Year Four Take Action Against the Yellow Legged Hornet

 

Today Year Four learnt about the problem of the yellow legged hornet.

What does it look like?

Ciara "They are 3cm.  They have yellow tipped legs"

"They are blackish" Hunter

Why is it a risk?

Marcus "It can kill our honey bees and the bees pollinate"

Ranger "If you get stung enough times you can die"

We walked about the Edible Gardens and saw the flowers that were out waiting for the bees to pollinate - cucumbers, zucchini, feijoas, spaghetti squash and strawberries.  If the hornets kill the bees we won't have this kai.

We brainstormed in groups what we can do to help stamp out the yellow legged hornet before it spreads:

"If we see one we can stand back and take a photo. Send it to MPI" Payton

Flynn "Build an indoor bee garden"

"Make traps and put them everywhere" Octavia

"Capture them and study their weaknesses" Milana

"Bug spray" Coby

"Send out informations so everybody knows to take a picture and send it to MPI" Jessica

To spread the word about these invaders we created "WANTED" posters. See them displayed in the library. 

Year 3 - Compost Super Heroes

Today Year Three began to focus on our compost super heroes - worms. 

First we brainstormed in groups what we already knew about worms. 

"Some worms are herbivores" Claire

David "Worms make holes that make air go inside the earth"

Azara "Since worms don't have back bones they wriggle around"

Shyloh "Worms eat biodegradeable things"

Isaac "They will dry up if they are in the sun for too long"

Next we went to the mara to dig up and observe our very own worms, if we were brave, we held them to see them up close. We wrote our new findings with a different pen.

"There were some blue worms"

"Some were very fat and short"

"Some were big and some were small depending on how wet the ground was"

Afterwards we watched a video and recorded our new knowledge.

Lastly we created our wondering questions about worms.  We'll find out the anwers next time.

"I wonder how many species there are in the world"

"I wonder if worms can dig up trees"

"I wonder why birds eat worms"

"How many worms are NZ?"

"How long can a worm stretch to until it snaps?"

"How long can a worm survive in the sun"

Year Two in the Mara Kai

 Today Year Two had Enviro with Ms Daniel because Kauri and Kowhai had their Athletics Day.

We were learning about fruit and vegetables.

What is the difference between fruits and vegetables?

Lily "Fruits have seeds inside"

"Vegetable are healthier than fruits" Chevan

Zoey "The roots of the plant and the stem can be vegetables"

How are they the same?

Abby "They both need  nutrients"

Keaton "They both start from seeds"

Amelia "Some vegetables are the same colours as some fruits"

Marko "They are both healthy"

Jaxon "Both are plants and both need sun and water"

Jasper "Both are edible"

Ibrahim "They grow and they will be happy if you give them water"

We reviewed the parts of a plant in The Green Room then we went to the Mara Kai and did a scavenger hunt to find the parts of the plants in real life.  We saw roots, stems, colourful flowers, buds and bright green leaves.  Ms Daniel pointed out the strawberry flowers turning into strawberries and the GIANT artichoke buds.  We noticed all the bees buzzing. Before we came back inside we ate spinach leaves and fiejoa flower petals. YUM!

Back in the classroom we reviewed the scientific difference between fruits and vegetables.  Did you know that a cucumber is technically a fruit?

Lastly we visited the compost so we could see where our lunch scraps are turned into soil for growing more kai.  We helped spread the compost on the mara.

Next time we will be able to plant seeds in the yummy soil we prepared. 

Year Four Trees for Survival & Mara Maintenance

 

Year 3 Investigate Waste

 Year 3 have been looking at the FBI and the Carbon Cycle. Today we discovered the FBI can't break down all our waste.  Humans have made plastic that's junking up the Earth.  We wondered if this is a problem at Sunnyhills.

We began our lesson with a litter hunt.  We divided the waste into biodegradeable and non biodegradeable.

"I noticed that glass will break back down into sand" David

"I learnt what biodegradeable and non biodegradeable means" Lucas

"I noticed there was lots of litter" Shyloh

Over the years Ms Daniel has noticed a big improvement in the amount of litter in the playgrounds and this seems to correlate with lots more children bringing litterfree lunches.  Well done to those families packing litterfree lunches!

Year 6 Make Meaning and Connections for our Local Birdlife

 Today Year 6 used our Anual Bird Survey Data and local Bird Watchers websites to compare and contrast the bird populations at school and the estuary.

We discovered some birds live in both places like the sparrow, spotted dove, starling, tui, plover, myna and swallow.

Birds are an indicator of how healthy the enviornment is so we want to take action to increase our bird populations.  To do that we need to research what our local birds need.

We worked in groups to find out about the bird species and come up with a list of things we can do.  Our mahi was presented in posters that we can display in The Green Room.

Next time we have Enviro we'll be potting up tree seedlings to create new habitats for birds.

Year Four Wheke Wheke

 

Today we began our lesson with some guerrilla art. We wanted to spread the word to parents about the importance of bringing litterfree lunches. 

Afterwards, we learnt about fascinating wheke / octopuses. 

What do we already know about octopuses?

Milana "They camouflage against anything they touch to stay safe from predators"

Flynn "They have nine brains"

Awa "They can fit in small spaces"

Allan "They have a beak like mouth"

TJ "They have suction cups under their tentacles"

Jessica "They can mimic predators"

Payton "They can breathe under water"

Ruby "They have eight long tentacles"

What we found out many more amazing facts like how them use their siphon to propel themselves forward, their body parts in Maori and how to draw a realistic octopus.

Next time we're looking forward to taking more action for environment and learning about mango / sharks.