Tauranga Intermediate - Manuka House Discovery

In Term 4 we were lucky to attend a Wetlands Discovery day with Van at Carmichael Reserve in Bethlehem. Wetlands play a very important part in our ecosystem's read more below ...

Wetlands.

Click on the word Wetlands above to go to our link and see our educational Prezi presentation!

Wetlands

Click on the word Wetlands above to go to our link and see our educational Prezi presentation!

                                                             

                                                   

Greenpark School's Coastal Discovery Movie

Check out Greenpark School's Year 6 students on their Coastal Discovery dune restoration and rock pool survey trip.

Room 16 Maungatapu School Predator Box Project

Our class decided in term 2 to give something back to the Team at TCC for the fantastic learning opportunities we experience while on a Discovery Day. The students had seen the wooden trap boxes on visits to McLaren Falls and Mauao, so they wanted to be able to make and donate some to TCC. The term 2 focus for writing was persuasive, so I integrated this into the classroom programme by getting the kids to write letters to building companies, persuading them to donate materials to make the boxes. We studied the bird life on mauao and incorporated some information about them into the letters. They were beautifully published and sent off with a copy of the trap plan. We were very excited to receive replies from 3 companies, including Mitre 10 Mega ion gate Pa, and Tauranga Placemakers. We received enough materials to make 22 boxes and proudly presented them to Van Taylor from the Discovery Day Team. The senior school will be visiting McLaren Falls next year the the students will be able to see their boxes in action!!!

 

Otumoetai Intermediate's Coastal Discovery

Different species of sea creatures flashed before our eyes and disappeared before we knew it. Falling in was not as much fun as finding the creatures. As the waves tumbled into the rock pool we walked around, dodging the water. Sea Anemones and starfish were a good find compared to painted shrimp and cats eyes.

As the salty mist splashed over us, drenching us with water, we found more cats eyes. Exploring the Rock Pools was a very enjoyable experience. Leaping across we got our shoes drenched in water as waves collapsed over us, the water cold and salty. Finding many different creatures was a lot of fun.

Our shoes dried as we dawdled down the sandy path, the sea was in our sight. We took a sharp left and then sat on the soft golden sand. We tuned in to Chris’s voice to hear facts such as that the Spinifex and Pingao roots are like giant fishing nets that capture the sand and force it downwards to start the dunes, these roots are two metres long!

Our eyes searched the ground and all we saw were clumps of green and yellow weeds, so we stuck in our shovels and got to work. Weeding was easy but time consuming, and the sun was no help at all. We were driven by competitive spirit hoping and knowing that with every weed we killed and pulled out of the fine grains we had scored a point against Tauranga Intermediate. It was a pleasure to look around after the hard labour and see clear land which will one day be restored with proper plants to make sand dunes.

Sand and water sloshing in our shoes. We dug holes up to our knees and filled them with food fertilizer that looked like nerds! We put the Spinifex or Pingao in the holes and covered them with sand. The best part about planting the sand dunes was knowing that they will be there for a lot of years to come. They will create memories for generations and a legacy for our children.

We all love to go to the beach, but if there were no sand dunes, we would not be able to enjoy this luxury. That is why we were taught to keep the sand dunes safe and intact. We were also educated on how the sand dunes rebuild themselves after a storm by sending out runners that start new plants. Our groups really enjoyed re-planting and weeding the areas of beach that needed  restoring. Thank you again, it was a great honor working with you and an enjoyable day with the parents.

Room 2

Otumoetai Intermediate School

MAUNGATAPU PRIMARY SCHOOL'S COASTAL DISCOVERY 2012

We all had an amazing time. Thank you to Van and Ranger Mark. Thank you also to the parents who came along for the day.   HERE ARE SOME STUDENT REFLECTIONS I never knew Maori people lived in a Pa on Mauao. I was really interested in seeing the hole that was once a house. It was interesting to find out that the Little Blue penguin nests on Mauao. I would like to build some houses for them. I never knew so many creatures lived in the rock pools. If you stand really still and ait, you see lots of little sea life moving around. I learnt about the special pathway between the rocks that has calm waters and the first Maori tied their waka there so it was safe. The best thing about the day was seeing all the different traps used to catch predators on Mauao. I would like to be able to help them get more. I liked learning about what type of volcano Mauao was and how the lava squired out like toothpaste. I never knew it was a volcano. It was such an awesome day. I learnt so much. Having predator free islands around Tauranga is very cool and seeing the place where one of the first waka got shelter was really cool. I never knew about the Petrels and the Little Blue Penguins. It would be cool to raise money to help make shelters and buy traps for the stoats.

Otumoetai Intermediate's shared writing

Last week we worked with Room 2 from Otumoetai Intermediate. They sent us this fantastic letter they created as part of a shared writing idea they had in class.

Tauriko School- Dune restoration