We are excited to announce that we now have a range of environmental education kits that are available for schools to borrow on a longer term loan to run their own activities. These kits allow students and teachers to connect more with their natural world in an easily accessible and achievable way. They are available for loan for between 1-2 terms and are useful for those classes looking in particular for a more in depth inquiry or action project. We currently have available the following kits to borrow (Click on the links to take you to our Lending Agreements)
Here are a few examples of how schools have borrowed our kits for longer term inquiries and projects: Our educators recently visited Halcombe School to run pest animal sessions with senior students and the importance of right trap for the right pest. The students then set out tracking tunnels and chew cards around the school to identify what pests they might have. They found a range of foot prints from mice, rats, a possible stoat and possum. We lent them some different traps, and after some training on how to set and bait them, we left the students to continue their own project on catching pests in their school grounds. So far they have caught three massive rats and a number of mice. If at the end of the lending period, a school wants to continue with their trapping project we can help them look to funding their own traps.
Manchester Street School have set up their own Waiora group who are working on a long term water monitoring project on the Mangakino (Makino) Stream in Feilding. Students have borrowed a stream kit to monitor the health of the stream and tracking the changes over time to gain a better understanding of the impact our waterways face. To support teachers in getting the best use out of these kits, and to show you they can be used for long term projects, we will be running train the teacher workshops. If you are interested in attending one of these, or if you would like further information please email education@horizons.govt.nz We are looking to add more options to the kits so watch this space