Exploring Whanaungatanga - Compost Can Reverse Climate Change - Our Inquiry Including the Maori Perspective

Kauri Whanau have been looking at the nutrient and carbon cycle and how our compost can reverse climate change. Whao! What? How? Why? Put simply everything is interrelated - we can't take carbon out of the earth's carbon bank in the ground (oil) and put it into the atmosphere (by burning oil) without consequences (climate change).  Luckily composting returns carbon back into the ground and can restore the natural balance.  Compost isn't just about zero waste and tasty veges it can reverse climate change. The following video is a great explanation:

The learners in Kauri Whanau had fun coming up with mimes and plays to act out the nutrient cycle. There were lots of dramatic deaths.

As an NZ EnviroSchool we always try to include the Maori Perspective in our learning in The Green Room.  The concept of whanaungatanga or inter-relatedness of all people and nature is central to the Maori belief system. One way to explore this idea was to look at the family of Papatuanuku & Ranginui.

Kauri whanau worked collaboratively to read the story of Papatuanuku & Ranginui and their children and then create a display of these atua and how we can relate to them.  The following is just a sample of their work.  The full display is up in The Green Room, for everyone to enjoy, just in time for Matariki.