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.

Year 3 Curious about Water Care

 

Today Year 3's learning flowed on from our Watercare visit.  We revised all that we had learnt with Sarah and talked about what we'd been doing at home to be Water Saving Super Heroes.

In groups we identified the issues and solutions for houses that waste water and conserve water in a fun spot the difference game.

Next we put our water saving into action by using rain water to make worm tea and feed the Mara Kai.  We spotted lots of food growing and beautiful sunflowers.

Lastly we got back into our groups for a quick board game to remind us of all we have learnt.

How are you being a Water Saving Super Hero at home?

Year Five Spaghetti Squash Seed Savers

 Today, Year Five harvested spaghetti squash from the Mara Kai.  We carefully saved the seeds so we can grow them again next kohanga.  While the pieces of squash roasted we helped to create a "PLEASE BRING A LITTERFREE LUNCH" sign.

The spaghetti squash was delicious!  We all wanted to grow our own, so next time we are going to create seeds packets and take home our own seeds.

Year Four's Turn to Be Water Saving Heroes

 Today was Year Four's turn to have their Enviro lesson was with Sarah from Watercare.  The tamariki had lots of questions about where their water comes from and where it goes to. 

We discovered where the water in our taps comes from - The Waikato River, aquifers & dams.  Did you know the ground water is the cleanest?

We learnt how to be Water Saving Heroes by measuring the water that can be saved with some simple behaviours:

- turn off the tap when we brush our teeth or use a cup (20 litres can be wasted if the tap is left running)

- use the small button when we flush the toilet (Yes, the small button can be used for number twos. It takes 12 litres to flush the big button and just 7 for the small)

- fill the bath less (a full bath takes 200 litres of water)

- use your bath water on the plants or share your bathtime

- have a short shower (showers take 12 litres of water a minute)

Each tamariki are bringing home a shower timer to help them and their whanau be Water Saving Superheroes. Thank you Watercare!!

If we are careful with our water it's great for the environment as the water will stay in our dam lakes, aquifers and rivers.

Lastly we used our superpowers of problem solving and collaboration to create super fun water courses. The teams tried their best to move the maximum amount of water with the minimum amount of spillage. 

Thank you to Sarah and Watercare for a wonderful learning experience!