Sunnyhills Sunflowers - seed collection

Our bees have done a great job of pollinating our Sunflowers. The petals have dropped off and the heads have been filling with heavy seeds.

Goldfinches and greenfinches  have been feasting on the seeds. We don't want them to eat them all! We're saving our seeds to sell in October. Sunhills will be the SUNFLOWER SUBURB!

We estimated how many seeds the heads held and grouped in tens to help us count. Enviro uses maths skills!

Collecting the seed heads

Can you see where the finches have eaten the seeds?

Estimating and counting. 

Each seed head can hold hundreds of seeds!

Where is moth plant & how does it spread?

We walked around the school to look for plants that didn't belong. We played with swan plant seed pods to investigate how moth plants spread.

Room 12  What did you see on our walk?

Olivia - we saw how the moth plant spreads by looking at the swan plant seed flying

Indigo - the seeds spread with the wind

Zoe - they have a little parachute things and they float

Nadiv - we saw naughty plants killing the trees.  They were climbing all over them.

Claire - the moth plant has long vines

Zoe - they have green pods

Alvin - The moth plants pods have lots of seeds

Claire - they have white flowers

Gyana - the white stuff is poisonous

Georgia - the white stuff is sap

What did you learn from our research?

Georgia - You can kill it by pulling it out or you can scrap and use some poisonous stuff

Indigo - if they vines are to long you have to dig them out and hang them up so they don’t go back in the ground

Nadiv - i’ve got a moth plant growing on my fence

Zoe - you can tell it’s a moth plant vine because the leaves are facing each other not up and down.

Introducing our 2020 Eco Leaders - First Task Moth Plant Attack!

Introducing our 2020 Eco Leaders - First Task Moth Plant Attack!

We're excited to represent our GreenGold Enviroschool & lead specialist projects to help create a sustainable world.

Today we met with Mrs Daniel for the first time. We learnt we'll be hosting a Howick Primary School enviro group in a fortnight and helping to launch THE MOTH PLANT COMPETITION on Wednesday 4th March.

We had time to start researching moth plant and go hunting in our edible garden for this invasive weed. Athena says it's already killed trees in her garden.

We can't wait to make teams and enter the Moth Plant Competition. Kids can win up to $1000 cash for killing weeds!

Pest Plants in Our Green Space

Room 18 used field guides to help identify native vs pest. Have you seen these in your green spaces?

Room 13 What did you notice on our bushwalk?

Vihan - lots of animals

Edward - moth plants climbing trees

Dylan - there’s ivy killing trees

Jacob - there was rubbish in the bush.  That makes me angry.

Our Honeybee journey continues

Our new Year Two's have taken up the reins on our bee journey. Last year it led to getting our own beehives and growing hundreds of sunflowers....I wonder where it will lead this year...

Room 24 - What do we already know about bees?

Tye - bees don’t like water

Melissa -bees like flowers

Elizabeth - bees make honey

Evie - bees collect nectar and take it to the hive

Carlos - bees only live for 35 weeks

Indie - there’s different kinds of bees

Alex - there’s a zillion bees in my dad’s garden

Zoha - bees drink the nectar and spit it up in the hive

Annie -native nz bees don’t sting

Flynn - when bees sting you they die

What do we wonder about bees?

Tye - what do bees eat?

Evie - What do bees drink?

Elizabeth - how fast can bees fly?

Zoha - do bees have a strong stinger?

Melissa - how  long are bees tongues?

Carlos - where is a bee’s brain?

Carina- i wonder how long are bees?

Flynn -where do bees go in the world?

Indie - how many bees are there in the world?

Annie - how do bees make honey?

Sasindu - how do bees grow up?

Carlos - how do bees communicate?

What do we know about bees Room 21?

Bees can make honey - Melody

If they sting you will swell - Matthew

They fly - Arta

They give us food - Eloise

They sting - Summer

They get nectar out of the flowers and they bring it back to their hive to make honey - Monique

Callum - they carry nectar to the hive

Soha - The bees get nectar mouth and they spit out in the hive

Oskar - the bees take pollen and carry it on their leg to the hive

Laith - bees have a long tongue

Leo - bees have sharp stingers

They buzz around - Sophie

Wesley - some bees don’t sting

Sustainable Energy - Max's new electric vehicle

It was fantastic to hear the Holmes family decided to buy an electric vehicle this summer!

 The Year 5's & y's will be continuing our investigation into how we can use energy sustainably this year - kicking off with a visit from Vector. 

Max's email:

Hi Mrs Daniel,

I wanted to send you a email because in the school holidays my mum decided to get an electric vehicle. THis is the car she got. It uses only $200 worth of petrol in one year. And it has basically no carbon emissions. It is a really good step to being environmentally friendly. Like me.

I love it. It is called a Phev which stands for petrol hybrid electric vehicle.

I hope that we come to see you in   your enviro classroom soon and i hope you had a nice holiday too.

From Max Holmes in Room 3 (again!)

Do you have an electric vehicle? Comment below. Mrs Daniel is planning  on buying one next time she buys a car.

How is your family being sustainable this year?