Forest Protectors- Our Trip to Centennial Bush Reserve

This week we learnt all about being kaitiaki of our environment during our visit to Centennial Bush with Te Motu Kairangi. 

Some of our Social Positive Purpose Group made a movie about the day: 

On the walk we did a lot of activities. I will let you know what we learnt. 

At the kereru nest one, we learnt that kererus can in fact get drunk on the berries they eat and that is when they are most vulnerable and when its predators attack them and that is why they were endangered. 

In the second one with Nicola, we sketched the living plants and things. I did a thing with the leaves where you put them under the page and rub your pencil over it to make a kind of leaf skeleton. 

In the one with Nik, we did a thing were we tried to estimate how many living things were in a square metre. On my square metre there were about 20-30 living bugs and someone actually found a massive spider that if you make a circle with your thumb and index finger it would be as big as the hole in between. 

We also did a thing on a walk to the higher bushes and we talked about birds and adaptation and how some birds adapt to a new habitat and some don't. Also birds get killed by mammals because they stay still but the mammals don't hunt by sight, they hunt by scent. They die because birds hunt by sight so the birds aren't used to mammals.

By Sammy

Enviro Group Wrap up for Zealandia

                                              Wow, what an amazing leak!

Last week we showed Karin Stillberg from Zealandia around the school site and she was pretty impressed by all of the work we have done.  She has asked that we write an article for the Zealandia magazine December issue about the journey we have been on.  Zach and the team have drummed something up so keep an eye out for their article.
We found it satisfying to explain to Karin the many different things we have been involved in and how it all fits together as we look towards a sustainable future.
It's true though that the work never stops!  We have taken on clearing the bank of Old Man's Beard, a massive job.  Thanks to our Weeding Warriors for not being overcome or daunted by this task.

The Beetroot Harvest!                                    

These guys are not the Weeding Warriors but the Beetroot Harvesters.  The Weeding Warriors were weeding of course.

Zealandia Card Design

Darren from Zealandia came in this week to introduce us to a new game that the team at Zealandia is developing together with students from lots of schools. He left us each with a card that shows a bird found in New Zealand and tells us some key information about it, like how rare it is and how it flies. He has challenged us to make our own cards about:

 - a bird found in New Zealand,
 - a special place in New Zealand or
 - an event (good or bad) affecting New Zealand's birds.

Zealandia's new game

Darren from Zealandia came in today to introduce us to a new game that the team at Zealandia is developing together with students from lots of schools. He left us each with a card that shows a bird found in New Zealand and tells us some key information about it, like how rare it is and how it flies. He has challenged us to make our own cards about:
 - a bird found in New Zealand,
 - a special place in New Zealand or
 - an event (good or bad) affecting New Zealand's birds.

He also left us with some tracking pads so we can see what kind of animals are in our backyard - are they animals we want, like native birds and lizards, ora animals we don't want like rats and possums?

We looked at some old style traps and talked about how the new traps we have are much more humane as they kill the animals swiftly and don't leave them hurt and suffering.

Thanks Darren. We're looking forward to your visiting again next week and telling us more about how the new game works.

Visitors from Zealandia

On Monday the 15th, two visitors from Zealandia came to talk to us about trapping and what pests are. They brought with them a bird house and four traps for mice and rats. The bird house was a gift to us because a group of girls, Emma S, Emma M, Josie, Betty Jo and Danielle set up a fundraiser for Zealandia. They gave a cheque to staff at Zealandia during the last week of school last year. It will be interesting to see whether the nesting box will attract any visitors? Did you know that some birds don’t make their own nests. Kaka and Ruru (Morepork) are two such species living within the Wellington area. Which of these birds is most likely to be first to set up house at Worser Bay School? What will happen if Sparrows try to move in instead? We had a really great time learning about pests, different types of birds and where they live.   

Trapping Group Update: Google Hangout with Room 10 at Kelburn School

We are having a Google Hangout with Room 10 at Kelburn School

We have been doing our own inquiries. Our group is inquiring into how we can eradicate pests in the area. We have been designing rat traps and finding out about what bait we should user and how to attract them. We have been using the bite cards from "Good Nature" to tell us what pests have been hanging around.

Today we did a Google Hangout with Room 10 at Kelburn School (the school is close to Zealandia). They are working on trapping too. They first put out ink pads. Then they designed their own traps. Next they put their traps in the bush, but they have a clever rat so they have not caught anything  yet.

By Oto, Hugo M, Teddy and Sam St

This is where we are at with our trapping:

Zealandia Trip

Today we went to Zealandia. We have been inquiring into what is in our backyards. We found out what New Zealand could be like if there were no pests. Some of us saw things that we haven't seen before e.g. the Takahe and the Tuatara.

Here are some questions to discuss and consider at home: 

• What is in my backyard (flora and fauna)?
• What are the environmental threats to flora and fauna in our backyard?
• What can we do to mitigate these threats?
• What action can we take which will have positive effects on our environment?

Zealandia Trip by Gretel from Matariki on Vimeo.

Zealandia By Manaia from Matariki on Vimeo.

Here is the Zealandia promotional video: