A beautiful sunny Autumn afternoon, Mrs Thompson wanted to get the children outside and active, while encouraging their creativity. She decided to do this by using our gully, a unique and special resource that our school has to offer. She set the tamariki the challenge, "Explore the gully and collect natural treasures, then bring them up to the top of the hill and create a sculpture on one of the stumps". The children were super excited to attempt this challenge. They quickly got into groups and set off.

All finished

Very careful placement

Careful collection and placement inside a stump

The oral language and group work skills that were observed during this task were impressive. The children worked together, constantly discussing strategies and choice of items. Some of them created roles within their groups and sent members off to find more treasures, while other members began creating, or guarding, their sculpture. There was much discussion about the placement of leaves, sticks, moss, ferns, and other items. Some teams tried the extra challenge of making their sculpture more 3D. They carefully put sticks into holes in the stumps, or balanced items on top of each other.

Boys campfire

3D sculpture

Making a sculpture stand up

The students showed terrific focus, perseverance and collaboration during this task. They learnt about their natural surroundings and discussed various plants, bugs and fungi that they discovered. They really started to look carefully at what was around them. Leaves that would normally be trampled on were collected and handled with great care.

View the Boys campfire sculpture video here

Lots of treasures

Autumn colours

The gully is not easy terrain. There are steps, but a lot of the time children were climbing up steep hills and having to carefully pick their paths through the bushes. They showed fantastic balance and use of gross motor skills, going up and down the hill collecting their resources.

Off down the hill to collect treasures

The children raced to finish their sculptures and did not want to stop. Next, we will build on this interest and attempt a challenge of creating one huge 3D sculpture together. With so many of us, it will definitely test our collaboration skills!

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On Wednesday afternoons the junior school have discovery time. We have been focused on creating purposeful play opportunities for our tamariki. Teachers have been learning about the importance of learning through play and have been implementing the ideas from this professional development into discovery time.

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NZ Freshwater Infographic

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Some Room 3 children asked if we could plant our garden. We decided to plant sunflowers and have a little competition.

First, our garden had to be weeded, and then each group could plant their seeds. It was important to read the instructions on the packet carefully to make sure we planted them correctly. We were excited to read that this species of sunflower, King Kong, could grow to 5 metres tall! All of us wanted our group's sunflower to be the biggest, so we researched ways to make our seeds grow fast and tall.

Weeding the garden

Lachie brought in coffee grinds, Brooke brought horse manure, Poppy brought sheep manure, Ashtin brought seaweed fertiliser and worm tea, and Emily brought blood and bone fertiliser. We watered the seeds and watched them over the next few weeks as they began to sprout and grow.

Fertiliser and stakes to help our sunflowers

Manure for our sunflowers

As they grew, we read about sunflowers, learned about their life cycle, did sunflower research projects, and completed beautiful sunflower pastel art.

We measured the sunflowers every 2-3 days and collected the data on their heights. It was amazing how fast they grew. We had to decide how to measure them accurately so that we were all measuring the same way. This led to some great measurement discussions.

Measuring our sunflowers

Watering them

We collected the data and wrote it in a table and then discussed what kind of graph would be the best to display it. We wanted to show the growth of 6 sunflowers over a term. We decided that pie charts and bar graphs would not work. Ava had a great idea. She brought her baby book in to show us her height and weight charts. We decided that using a line graph, like she had in there, was perfect.

Ava's baby book

Next, we graphed the data and wrote statements about it. We had to make a new graph when they grew too tall to fit on our original one. Then they grew too tall for that one too! This led to good discussions about setting up graphs. We have learnt a lot about the parts of a graph, types of graphs, measurement, appropriate units and scales through this activity. It was a fantastic integrated unit including maths, science, reading and writing.

Graphing our sunflowers

At the end of the year, we even had a sunflower themed class celebration and Mrs Thompson wrote a sunflower poem for us. She gave us each two seeds to take home to plant too. We have grown and bloomed this year in Room 3, and now we are waiting for our sunflowers to do the same!

Sunflower poem

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Some Room 3 children asked if we could plant our garden. We decided to plant sunflowers and have a little competition. First, our garden had to be weeded, and then each group could plant their seeds. It was important to read the instructions on the packet carefully to make sure we planted them correctly.

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In Room 3 this term we have been learning about the global issue of plastic pollution and how we can help by cutting down on waste. Our writing focus has been on persuasive writing. Clare made a poster about getting involved and making a difference. Our inquiry learning has been about the technology design process, including creating and testing prototypes. The students were set a challenge to design something that will help solve the problem of plastic pollution caused by single-use plastic. Our science focus has been on understanding how materials change, knowing which materials will biodegrade and which ones will not. All of these lessons came in useful for Clare recently when she flew with Air New Zealand. Following is her letter to the airline explaining what happened

Clare with her prototypes

To Air New Zealand

On a recent trip to Wellington, I was lucky to get the job to hand out the lollies. When I was finished there was only one white lolly left, so Nicole, the flight attendant, got me some more. When I got home I thought about how many lolly wrappers are going into our environment from Air New Zealand planes. I had a lightbulb moment! I decided to make paper lolly wrapper prototypes, as we have been learning about prototypes at school.

First, I unwrapped a lolly and put it on a piece of paper to measure how long and how wide it needed to be. Next, I cut it out and then I wrapped it around the lolly. But there was one problem. When I wrapped it around it ripped a little, so I got a piece of a brown paper bag and did the same. This time it didn't rip. I printed out some air New Zealand logos. Soon, I glued the logos onto my lolly wrappers. I am trialling these prototypes to see if the lollies will stick.

I think you should use paper wrappers, as they will biodegrade. Did you know that your plastic wrappers will all be here on earth forever? Lots of animals die from eating plastic. Please care for our earth and environment!

I am starting a petition to get Air New Zealand to stop using plastic lolly wrappers. If you stop using single-use plastic you can be an example for other companies and they might stop too. Small changes will lead to big changes! Please stop using plastic lolly wrappers on your flights and also think about the other single-use plastic that you are using.

Prototypes with logos

Clare, age 8.

Wairakei Primary School.

Room 3.

Taupo.

Clare then went on to make a petition and collect signatures. It is very special to see all of our learning in class integrated and used in an authentic context. I have been very impressed by the passion, self-motivation and independent use of her learning that Clare has shown with this letter and petition. I wonder how many signatures she can collect? If you are keen to sign her petition, please pop in to Room 3 and see her. I wonder what Air New Zealand will think about her letter? Will they reply? We'll keep you updated.

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Authentic Persuasive Writing from Room 3

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In Room 3 this term we have been learning about the global issue of plastic pollution and how we can help by cutting down on waste. Our writing focus has been on persuasive writing. Clare made a poster about getting involved and making a difference.

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Room 3's Biodegradability Garden

Written by Emily, 9 years old
After learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Room 3 planted a garden with different types of materials to see what would biodegrade.
When we started the garden was full of weeds, so the first step was to tidy it.

We had lots of fun pulling out the weeds and raking. We found heaps of fruit stickers and other rubbish.

Before we cleaned up the garden

Big weeds!

Busy in the garden

Rubbish from the garden

Garden all cleaned up!

The second step was to decide what materials we should bury. We used a sock, fabric, fruit, paper (paper towel, newspaper, toilet paper) cardboard, banana skin, apple core and someone even donated a whole mandarin! We also planted foil, glitter, an empty glue stick, plastic bags, a degradable plastic bag and a compostable plastic bag. Next, we had to predict if the products were biodegradable or non biodegradable. I predicted that the fruit and paper would biodegrade. I was also wondering if the corn starch bag would biodegrade.

Is it really biodegradable?

Is it really good for the environment?

Rubbish ready to be buried

Three weeks later we dug everything up. The mandarin was still fresh. You could probably still eat it! We thought maybe there was a coating that makes it biodegrade slowly. We also thought that maybe the dirt was so cold that it was acting like a refrigerator and keeping the mandarin fresh! The banana skin had gone brown, but not really biodegraded. Everything else was exactly the same as when we buried it.

The newspaper was still readable

Mandarin still fresh

Paper still not biodegraded

Another two weeks later we were curious to see if the mandarin had biodegraded or not. This time it had half biodegraded. The banana skin was half biodegraded. It had gone brown and squishy. We went to the pencil and it had gone mouldy and squishy, it had even split in half. We dug up the newspaper and surprisingly you could still read it! We thought it might have been the ink that was causing it not to biodegrade. We came over to where the apple got buried and we dug, dug and dug, but it wasn't there! It had biodegraded. Something that surprised me was that the compostable bag and the degradable bag had not biodegraded at all.

Banana peel nearly gone

Mandarin biodegraded

Paper half biodegraded

Degradable bag still the same

Plastic still the same

Biodegradable bag still the same

Glitter still sparkly

Pencil starting to biodegrade

We learnt that plastic is not biodegradable, and that compostable and degradable bags also do not biodegrade. We learned that fruit, wood cardboard and paper biodegraded. I will try not to use plastic. I also learned that just because something is green and tries to convince you with pictures of trees and birds that it is great for the environment, it may not be. That is what the people who made the degradable plastic bag tried to do.

I thought this was a really interesting experiment and we could plant more rubbish to see if it biodegrades. Maybe next time we could put water on the garden to see if that makes things biodegrade more quickly?

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Written by Emily, 9 years old After learning about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Room 3 planted a garden with different types of materials to see what would biodegrade. When we started the garden was full of weeds, so the first step was to tidy it.

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Overview of an Integrated Inquiry into the Problem of Single Use Plastic

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Overview of an Integrated Inquiry into the Problem of Single Use Plastic

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Room 3 has been busy. We looked at global issues and chose to focus on the issue of waste, especially that caused by single-use plastic.

Luckily we had lots of local experts who could come in and support our learning by sharing their knowledge. Mr Thompson came and showed us what Total Sport are doing to cut down on single-use plastic waste at events. Diana showed us how to make Boomerang Bags. Tyler's mum and Tyler showed us how to make soap bars. Ashtin's mum and Ashtin showed us how to make honey wrap. Shannon from Taupo District Council talked to us about plastic entering the food chain and Lake Taupo. She even showed us where our waste goes to on a trip to the Taupo landfill Recycling Centre. Cath from Enviro Schools taught us about biodegradability. What an amazing supportive community we have at Wairakei Primary School!

Shannon from Taupo District Council

Trip to the Recycling Centre

Mrs Thompson taught us about the technology design process and then set us a challenge to use the process to research and design something to help solve the global issue of single-use plastic waste. It was a big challenge! However, we took it on, and amazed her with the variety of prototypes we came up with. Here are our projects, presented to other students, teachers, parents, and members of the Taupo District Council at our recent Celebration of Learning.

Ava, Brooke and Piper decided to tackle the issue of disposable plastic cutlery and plastic packaging in lunchboxes. They designed and sewed prototypes of reusable cutlery pouches, using reusable straws, and cutlery from the Salvation Army shop. Ava designed and sewed reusable snack bags. They also organised a nude food picnic at school, making posters and advertising it in each class. It was very successful, with over 100 children attending. This group also looked at using honey wrap. Ashtin's mum, Michelle, from, Broomes Bee Wraps. She kindly helped Ashtin to run a workshop so that every child in the class could make their own honey wrap.

Reusable cutlery pouches

Ava's cutlery pouches and snack bags

Nude food picnic

Our honey wrap!

Huriana, Quianah, Jordyn-Lea and Kora made recycled plastic by fusing bread bags in a toasted sandwich maker and with an iron. They decided the iron method was better, as it made smoother plastic. They cut the plastic into butterfly shapes and glued them to a used plastic sign that they had spray painted. This made a beautiful piece of art for in our classroom. Kora is very creative and also made barbie clothes from a burnt piece of honey wrap and a pencil case from an old soft toy.

Making recycled plastic in the toasted sandwich maker.jpg

Butterflies made from recycled plastic bags

Beautiful art made from recycled plastic bags

Kora upcycled a soft toy into a pencil case

Kora's barbie clothes made from burnt honey wrap

Te Whetu, Kritnesh, Kevin, Ashtin and Tyler also made their own recycled plastic by fusing bread bags. They decided to turn this material into pencil cases and sew them on the sewing machine.

We had to make sure we ironed the plastic bags on both sides and right to the corners. said Te Whetu.

It was tricky, I sewed my zip in upside down! said Tyler.

Recycled plastic pencil cases

Adding designs to recycled pencil cases

Poppy, Arley and Daniel made reusable bags and produce bags from donated fabric, old pillowcases, old curtain fabric and even old t-shirts! To begin with Kora taught them how to make bags from old t-shirts without sewing. Poppy hand-sewed elastic handles onto a pillowcase to make a bag prototype. After the Boomerang Bags sewing session, they began sewing all kinds of designs. We set up a sewing corner in class. They were so good on the sewing machine by the end that they were able to teach others how to use it. Ï love sewing! I've asked mum for a sewing machine for my birthday!" says Poppy. Read more about Boomerang bags here.

Piper teaching Daniel how to make a produce bag

Arley teaching children how to pin and sew a bag

Upcycled reusable bags

Piper collected old crayons from the classrooms at school and then recycled them by melting them. She even ran a workshop to teach the rest of the class how to do it. Read more about this here.

Piper's recycled crayons

Piper showing her recycled crayons

Mr Thompson volunteered to teach one group some building skills and then they decided to make a go-kart! They drew up designs and went to the recycling centre to collect some parts. Jack found a fantastic seat to use. Mr Thompson helped them to build it and Dallas' dad also helped them to finish it off. They have enjoyed playing on it at school and are pretty proud of themselves. Ï know how to use a drill all by myself now!" says Trend.

Dallas and his dad

The Go Kart team

Upcycled Go Kart

Tyler decided to make soap bars, as these can use biodegradable packaging, unlike the body wash that many of us use. His mum, Suzanne, has a business making soaps, so she was able to help him. Both of them kindly ran a workshop for the class, and all of the children got to make their own soap. He proudly told us how he had convinced his mum to switch her soap packaging to reusable, biodegradable bags, rather than plastic wrap. You can check out her business Soulful Skin Food here.

Tyler's soaps

Tyler and Suzanne running a soap making workshop

Tyler's mum now packages her soaps in biodegradable packaging instead of plastic

After reading a zero waste challenge in class, Lachie, Victoria, Emily and Charlie decided to try to make zero-waste, natural cleaning products. Victoria's mum, Melissa, kindly worked with them to research and trial many recipes, including window cleaner, drain cleaner, all-purpose cleaner, table cleaner, and furniture polish. Lachie's mum said she loved him trying out recipes at home, as he had cleaned her toilets, mopped the floors and cleaned her windows! Lachie said he loved the toilet cleaner, as it smelt like mint ice cream, but it was a bit messy and he had spilled it all over the bathroom. Mrs Thompson loved using the products on her whiteboard and the tables in the classroom.

Victoria's window cleaner

Lachie showing children his homemade toilet cleaner

Green Clean- homemade cleaning products

Green Clean homemade natural cleaning products

Clare decided to make a petition to get Air New Zealand to cut down on single-use plastic, starting with biodegradable lolly wrappers. Read more about this here.

Clare getting people to sign her petition

Biodegradable lolly wrapper prototypes

Brooke came up with the idea of creating biodegradable fruit stickers after seeing the plastic stickers littering our garden and concrete at school. She made some prototypes but then discovered that these had already been invented. You can read about this here.

Brooke showing the council her biodegradable fruit stickers

After seeing her mum use a single-use plastic tissue pouch, Imogen designed a variety of reusable ones with Emily's help. Read more about this here.

Imogen's prototypes for her tissue pouches

This inquiry unit has really changed the way that we think. We are all trying to use less single-use plastic and to choose products with less packaging. Many students have bought new lunchboxes with compartments so that they don't need packaged foods. Jack decided to sew himself reusable fabric toothbrush cases to replace his plastic one. Ava even sewed herself a new book bag. Instead of buying packaged snacks for our end of term movie, Mrs Thompson decided that we should make our own, so we made a brownie. As we learned from Dr Seuss in the Lorax, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not." Every little change that we make will help lead to big changes. What changes can you make?

Making our own brownie to save packaging

Keywords: technology, enviro, community involvement, inquiry learning

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Room 3 Celebrating technology to solve a global problem

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Room 3 has been busy. We looked at global issues and chose to focus on the issue of waste, especially that caused by single-use plastic. Luckily we had lots of local experts who could come in and support our learning by sharing their knowledge.

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Mrs Thompson, along with Victoria and her mum, attended a Boomerang Bags Taupo session. They made reusable produce bags. It was very inspiring to learn about the idea of Boomerang Bags and how it works. People come together to make reusable bags from fabric, which had been destined for the landfill. This saves waste and prevents further waste by reducing the number of plastic bags being used. It also creates community dialogue around the problem of single-use plastic, plastic pollution and zero-waste alternatives.

Mrs Thompson at a Boomerang Bags session

Victoria and Melissa making Boomerang produce bags

Mrs Thompson invited Diana, a Taupo volunteer for Boomerang Bags, to come and run a sewing bee in Room 3. We all learned how to make the reusable Boomerang Bags. Luckily all the labels and pieces of fabric we needed were provided for us. They were even cut out ready! You can pick up a pack to sew your own reusable boomerang bags from Taupo Toy Library. We had to learn how to use a sewing machine to sew the handles, sew the seams, and sew on the labels. We even learned how to pin the pieces together, measure handle sizes and mark out the corners to be sewn. Quianah and Clare were experts at this and taught the other students how to do it.

Diana teaching us to measure handles

Diana showing us how to sew Boomerang Bags

Clare teaches Kevin how to pin

Teamwork to pin the bags

We are very lucky to have amazing parent support in Room 3. Ava's mum, Tania, and Victoria's mum, Melissa, came in to help us. They brought in their sewing machines too. Mrs Thompson brought in her machine and Karen volunteered to help us too. We had four machines and five adults helping us. It was a really busy sewing bee!

Busy sewing bee in Room 3

Boomerang bag half done

We were super excited to see the finished bags coming together. All our individual pieces joined, making wonderful professional looking bags. Ashtin excitedly announced each one as it was finished and held it up proudly for us to see.

Ashtin announces another finished bag

Boomerang Bags

The children were so inspired and showed such amazing sewing skills, that Mrs Thompson decided to set up a sewing corner in Room 3 for the rest of the term. The children have proudly been creating prototypes for their inquiry technology projects. Imogen has designed and sewn tissue pouches. Ava and Brooke have designed and sewn a reusable cutlery pouch and many children have made reusable produce bags. Piper has been a fantastic teacher, showing the others how to thread the cord through the top of the bag. Many other students have also shown leadership skills, teaching others how to use the machine and sewing equipment. Mrs Thompson has been amazed at the peer tutoring that has been happening. She has only had to teach a couple of students sewing skills and from there the students have taught each other.

Room 3 sewing corner

Avas snack bag prototypes

Reusable produce bags

Imogens tissue pouch prototypes

Te Whetu, Tyler, Ashtin, Kevin, and Kritnesh learned how to recycle bread bags by melting them together with an iron or toasted sandwich maker. They came up with the idea of making the recycled plastic into pencil cases. Mrs Thompson helped them create a prototype and they have been busy sewing these on the machine.

Te Whetu and Tyler recycling plastic bags

Ashtin with his recycled plastic

Te Whetu pinning his plastic pencil case prototype

Recycled plastic pencil cases

Please pop in and see our fantastic creations in our sewing corner. You will find someone busy at the sewing machine giving materials destined for the landfill a new life as a reusable item. I wonder what we will create next?

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Mrs Thompson, along with Victoria and her mum, attended a Boomerang Bags Taupo session. They made reusable produce bags. It was very inspiring to learn about the idea of Boomerang Bags and how it works. People come together to make reusable bags from fabric, which had been destined for the landfill.

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Single Use Plastic Inquiry Wonders- Beginning of Unit

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Single Use Plastic Inquiry Wonders- Beginning of Unit

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In Room 3 we started the term by learning about the world that we live in.

We learnt about how the world is split into hemispheres, continents, countries, oceans and seas. It was exciting to discover that many of our Room 3 students' whanau members came from different countries around the world. We began looking at the current issues facing our planet and one issue popped up in every country that we looked at. Plastic waste. Surely it was not an issue here in New Zealand though? Unfortunately, we discovered that it was. We searched through a container of sand from our beautiful Lake Taupo and were shocked to discover a range of plastic, including cigarette butts, cotton buds, bottle caps, plastic cutlery and more. We also found out that soft plastics cannot be recycled in New Zealand and that they are piling up around the country.

Kora's wonder

Jordyn Lea's wonder

The more we researched, the more we realised what a huge issue plastic is for us right now. Images of the giant garbage patches in our oceans and of animals eating plastic shocked us. Statistics such as, "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 9 times the size of New Zealand" and "A garbage truck size load of plastic enters our ocean every second," shocked us more. We couldn't believe how much single-use plastic we use. We use a product designed to last hundreds of years to make things that we use for a few minutes! Plastic is used for so many things, but there is no plan in place for disposing of it all.

Piper's wonder

Daniel's wonder

Mr Thompson came in and spoke to our class about changes that Total Sport are making to avoid single use plastic. They run events such as The Taupo Marathon, Taupo Ultramarathon, Kinloch Offroad Challenge, and many other sports events. He showed us collapsible cups that competitors carry to avoid thousands of plastic cups being used at aid stations. They have begun using reusable cable ties for fencing, and drink tablets to fill up drink barrels, rather than opening hundreds of small bottles. Mr Thompson came up with a design for reusable trail markers, rather than using the wide disposable plastic tape, which had previously been used. We looked at the design process involved with creating this simple invention that saves a lot of plastic from entering the environment. Mrs Thompson set us all a technology challenge, to invent something to replace a single use plastic item. Our focus for the rest of the term is to follow the design process and to come up with our own small ways to make a difference to the big problem of plastic in our environment.

Bevan Thompson visits

Reusable cable ties and collapsible cups

Later that afternoon Imogen needed to blow her nose and noticed that the tissue her mum gave her was from a single use plastic pack. She had an idea! She quickly came up with a prototype for a cardboard pouch made from a recycled tea box. She even made a logo for on it! Emily was inspired by this and arrived at school with a fabric prototype that she had sewn together herself. Ashtin has offered to show us all how to make beeswax wrap to use instead of gladwrap. Brooke discovered that the little plastic stickers from fruit were all over the ground at school and all through our gardens. She came up with a theory that the fruit decomposes in the compost, but the stickers do not. She has already begun coming up with prototypes of biodegradable labels for fruit. Poppy has turned an old pillowcase into her first prototype for a reusable bag. Victoria is working on recipes for cleaning products. Kora and Quianah discovered how to fuse soft plastic themselves, and are looking at ways to use this recycled product to create artwork. There are ideas being brought into school everyday. We can't wait to see what creations we have by the end of the term!

Imogen's prototypes

Emily's prototype

Brooke's biodegradable sticker prototype

Poppy's prototype

As part of our research into waste, we are learning about plastic and other materials, and how they change over time. We have cleaned up an overgrown garden at school and buried a selection of different items to see what biodegrades. We have categorised the items and made predictions. We decided to try burying a cornstarch compostable bag and a biodegradable plastic bag to see what happens to them too. We wonder if they will do what they advertise that they do.

Ready to sort out the garden

Garden clean up complete

Rubbish ready to bury

What will biodegrade?

Now we have to wait and see if our predictions were right! In the meantime, we will keep working on our technology challenge to help solve the problem of plastic in our environment. So watch this space! We will keep you updated...

Victoria's wonder

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We learnt about how the world is split into hemispheres, continents, countries, oceans and seas. It was exciting to discover that many of our Room 3 students' whanau members came from different countries around the world. We began looking at the current issues facing our planet and one issue popped up in every country that we looked at.

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Butterflies

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Room 3 we have had huge excitement each day watching our swan plant.

The eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars. They are almost too tiny to see, but they eat lots and grow bigger every day. When they are really big, we notice them hang in a j shape and know that they are ready to turn into a chrysalis.

The next thing we see is a beautiful green chrysalis with a ring of gold spots hanging in the caterpillar's place. It is like magic. We have never managed to see one actually change, they are too quick and sneaky. One day we came to class and noticed that one of the chrysalises was now clear and we could see the colours of the butterfly's wings through it. Mrs Thompson said that it was going to come out any time now. We put the plant in the middle of the mat and Mrs Thompson hooked up her visualiser so that we could watch it up close on the big screen in the classroom.

We watched it all day, as we carried on with our other learning. We couldn't believe it, when at 3:00 it was still in its chrysalis. Reluctantly, we all left for home.

Chrysalis ready to open

At 3:30 Mrs Thompson was marking books, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw it move. She quickly filmed it for us, so the next day we could all watch it on the big screen. It wasn't live footage as we had hoped, but we were still excited to watch it. We decided that maybe the butterfly waited until we had left so that it could emerge in a quiet peaceful space.

Monarch emerging video here

Hanging to dry its wings

Emerging from a chrysalis

Wings all dry video here

Ready for flight

Almost ready to fly

The interesting thing about this monarch butterfly was how tiny it was. It was much smaller than the other monarch butterflies that we had seen. We did some research and discovered lots of reasons this might have happened.

It was a friendly butterfly and we all had turns at holding it gently, making sure to not touch the wings. It was great to observe it up close. We could see its antennae feeling around, and noticed its proboscis rolling up and stretching out. It tickled our fingers as it crawled from one of us to another.

Mini monarch and Te Whetu

Studying our mini butterfly carefully

Gently passing our butterfly around

Mini monarch and Poppy

Mini monarch and Dallas

Since then, we have been lucky to have lots of other butterflies emerge in our classroom and join our class for a day or two before flying off. Charlie even asked Anaru to come and rescue one that was stuck up on our high windowsill. He kindly brought in his ladder and performed a rescue operation, so that we could set it free!

Charlie and Anaru rescue team

Butterfly rescue

We are enjoying watching our caterpillars and butterflies complete their life cycle, right in front of our eyes.

Kora with a monarch

Clare with a monarch

Arley has something on his hood

Can you see two butterflies

Twin butterflies

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The eggs hatch into tiny caterpillars. They are almost too tiny to see, but they eat lots and grow bigger every day. When they are really big, we notice them hang in a j shape and know that they are ready to turn into a chrysalis.

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Frogs

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On our nature table in Room 3 we have a tadpole tank.

We have enjoyed watching our tadpoles grow and change over the past few weeks. It is always exciting to see that a tadpole has grown back legs and turned into a froglet, or that the front legs have popped through the skin and come out. We have also been able to observe other life in the tank, such as insect larvae and water boatmen.

Nearly a frog

Kora with a tadpole

Victoria caught a cricket to feed to the tadpoles. They loved it and munched away on it for about a week! This is how we discovered that tadpoles were omnivores, eating weed and insects.

Tadpoles eating a cricket

We have done a lot of research into frogs and tadpoles during reading time and have learned all about them. We have drawn life cycles and made posters of interesting facts about frogs. Jack is a frog expert and has taught us all lots about frogs, as he has some at home in his pond.

Frog life cycle poster

Jack our frog expert

Jack s life cycle poster

Victoria s frog poster

Charlie and Dallas even read about water boatmen and made a poster to present to the class. You can see water boatmen in our tadpole tank too. Dallas thinks it is really neat that they look like they only have two legs, but that they actually have 6. Charlie taught us how they use one set of legs for eating, one for swimming and one for holding onto weed.

Water boatman poster

We also read about native New Zealand frogs. It was fascinating to discover that they do not swim well, they live in the forest, sit on their eggs in their nest and hatch froglets. They don't have a tadpole stage in their life cycle. They also don't have webbed feet or croak. We have made posters about this if you would like to learn more, please pop in to Room 3 to read them.

Imogen s Maud Island Frog Poster

Emilys Maud Island Frog Poster

Clares frog poster

We watched our largest froglet carefully and saw its tail slowly disappear. One day when we arrived at school, it was a frog, sitting on top of the tank and looking at us. We decided it was time to release it. Mrs Thompson's son Kian came and helped us release it into a frog pond set up in the Enviro Garden. He had caught the frog as a froglet, so we thought it was only fair to let him release it.

Releasing the frog

Kian ready to release the frog

The frog

Diana showed us around the Enviro Garden. We learned that we are possibly the only school in New Zealand with an aquaponics unit. Many of us had never been in there before, so we were excited to see what happens in there. We enjoyed seeing the goldfish and learning about how things worked. Diana explained that the fish poo fertilizes the plants and then the plants clean the water for the fish.

Dallas said, It is amazing that poo can help plants grow!

Kora said, I think it's smart and funny at the same time!

Clare made a connection with our work on life cycles and said,

It's like a cycle! The water goes round from the fish to the plants and back again.

Brooke checking out the caterpillar

Daniel checking out the aquaponics unit

Checking out the aquaponics unit

Diana showing us the aquaponics unit

Diana even picked us some blueberries and apples from the unit, which we shared back in our class.

Yum! They are like the ones from the shop. said Ashtin.

Yummy fruit from the unit to share

Hopefully, our little frog is happy in his new home and we can release some more friends for it soon.

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We have enjoyed watching our tadpoles grow and change over the past few weeks. It is always exciting to see that a tadpole has grown back legs and turned into a froglet, or that the front legs have popped through the skin and come out.

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In Room 3 we have a fantastic nature corner and science table.

Each morning we rush in to see what has happened overnight. Sometimes we have caterpillars that have made chrysalises. Sometimes a butterfly has emerged from a chrysalis overnight and we watch it dry its wings and then set it free. We always rush to the tadpole tank and check out what is new in there. It's exciting when one of our froglets has sprouted front legs, or a tail has disappeared and we have a frog to release.

Our nature area has inspired many great class discussions and lots of questions. Mrs Thompson told us that good scientists ask questions and then they observe, experiment and research to find out the answers. We created a 'Wonder Wall' where we wrote all of our wonders and then published our writing for on the wall. We hope to find the answers by observing our nature table closely and researching during reading time.

Room 3 s wonder wall

Every day we bring in new 'treasures' to share with the class and add to the nature table display. Ava brought in a huge bowl of cicada shells, Macy and Tori brought in a moth, Imogen brought in a green caterpillar and a cocoon, Quianah brought in an interesting rock with crystals, Ashton brought in a skin that his lizard had shed. Other children have brought in dead insects like katydids, moths, huhu beetles, crickets, bumble bees...

Our favourite 'treasure' so far is a jaw bone that Lachie found. He showed us how you can pull out the teeth! We are not sure what animal it is from, but we decided it must be a carnivorous animal, as the teeth look very sharp. This led to a great discussion about what a carnivore is. A few weeks later we made connections when one reading group read about carnivorous plants and Clare discovered that the 'mystery plant' in the science corner is actually a carnivorous 'pitcher plant'. Clare, Ava, Imogen, Piper, and Emily made posters about carnivorous plants and shared them with the class. We were surprised that plants could eat meat!

Pitcher plant posters

Imogen showing us her green caterpillar

Macey and Tori showing us their moth

Please pop in and check out our table of treasures. You can learn about water boatmen from our experts, Dallas and Charlie. You might even spot one in the tadpole tank! Jack can tell you all about frogs, as they are his passion. Victoria is our rock expert. Ask Piper or Clare about the mystery plant and how it catches bugs. You can read our wonders and talk to our many other 'experts'. All the children would love to teach you the interesting facts that they have learned and show you their treasures.

Treasures in our nature corner

Mystery plant

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In Room 3 we have a fantastic nature corner and science table. Each morning we rush in to see what has happened overnight. Sometimes we have caterpillars that have made chrysalises. Sometimes a butterfly has emerged from a chrysalis overnight and we watch it dry its wings and then set it free.

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How having a 'Wonder Wall' can lead to researching, presenting, photography and poetry

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Room 6 we have been learning to observe nature closely, notice things and wonder about them. Like scientists, who ask questions about the world, we have been 'wondering' a lot about the things around us.

We explored our gully and collected lots of natural treasures for our nature table. Our bowls were full of rocks, ferns, basket fungi, leaves, seeds, moss, sticks and other interesting finds, including a log covered in interesting fungi and a birds nest full of hair!

Mitchell basket fungi

Jackson and Wyatts log

Watch Harrison hatches a basket fungi video here

We spent the first week observing, noticing, wondering and researching about our finds. Some of us made videos and book creator books. At writing time we recorded our observations and wonders, then published them for on our wonder wall.

Watch

Lucy's wonder video

Elizabeth's wonder video

Carly's wonder video

During reading time we researched and made posters about these natural wonders. We enjoyed presenting them to our class. Some of us even shared them with our buddy class.

Fossils posters

Carnivorous plants posters

Bracket fungi posters

The next week we went back to the gully armed with iPads. We took wonderful photos of the natural beauty around us and used these photos as inspiration for our writing. After learning about poetic devices, such as similes, metaphors and activating nouns, we wrote our observations as poems. We then learnt how to publish these using the pic collage app. Our goal was to carefully choose words and use poetic devices to create a picture in the reader's mind.

Xaviers pic collage

Sols pic collage

Samuels pic collage

Mazs pic collage

Mahleks pic collage

Arions pic collage

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We explored our gully and collected lots of natural treasures for our nature table. Our bowls were full of rocks, ferns, basket fungi, leaves, seeds, moss, sticks and other interesting finds, including a log covered in interesting fungi and a birds nest full of hair!

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Getting Children into nature and learning about their Environment- Real Life Examples

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Getting Children into nature and learning about their Environment- Real Life Examples

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Blog posts from classrooms. Let us know if you have one that we could add!

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Articles, activities, worksheets, Kahoot, etc.

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CLASSROOM RESOURCES | Taupō for Tomorrow | New Zealand