YEAR 4 OCEAN SUPERHEROES

How would we protect the Hauraki Gulf if we were Prime Minister of New Zealand? 

"I would protect the snapper so that they eat the kina and the seaweed is protected" Noah

"I would like to see 30% of our ocean protected, just like our land." Max

"I would like to protect 60% of the ocean, especially the parts where the Hector and Maui dolphins live." Jacques

"I would protect the sharks." Aaron

"I would protect the octopi because I don't understand why we need to eat them." Emily

"I would like to see less container ships so that the whales don't get boat strikes." Rachel

"Put a sign up at the beach telling everyone to clean up their rubbish." Oisin

"Less commercial fishing, more rules." Sarah

PLASTIC

"Make food packaging sustainable." Noah

"Bring in bigger fines for littering" Andrew

"Ban all single-use plastic." Aaron

"Ban plastic wrappings." Alvin

"Re-use our plastic we already have." Anisha

"Everyone should have litter-free lunches." Jacques

"Ban plastic sheets they wrap around houses." Emily

 

Year 6 Find out about our Estuary Habitats

 Did you know our estuary contains six different habitats that are home to lots of different plants and animals?

Year Six quizzed, read, cut, pasted and played to learn about the salt marshes, mudflats, shallow/deep water, seagrass meadows, mangrove forests and sand shores that make up the Tamaki Estuary.

Next week we're looking forward to completing our 3D Estuary Habitat Dioramas.

Year Four Moana Numeracy and Ocean Advocation

 Today Year Four used their numeracy skills to compare what percentage of the our moana and what percentage of our whenua are protected.

We began our lesson by brainstorming all the creatures we knew lived in our local ocean.  Some ideas included:

whales, plankton, crabs, seagulls and more.

Next we used a 10x10 square grid to show how much of our moana and how much of our whenua are protected.  Less than one square was coloured in for the moana grid as only 0.38% of the ocean is protectded.  We shaded in 30 squares on the land grid as 30% of the whenua is protected.  Wow, what a difference!!

Aaria "That makes me feel sad for the ocean"

Huvishka "I feel angry, because I want to save the ocean and people don't know the importance of it."

Elias "I'm sad that we're trying to help the ocean by taking rubbish out and it's making no difference."

Rachael "I'm worried that we might not be able to swim in the ocean because it's littered"

Nova "I'm sad because some people take too many fish  and they are not stopping."

Muller "I'm sad because some people don't care about the plastic they are throwing it out their car window"

"Some of the sea animals might eat the plastic rubbish in the ocean" Roxanne

Donn "I'm disappointed in the people who are trashing the sea.  Make it a law you can't bring rubbish near the sea".

We thought about what we would do if we were in charge:

Asariah "I would make a law to not throw rubbish"

Riana "I would ban plastic"

Tania "I would stop people using plastic and make them use more paper"

Stirling "Make a law that you can't do fishing"

We began to create postcards to send to the Prime Minister. Next week we'll finish them so Ms Daniel can post them to Christopher Luxon. 

We are going to add our postcards to the letters that the Young Ocean Explorers are taking to parliment: We'll send them to PO Box 228, Warkworth 0941 by 8th September. We might win a visit from Riley Hathaway!

Room 2 Crazy for Kumara

 Today in Education for Sustainability, Room 2 continued their inquiry into growing kai.  We were focussing on the kumara that was grown for Matariki.  

What do you already know about kumara Room 2?

Grayson "It's like  a potato"

Alissa "It grows with water and sun"

Tyson "It grows in the ground"

Hannah "It has purple skin"

Jehan "You can cook it in a soup"

Grayson "It tastes nice if you put honey on it"

We learnt more about kumara and then went to the Mara Kai and dug up our own kumara.  We wondered what it tasted like.  Luckily Mrs Daniel had roasted some kumara for us to try before lunchtime.

What did you learn?

Hannah "I never tried kumara before and I tried it and it was yum"

Ian "I tasted kumara before and today's one smelled like pizza.  I liked it so much. I want to eat more. It was delicious."

Callum "I like kumara so much.  I liked digging it up".

Theo "I want a thousand kumara to eat".

Greyson "I like digging it up.  I saw some worms and I moved them away.  It wriggled back. I liked putting  the kumara in the basket."

Well done Room 2.  Next time we have EfS we will need to feed the soil in the Mara with compost so we can grow new kai.

Year Two Bumble About

 Today Year Two recapped all we had learnt about honey bees before we brainstormed other types of flying insects we knew.  Some ideas were:

ladybug, butterfly, dragonfly, bee, hornet, moth, fly, mosquito, praying mantis, wasp, bumble bee, 

We decided to find out more about bumble bees our honey bees' cousin.

Next we decided to help the bumble bees by moving mulch so they can make their burrow homes.

Juan "Bumblebees are fluffier"

"Bubble bees are fatter and honey bees are thinner. They are better pollinators than honey bees" Ethan

Emile "Bumble bees have pollen basket on their legs"

We went outside to move mulch. This was helping the plants grow and in turn, helping the bees. We saw so many bugs! Worms, bees and even a centipede! 

After morning tea, Miss Tottle taught how to make beautiful rangoli patterns based on the shapes we see in nature. 

Year 3 Share Their Learning

 

Today Year 3 had their first lesson with Miss Tottle, who is joining Ms Daniel in teaching Education for Sustainability. We explored where our worms had been to work in the Mara Kai then ate some of the kumara that has grown there.

Next we recapped all we've learnt about our composting super heroes the worms.  We wondered how we could share our knowledge with others:

RM 26 + 27

Evelyn "Write a worm book and share with your parents"

Isabelle "Tell your friends and parents"

Midhush "Say worms are important to the environment. Tell people"

Finn "Make a website"

Ryder "Make a video"

"Write letters" Jace

"Make a slide" Celine

"Make a worm video game" Lucas

Kiyaan "Make an app"

Leleya "Make posters and put them around"

Gayanuka "Make a song"

We decided to make eye catching 3D worm posters to share the message about how important worms are.

ROOM 25 + 28

Bella "Ask parents to get a worm farm"

Rueben "Talk on the radio station"

Henry "Write a newspaper article for the local newspaper"

Bryn "Create a video game so that you learn how to care for worms"

Riley "Make a poster and put it up around the community

Next time we'll finish our posters with cartoon worms and speech bubbles. 

INTRODUCING... MISS TOTTLE!

 We're really excited to introduce Miss Tottle, our new sustainability teacher, working alongside Ms Daniel in Piwakawaka. 

Ms Everitt is going to be teaching a very lucky year 3 class!

Miss Tottle is particularly interested in art and creativity, and we are looking forward to weaving that into the curriculum :)