A broad overview of Otatara history was given to the Mānuka class over 2 sessions (26 Oct and 2 Nov). Without the use of the floor map that we have in the education centre the students created their own map in the classroom. As the stories of the Otatara place were told and discussed we stopped to add features to our map. First the Oreti River and the New River Estuary (which were also the early transport routes), the bush extent of 1865 and flaxmill sites, learning how Otatara Bush (as it was named) was a bush community and early sawmilling and flax milling operated. The changing location of Otatara School, the creation of tramline access from Invercargill, the reclamation of the estuary, and the development of the airport and the roading network all contributed to showing the changes that have occurred since people arrived in this area and how they have used the natural resources offered. One change discussed was how we now place different values on the bush and estuary habitats and how differently we manage the environment today. Looking at the treasures that Otatara has now - our bush remnants, how these are managed, the reasons why we value forest habitats, and the importance of planting were highlighted. It will be interesting to see what aspect of Otatara history that this class investigates further as there were amazing questions asked.
Bronwyn
Posted: 2 November 2021
After a previous visit in July where this group sheltered under trees and dodged hail, today the sun shone bright and warm. Todays bug search unearthed spiders, weta, slaters, hoppers, centipede, moths, casemoth cases, notches in flax, flat worms, spider webs and black beetles. The weta sure did jump high! We had to think about where we would find bugs and the places that these creatures live in. We counted how many legs we have compared to the different number of legs that different bugs have! We checked out the worm farm noticing all the baby worms, and checked out the hedgehogs in the traps! A picnic in the orchard completed a wonderful visit.
Bronwyn
Posted: 21 October 2021
Early in term 3 (4 August) I joined the Kōwhai (new entrant) and Tōtara classes of Otatara School to go and visit where the tōtara tree had been lifted from the neighbouring reserve (by helicopter the previous week). The students became investigators noticing interesting things along the way, and looking at the uplift site and what had changed since their last visit. It is great to explore alongside students who are noticing the most amazing things.
Last week of term (29 September) I visited the Kōwhai class and again the observation skills of the students were evident. These quick learners already knew about the flowers and leaves as identifiers of the kōwhai tree. Today we looked even closer at what happens to the flowers as they change into bumpy seed pods. Breaking the seeds out of the pods we noticed they were yellow! We then planted some pre-soaked kōwhai seeds (replicating nature as we think this helps them germinate).
This is what we did:
- We used potting containers which have holes in the bottom for drainage
- We filled the container with soil and flattened the surface gently using a wooden block
- We sprinkled the seeds on the surface of the soil
- Covered the seeds with a layer a gravel
- Labelled our containers with name and date planted
- Learnt how to care for our seeds – keeping outside and wet (not waterlogged, but not allowing the soil to dry out)
We then ran to one of the kōwhai trees on the school site and we noticed all the flowers at different stages, the seed pods, and lots of seeds on the ground. What a find! Mrs Dolman was given seed packets of mixed native seeds (including kōwhai) to give her class to plant over the holidays.
Bronwyn
Posted: 30 September 2021
Term 3 has seen the formation of an Environment Group at Ascot Community School. Aspects of the school environment that the group has worked on included litter, planting native trees, compost waste and planting some more edible plants in the school garden. All the R’s have been explored – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Rehome and Rot. It was great that some native plants from the Southland Community Nursery were planted, as well as some native seeds sown.
Bronwyn
Posted: 29 September 2021
Once a week during Term 3 I headed out with the kōtukutuku class. For the first weeks of term (27 July, 3 & 10 Aug) we journeyed to the kōtukutuku stand of trees to learn about their classroom tree. As we made our way through the bush we looked and listened for interesting things, and noted what is changing with the changing season at this time of year. There were some great explorations and recording through photos and video on the ipads. On the 10 August we also surveyed the area where the fallen trunk of the totara tree had been uplifted by helicopter from the reserve, becoming investigators at the site and talking about the agency cooperation and about where the tōtara taonga was ending up.
Week 4 of term (17 August) and listening to the requests of students we headed to the outside play area part of the reserve. While still using their keen observation skills and in particular listening for birds, the kōtukutuku class had fun enjoying the bush reserve.
Lockdown and changing alert levels resulted in three weeks away from the bush as a class, but I heard once back that both teacher and students had been noticing and going out into nature with their families during that time - great to hear! By week 8 of term (14 September) our visit back to the kōtukutuku trees was enthusiastically welcomed and we noticed lots of changes with the kōtukutuku - many more leaves having grown and flowers still blooming. To celebrate Te Reo Māori language week the class sang waiata and we learnt some Te Reo for te rākau and putiputi flowers, as well as using the Te Reo Māori specific names for many of the native plants and birds that we saw during our bush time - tarata, tī kōuka, pīwakawaka, tui, kererū, horopito. We did some bark rubbings taking a closer look and feel of the rākau. Tumeke to be back in the ngahere today.
After quickly walking to the kōtukutuku on the 21 Sept to collect some flowers we listened to the pouring rain, glad to be in class looking at the kōtukutuku flowers and pondering about their parts. We counted petals, and named the stamen (and the anther and filament parts that make this up) learning that the stamen is the part of the flower that produces pollen. The class imagined what would happen to the pollen as birds like bellbird and tui drank the nectar from the flowers having to put their beaks right into the bottom of the flower, and then moving the pollen from one flower and plant to another as they keep drinking nectar. It was noticed that the stigma looked different from the ends of the stamen and that there was only one. Great noticing.
The last week of term 3 (28 Sept) was celebrated by a nature play in the reserve, with the challenge set to ‘find’ something that began with each letter of their names. “E” evergreen, “U” under storey of forest, “I” insect, “V” vine, “B” bird, “L” leaf, and “S” singing tui were some of the things thought about. A lovely way to end the term.
Bronwyn
Posted: 29 September 2021
