Eco Group at 'Eye On Nature'

 Today, the Eco Group had a extraordinary day out at the Eye On Nature Event held by the Manukau Beautification Trust at the Botanic Gardens.

We took part in four activities throughout the day hosted by Auckland Museum, Beez Things. Auckland City Council Parks and Conservation Volunteers. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with experts and learn how we can promote our own well being and the well being of the environment.

The activities included making musical instruments, exploring a glass beehive, finding Edible native plants and testing the health of freshwater streams. All the hosts were impressed with Sunnyhills tamariki's enthusiasm and knowledge.

Thank you Manukau Beautification Trust and all the sponsors for this opportunity! Nga mihi nui to our parent / caregiver volunteers!

Year Five Mahi in the Mara

 
Today, Year Five learnt about how they can earn cash and win prizes while helping our environment in the annual Moth Plant Competition. 

Then they put in a massive effort in our Mara Kai, weeding and harvesting. 

Awesome team work Year Five! Nga mihi nui! 

Year Four Weed Busters

 Today, Year Four learnt about the dangers of pest plants that have been introduced to Aotearoa.  We discovered weeds are plants in the wrong place and pest plants threaten our native flora and fauna.

We can take action by entering the Moth Plant Competition:

We love hands on learning and helping our kura, so we ended our lesson with a big weeding session to tidy our school for the upcoming 55th Jubilee.  Well done Year 4 what wonderful team work!!

Sunflower seed savers

 

Pumpkin Harvest

 

Harvested

Roasted

Sliced

Scooped

Chopped and frozen 🎃😋

Year Six Weed Busters

 

Today Year 6 learnt that not all plants are wanted in Aotearoa NZ.  Some are invasive pests that hurt our environment.  We started our lesson by exploring the kura and identifying invasive weeds in our green spaces.

We saw:

- moth plant

- jasmine

- banana passionfruit

- climbing asparagus

- ivy

- woolly nightshade

-tradescantia

- pampus grass

- kikuyu grass

- agapantha 

What a lot of weeds clambering over our native trees and crowding out their roots!

What can we do?

Local whanau and kura can ente the Howick Local Board Moth Plant Competition.  Not only will we be helping the environment but we'll have the chance to win cash and spot prizes too.  Click on the link to find out more: https://pfhw.org.nz/our-schools/moth-plant-competition/

What did we learn?

- Mia - moth plant spread quickly and kill native plants

- Annie - teams can be groups of 10

- Olivia M - there are 3 categories

- Competition ends 9th May - Alexandra

- Jordan - kids can win money

Olivia A - it's a competition

- Lucas - don't just pull the pods off the moth plant.  Go down to the roots and pull them out..

- Maddy - you have to register for the competition

We can have our own team or collect pods for the school entry.

Next time Year 6 would like to take action and clean some of the invasive weeds we found.