Year 3 - Mara Kai Ngahuru

Aavin told us we can eat feijoas skins. Who knew?! 

Year 3 today consulted the maramataka (calendar) for Matauranga Maori (traditional knowledge) around what to do in our Mara Kai Ngahuru ( autumn food garden).  Autumn is a time to harvest, tend and plant our Tukurua (winter) crops.  

We noticed our kumara leaves just starting to yellow, which is great news for a harvest in time for our Matariki hangi.

The tamariki all worked hard weeded, digging and harvesting fruit and veggies.  Check out our giant hue gourds!

After all our mahi it was time for a feijoa feast! Next time we're looking forward to planting traditional Chinese plants in our tea garden and finding out more about the gourds.

Year Sixes Sponge Cities

Today Year 6 explored how estuaries and wetland are important for cities.  We used a lesson borrowed from the Sustainable Schools Team.

Firstly we listened to a poem which weaved the Maori World View into our water cycle.

Next we reviewed the water cycle in groups.

Methunee "The sun makes the water go up and water comes down and the lakes get full and it happens again"

Albert "The sunlight makes the puddles, sea, lakes and rivers warm and then they rise up"

Afterwards we experimented in the nghere with how water moves in our cities. 

 Jerry - "The forest floor soaked up our water"

Robyn "The water flows quicker through the pipe compared to the forest floor"

Conrad "The sponge soaked up the water like the forest floor"

We learnt how China is leading the way in creating sponge cities by mimicking nature. Cities need lots of green and blue spaces to soak up downpours. 

Mark "If we put sponges in the city they would act like forest floors."

"Wetlands take less time to soak up water"

Conrad "More trees, grass and dirt will mean you're less effected by floods"

Lastly we played a Kahoot to review. 

Year Four Ocean Voyagers

 

Today Year 4 learnt about the important role of ocean voyages to our island nation. 

We 'Got Thinking' by listing all the vessels we knew in five minutes. Some of our ideas included waka, dinghy, cruise ship and boogie board. Ritchie thought of 19 including "waka, dinghy, speed boat, Titanic, jet ski, surf board, navy ship and submarine."

We 'Explored' our ocean history by watching this: 

 And reading this Hui Te Rangiora: The Navigator

Indigo "When the Egyptians were building the pyrimids the Polynesians moved to the Pacific Islands"

Kadien "They found their way using the starsa and the clouds"

Kayla "The first person that came to Aotearoa was called Kupe"

Touma "NZ has won lots sailing competition"

Ava "Ancestors from south east asia moved to the Pacific Islands 4000 years ago"

Mukundi "Kupe came approximately 1000 years ago"

"Many ships visited New Zealand" Elsie

"Captain Cook arrived 500 years after Kupe" Kayla

Lucy "NZ has won sailing cups"

Hunter "4000 years ago people travelled into the Pacific"

Saane "All of the people travelled to New Zealand with their boats"

Lastly we 'Made Meaning and Connections' by using A4 pieces of paper to design and build our own waka.  We "Shared & Shined" by testing our boats to see if they floated and making improvements.

Year Three Tummy Tea

 Today Year Three continued to learn about the uses for the herbs we grow at our kura.. We investigated kawakawa, an important plant for Maori Rongoa (medicine).

We combined kawakawa leaves, mint leaves, SunnyHoney and hot water to make refreshing tea that soothes our tummies after all that Easter chocolate. 

Tino "Kawakawa is healthy for your tummy and teeth" 

Camelias "It tasted like mint and water" 

Emily "I didn't really want to try ot but when I did, I liked it" 

Coby"Kawakawa leaves with make medicine. No holes us better for tea"

Ciara "The tea was a light yellow colour" 

Annabelle "Drink it slowly so you can get the taste". 

Next time we're going to take part in our anual bird survey.