“Lots of really interesting learning...Maori calendar/ earth sandwich/ using posterize/ Hands on making tracking stations and propogating Kowhai seeds Covid lockdown interfered but the students I think benefited from having something familiar to carry on with.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Nature Spaces”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The children have enjoyed beautifying our space and planting the kowhai seeds. We are in the early stages of the kit still. It is providing heaps of discussion and inspiration about how we could make our space better and extend our learning outside more. They have lots of big ideas. Our next step is to work through these ideas step by step. We have started by constructing a huts area out of recycled pallets and planning where we will plant our kowhai seedlings to create a nature space and outdoor classroom.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

How motivated are your students to take care of their local environment after this kit?

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Highly Motivated

What cross curricular learning opportunities arose from using Nature as the context? As mentioned before, we had started our new inquiry of kaitiakitanga so this kit helped them to get a solid introduction to this concept before they are going to conduct more independent research and then create their own action. We have also been able to

How were your students' happiness levels improved when being in nature?

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Very Improved

How engaged were your students with their senses during this kit?

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Highly Engaged

How has the kit impacted you and your students feelings toward nature? My students had already got an awareness for conservation and sustainability, however they didn't connect it to the world right on our doorstep and thought of the concepts as only applicable to rainforests and oceans. This kit gave them a relevance of New

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? It gave our year 7 and 8 students a greater appreciation for the environment around us. They have been starting an inquiry into Kaitiakitanga using Puutaatara which has coincided beautifully. It has also bought a great link for them with lifetime learning

How openly did students discuss the beauty of nature after taking part in this kit?

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How effective was this kit in increasing students' sense of place?

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“This kit has been great! We have had great fun together as a class and the concepts have worked well with what we have already got going on across the school; inquiry concept of kiatiakitanga, hauora concept of taking notice. I found that it was quite hard to work out the moon phases and history of our local place, mostly down to my own knowledge rather than the kit. A bit more help with the instructions for this part would have been helpful. The main struggle was completely out of your control - this was lockdown! We applied for this kit intending to do this with our Tūrangawaewae inquiry unit which would have been right at the beginning of lockdown. Instead we have really struggled to fit this in with what our school learning track was on and all the changes that have happened since lockdown. We have still got a few aspects of the kit to go and will be finishing it off very soon. Overall, we are feeling very lucky to have been part of this kit! I also didn't have space to add about another cross-curricular connection for us so I thought I would add it here: Another thing that has linked well for us was the "Notice This" signs as we have been using the "Ways to Wellbeing" hauora steps since lockdown finished and one of them is take notice.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

How motivated are your students to take care of their local environment after this kit?

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

What cross curricular learning opportunities arose from using Nature as the context? Cross curricular learning, maths - graphing results, writing - explanations - How things work? Mindfulness, slowing down in nature.

How were your students' happiness levels improved when being in nature?

Not Improved At All

Neutral

Very Improved

How engaged were your students with their senses during this kit?

Not Engaged At All

Neutral

Highly Engaged

How has the kit impacted you and your students feelings toward nature? The students have become more sensitive about their impact on nature. They have more knowledge/understanding of the ecosystem around our school and the role we play to help our diverse flora and fauna

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? Using nature has had multiple benefits. They all have had connections with nature which makes it relatable. Lots of hands on activities has kept the students engaged throughout the unit.

How openly did students discuss the beauty of nature after taking part in this kit?

Not Openly At All

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Very Openly

How effective was this kit in increasing students' sense of place?

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“The kit is very useful and relevant. We enjoyed using the programme posterizer to help pinpoint exactly where we have seen nature at our school. We are getting to know our green space using a nature journal. We have looked at tree identification using leaves and bark, insects. We are wanting to look at what pests are at our school. We have tracking tunnel tunnels made from corrugated for sale signs from Professionals. They fold easily. We can't wait to take care of our Kowhai seeds. we are using this for a piece of writing (explanations).”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

How motivated are your students to take care of their local environment after this kit?

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

What cross curricular learning opportunities arose from using Nature as the context? Science, Writing, Reading

How were your students' happiness levels improved when being in nature?

Not Improved At All

Neutral

Very Improved

How engaged were your students with their senses during this kit?

Not Engaged At All

Neutral

Highly Engaged

How has the kit impacted you and your students feelings toward nature? We have a very positive attitude to nature, this kit just enhanced that, the scientific questions that were asked were fantastic!

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? We have a huge focus on Kaitiakitanga and this kit was so complimentary to this.

How openly did students discuss the beauty of nature after taking part in this kit?

Not Openly At All

Neutral

Very Openly

How effective was this kit in increasing students' sense of place?

Not Effective At All

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Highly Effective

“This kit was awesome, very relevant to our school and our localised curriculum.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

How motivated are your students to take care of their local environment after this kit?

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

What cross curricular learning opportunities arose from using Nature as the context? We tied this kit in with a paralell unit (CatchIT) on both persuasive writing and pest control. A great fit and a perfect place to start looking at our own environment. We completed Science, technology and art tasks and also oral and written language. We

How were your students' happiness levels improved when being in nature?

Not Improved At All

Neutral

Very Improved

How engaged were your students with their senses during this kit?

Not Engaged At All

Neutral

Highly Engaged

How has the kit impacted you and your students feelings toward nature? We have taken control of a garden area close to our classroom and the students are now quite put out if it isn't cared for in the standard to which they expect. They were particularly keen to continue with the Notice this task, asking to take a card home

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? It's free! And it is right here with us. The students were amazed by how much they could find out about a small space in our school, close to our room that they had never noticed or considered before. At parent interviews we were told over and over again

How openly did students discuss the beauty of nature after taking part in this kit?

Not Openly At All

Neutral

Very Openly

How effective was this kit in increasing students' sense of place?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Highly Effective

“What a treat this kit was! It complemented the unit that we were working on. Was easy to follow, varied, educational and most of all FUN! Thanks Doc Nature spaces - The Pod loved working and learning together on this kit.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“This was a great kit. We found it very interesting and kept my students busy, testing, checking and planting. It has lead in well to our term 3 topic of Kaitiakitanga and being guardians of our land. Thanks for opportunity to try out something new that I wouldnt have had time to create”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Nature Spaces 20 Reviews