Our trip exploring legends about Kupe, geology of Wellington and conducting marine metre squared investigations

On Monday 22 February, we went for a school trip past Worser Bay and Seatoun Beach. We stopped along the way at the pou at Seatoun beach. We heard stories about Kupe and the wheke and how his nieces (Matiu and Makaro, the names of the big islands in the harbour) scratched themselves in mourning after they believed Kupe had died so much that they bled and the rocks at Red Rocks turned red from their blood. We walked up the hill to the pa site with another pou and sketched our surroundings. 

Deb (Elliot's mum who is a geologist) talked to us about how the land around us had changed over time and how the big rocks that came from the Hutt river transformed and became smaller and smaller and smoother until they became sand.

Once we walked around the corner from Breaker Bay we set up our metre squared. In our learning groups we laid out our metre squared and looked carefully and lifted up rocks to find animals and sometimes we saw little things moving under seaweed so we moved the seaweed. We recorded what types of sea life we found different types of - starfish, crabs, mussels, baby paua, limpets, sea cucumbers, sea snails and seaweed. We found a lot more life than we expected in 1 metre squared. We were amazed, astonished and proud that we found so much more than we expected to find!

We want to do some more metre squared investigations - you should try it too! Thanks to all the people who came out and helped us to achieve this learning experience.



I learned that there was a pa site above Seatoun - Louise.
I learned that most of the land near the beach was under water before the earthquakes- Raiha.
I learned that the islands were names after Kupe's nieces - Charlie.
I was curious about how snails eat  - Alyssa.

By Louise, Charlie, Raiha, Alyssa and Gabrielle

Day 4- Sea Stars and Urchins

Sea stars and urchins from LEARNZ on Vimeo.
Where does the Antarctic cushion star live? Where do these Antarctic cushion stars fit into the food web? What do these urchins use their spines for?

Molly: The cushion star fish are full of water.

Hunter: The Antarctic cushion stars are the size of a hand

Milly: They live between 80- 100 years.

Wilbur: When it is hotter, they breathe more.

George: The sea urchins have skeletons on the outside of their bodies.

Josie:  Larger crabs and bigger sea stars eat the cushion star fish.

Anna: Sea stars feel squishy because they are full of water.

 

Sea Stars and Urchins

Sea Stars

Sea stars are called the Antarctic cushion stars, they feel squishy and are full of water.

Cushion stars are the size of a hand, they live in the dark. They live as long as 80-100 years, they are scavengers, they eat other things.

A large crab eats them, and bigger sea stars too.

Urchins

They are fatter and bigger than star cushions, they search around in the dark for food, they eat plankton.

When they are hot, they breathe faster, if they breathe faster everyday they can’t cope and get stressed.

They have their skeleton on the outside.

Sea Urchins: The Wet Lab

If they're stressed out they breathe faster. The water in the experiment is the same as the temperature in the southern ocean. They will test 50 different star cushions so that it is a fair test.

By Anna

SEA STARS AND URCHINS

• Their bodies are full of water
• The Antarctic cushion star is the size of a palm
• They are fragile
• Sea stars live to 80 to 100 years
• They are scavengers
• Urchins have their skeletons on the outside of their body
• Smaller animals use less oxygen
• When starfish get too hot they start to breathe faster

By George

Science in the wet lab from LEARNZ on Vimeo.

The fair test: science in action from LEARNZ on Vimeo.
What is a control? Why has Kate collected Antarctic cushion stars from more than one place? How many sea stars is Kate sending back to New Zealand?

Antarctic Cushion Stars

• They are pink
• They live in bottom of the sea
• They are squishy on top
• They are the same size as a hand
• They live in the dark and up to 80-100 years
• When they get to the size of a palm they don't grow anymore
• They eat dead things
• Their bodies are full of water

By Milly