These student diary writings captures this so well.
Monday, 10 August 2015
The students in this term's Year 5/6 Sustainable Elective have been learning about the creatures living in our school gully and the threats to them. After considerable consideration of alternatives and action, they have decided to trap exotic pests living in our gully so that they don't destroy the habitat, eat our insects like wets and bird eggs, or the chicks, lizards and seeds that will make the new plants. We have set up two possum traps and one rat track. So far we have caught one rat but no possums. We were hoping to trap possums too. By destroying these pests, we are making a safer environment for our native and endemic flora and fauna.
These student diary writings captures this so well.
These student diary writings captures this so well.
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It's a good idea to set rat and possum traps if you have lots of flowers because they will try to eat them so birds won't have anything to eat
ReplyDeleteIt's a good idea to set rat and possum traps if you have lots of flowers because they will try to eat them so birds won't have anything to eat
ReplyDeleteDarn Rats!!! They can be really annoying! I have read your first story and it’s really cool! Have you got any Tui in the gully yet? Or any other native birds? Have you seen any FanTails? Your school looks really awesome!! So many plants , tree’s and it looks like some Wildlife!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteHope you trap more pests and help the lizards come back. I'm from
ReplyDeleteBamford Primary School and I've read about this "Enviroschool." it sounds incredible to be there. Also I hope that you prevent the T.B.
Our gully restoration is going really well and so is our trapping of pests, although we haven't caught a possum yet. We have Tui in our gully now and we love listening to them sing. There are also pukeko and fantails along with other garden birds. We all like the sounds we can hear in the gully. Thanks for your blog.
ReplyDeleteHey my dad works for the Christchurch forest and I know how gross it can be to see a dead rat. Our group shared about our comment to our class now everyone is very interested. How many different types of birds have you found in the galley?
ReplyDeleteHi I am Hayley from Bamford School. My reading group read both of your books! I thought they were great.I have a question, was it gross when you found the dead rat? On your blog it says, “The students in this term's Year 5/6 Sustainable Elective” what is the elective? How does it work?
ReplyDeleteHi Katie and Hayley. At the moment, we have tui, pukeko, ducks, fantails, wax eyes, kingfisher, black birds and sparrows living in our gully. It wasn't that bad seeing a dead rat but some students didn't like looking at it. The good thing is that it is a quick death for the rat and at least the rat can't keeping breeding and having more babies and doing more damage to our environment. The electives are a ten week study for one whole day a week where the students can study in a subject that they really like. It's great because we can do some really interesting, long studies. I hope all is going well at your school.
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Ezra in Room 5, Bamford School and I have a question, was it hard to set the rat traps?
ReplyDeleteHi! I’m Kiah from Bamford School in Christchurch! My reading group and I have been reading your story’s and they are SOOO awesome! Those rats can be real pests can’t they? In your gully, Have you seen any birds nests? or even baby birds? Also,do you have a little pond or river anywhere?
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ReplyDeleteHi again! Our group really like your school! Its so cool! Just wondering,Have you seen any lizards or frogs? Because if you do, you could study them and watch how they grow and do cool stuff like that!
Hi Ezra and Kiah, it wasn't hard to set the rat traps, they are just like a big mouse trap. We do have to make sure the trap is in a cage that only fits mice or rats getting through the doorway because we don't want to trap creatures we like. We haven't got frogs in our school at the moment but we have studied them and they are very interesting. We also have a lizard friendly garden that the students made to create a safe habitat for lizards like skinks. We have released five skinks in there and hope they are happy and safe.
ReplyDeleteHi Zayne again. Did you get anymore pests? How's the circle of friends going? Have you had to replace the chair since you changed it to treated wood? Any interesting features that aren't in the book? Do you use IT in your classrooms, what do you use? I'm just so interested in your school.
ReplyDeleteCool! where did you get the skinks from? Did you catch them?
ReplyDeleteHi Zayne and Kiah, We now have caught two rats and one possum. We will check the traps again on Thursday. To answer the other questions, the chair hasn't been changed again as it hasn't rotted. The skinks were caught my some of our students' cats at home, so they were released at school. There have been a lot of new ideas that aren't in the book, weta homes, our orchard and veggie gardens and community food table and there are heaps more on the student 'wish list'. The circle of friends is very popular with the students. It's so big and shows teamwork. We have a lot of IT in our classrooms. All the year 5/6 students have iPads and there are groups of iPads in the junior classes. Mrs White
ReplyDeleteYour school is Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you. All schools are great places to learn and play in.
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