Year Four's Turn to Be Water Saving Heroes

 Today was Year Four's turn to have their Enviro lesson was with Sarah from Watercare.  The tamariki had lots of questions about where their water comes from and where it goes to. 

We discovered where the water in our taps comes from - The Waikato River, aquifers & dams.  Did you know the ground water is the cleanest?

We learnt how to be Water Saving Heroes by measuring the water that can be saved with some simple behaviours:

- turn off the tap when we brush our teeth or use a cup (20 litres can be wasted if the tap is left running)

- use the small button when we flush the toilet (Yes, the small button can be used for number twos. It takes 12 litres to flush the big button and just 7 for the small)

- fill the bath less (a full bath takes 200 litres of water)

- use your bath water on the plants or share your bathtime

- have a short shower (showers take 12 litres of water a minute)

Each tamariki are bringing home a shower timer to help them and their whanau be Water Saving Superheroes. Thank you Watercare!!

If we are careful with our water it's great for the environment as the water will stay in our dam lakes, aquifers and rivers.

Lastly we used our superpowers of problem solving and collaboration to create super fun water courses. The teams tried their best to move the maximum amount of water with the minimum amount of spillage. 

Thank you to Sarah and Watercare for a wonderful learning experience! 

Watercare with Year Three

 Today Year Three's Enviro lesson was with Sarah from Watercare.  We discovered where the water in our taps comes from - The Waikato River, aquifers & dams.  Did you know Watercare has 12 dams in Tamaki Makaurau? 

We thought about all the ways we used water this morning; toilet flushes, facewashing, toothbrushing, handwashing, dishwasher, shower, and even a robotmop/vaccuum, 

We learnt how to be Water Saving Heroes:

- turn off the tap when we brush our teeth or use a cup (20 litres can be wasted if the tap is left running)

- use the small button when we flush the toilet (Yes, the small button can be used for number twos. It takes 12 litres to flush the big button and just 7 for the small)

- fill the bath less (a full bath takes 200 litres of water)

- use your bath water on the plants or share your bathtime

- have a short shower (showers take 12 litres of water a minute)

Each tamariki are bringing home a shower timer to help them and their whanu be Water Saving Superheroes. Thank you Watercare!!

If we are careful with our water it's great for the environment as the water will stay in our dam lakes, aquifers and rivers.

Lastly we used our superpowers of problem solving and collaboration to create super fun water courses. 

Thank you to Sarah and Watercare for a wonderful learning experience! 

Year 4 Stormwater Detectives

 Today Year 4  conducted our anual water testing to check the health of our estuary.  We learnt about how human actions threaten our water ways such as oil from cars, plastic litter, concrete run off and detergent.  

We can help by making sure only rain goes down the outside drain because they lead straight to the sea.

Kathryn from Watercare brought water from our local stormwater outflow.  We used special equipment to measure turbidity (how clear it is), PH (how acidic, nuetral or alkaline it is), nitrate (chemicals from things like fertilisers), & oxygen. 

Next we observed carefully to see if the water contained any macro invertebrates.

We discovered that the water was clear & nuetral.

The nitrate test showed a small amount of pollution.

There were some bugs, but none that can't survive with trace pollution.

Sadly there was lots of litter.

Next year we are going to think about what actions we can take to protect our local wai.

Room Toru Stormwater Slueths

 

Room 3 became citizen scientists last week when they took part in the Stormwater Slueth Project.  Follow this link to read their recounts of their mahi:

Room 3 Storm Water Slueth Recounts

Kaitiaki o te Moana- Protecting our Sea - Celebrating Seaweek

Some of our Seaweek display in The Green Room.

"SAVE OUR SEAS AND SHORES JUST SAY NO TO PLASTIC STRAWS"