Green spaces on or near school grounds can provide an invaluable environment for your ākonga/students to learn more about Taranaki animal and plant species, how they interact with each other and what can be done to protect and enhance native biodiversity.
Get in touch (education@trc.govt.nz) to discuss how we can best support your studies and investigations.
BioBlitz
A great way to start a biodiversity restoration project is with a BioBlitz. A BioBlitz is a concentrated effort to discover and record as many living things as possible within a set location over a limited time. It provides a fun way for ākonga/students to learn about biodiversity, including how to identify native and pest species.
Photos are taken of each different species found and uploaded to a BioBlitz project in iNaturalist NZ specific to your chosen area. There are lots of great examples of BioBlitz projects undertaken by Taranaki schools in this umbrella project on iNaturalist NZ: https://inaturalist.nz/projects/towards-predator-free-taranaki-bioblitz-network(external link).
As a follow up, ākonga/students can research the different species found and hatch a plan to protect/increase natives and remove pests, restoring native biodiversity.
More focused study
Rather than take a broad brush, whole ecosystem approach, you might prefer to focus on a particular element or group within the local ecosystem. Here are some examples of more focused studies we can support you with including links to relevant resources:
Manu/Birds
There are a number of national bird surveys that we can help your ākonga/students participate in, with excellent associated resources. Involvement enables your ākonga/students to contribute directly to scientific knowledge about Aotearoa/New Zealand birds and become budding citizen scientists.
Monitoring birds also has clear links with the curriculum, incorporating the science capabilities: gathering and interpreting data, using evidence, critiquing evidence and engaging with science.
Five-minute bird counts:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/five-minute-bird-counts/(external link)
New Zealand Garden Bird survey:
https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/(external link)
Tuaiwi-kore/Invertebrates
These spineless creatures make the ideal topic for investigation as they are everywhere and play such an important role in the taiao. They are relatively easy to survey using some simple hands-on methods, providing a great way to engage the whole class.
There are a number of key environmental concepts that can be covered through analysis and interpretation of survey results including classification, biodiversity, restoration and assessing the effects of pollutants on the ecosystem.
Tōtō/Weeds
Ākonga/Students love busting weeds! It’s a real fun, practical activity with massive benefits for the local environment. There are also lots of valuable skills that students can gain from a weed-based project, linking directly with the curriculum and science capabilities.
Through a weed-busting investigation, ākonga/students can learn how to conduct background research and gather and interpret data, in addition to physically ripping weeds out of the ground.
https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/(external link)
Native plants
We can get your ākonga/students up to speed identifying native plants based on leaf shape and other key characteristics. iNaturalist NZ is a great resource for building a record of native plants in your local green space. For planting, check out the restoration planting guides for Taranaki: https://wildfortaranaki.nz/resources/(external link)