Otatara School - Mataī Class Term 1 2022
The bush visits with the Mataī class started on 8th March with us sharing with each other how to keep ourselves and the environment safe before we headed into the adjacent Otatara Scenic Reserve to meet many of the Otatara School class trees (each classroom is named after a NZ native tree). Mataī, tōtara, wheki ponga, kahikatea, kōtukutuku, horopito and tī kōuka were all spotted and particular notice was taken of the bark and leaves using all our senses (except taste - having already talked about the safety of eating unknowns in the NZ forest). In particular we kept our eyes open for mataī - with us first finding juvenile (or baby/young) trees. Then it was off to the “hammer bark tree” - the giant adult mataī. It was great for those with lots of knowledge and experience in the reserve to share with the rest of the group and it was great to hear the connections being made with what we find in the reserve with what the students have experienced at home or elsewhere. Our next session on the 22nd March we met some more NZ natives, using the leaf bingo cards (check them out at School Activities • Southland Community Nursery) and our growing observation skills to find kōwhai, mānuka, Broadleaf, Tarata and pōkākā. We decided nature was quite tricky - with many leaves looking similar, but we used our wondering and expert noticing skills to correctly identify these plants. Tumeke! 5th April and we went to the mataī in the reserve, revisiting our “hammer bark tree” and nearby juvenile mataī. Today the class added all their observations into nature journals - including sketches of and notes on the leaves, bark, colour, shape of leaves, and where it grows. I provided interesting snippets of information about the mataī as the students noticed, drew and took notes. We learnt about the mataī seed and while the class didn’t find any mataī, they did find miro seed. Great noticing today with all learners noticing something that they had not noticed before, and learning something about the mataī that they didn’t already know.
Bronwyn
Posted: 11 April 2022