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 and social sciences

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? More caring and aware

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? They became more aware of nature around them and in our local area.

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

“A great engaging school kit to support students around sustainability and nature. Students learnt a lot and enjoyed the hands on approach.”

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 could link this kit to the arts and RE

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? Being a Catholic school, nature is always discussed as being something we need to protect because God gave it to us

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? Learning to care for plants/ nature

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

“It was great to see the kids exploring with this kit.”

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? Linking it into Matariki and our Place in Space!

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? Thy have an increased understanding of differing viewpoints.

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? Very topical - kids engaged and inspired. Greta Thurnburg has really started a great youth revival.

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

“Students really enjoyed learning about the Kowhai seeds - and having their "own' to take care of. We are struggling in Central Otago with the temperature conditions though!!! We have identified an area of the school to plant our seedlings later on to encourage native birds/ shade and a space for Y7/8 to be.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I am so excited to use this kit - we have delayed the start of this due to lockdown, but it has coincided with a T3 school-wide focus on Kaitiakitangi, and the Sustainable Development Goals. I intend to use this kit in conjunction with exploration and student-led inquiry into these goals, and I can see it being a highly engaging and informative piece of work. I can't wait for my Year 7&8s to start noticing what's going on in their nature space!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“The kids in Room 5 at Motueka South School really loved choosing their favourite nature space to investigate, collecting samples and writing their Listening Poem. The kowhai seed planting was a favourite. The kids investigated what plants need to grow and challenged themselves to design and build greenhouses to nurture their seeds ... which have germinated. They were inspired to discover and collect kowhai seed pods from around the school grounds too. Our plant sitters have taken the pots home for the holidays and we are excited to see how much has changed when we return to school for Term 3. Our moon observations were hampered by bad weather, all part of nature too. The task of noticing simple things in nature was a perfect activity for lockdown and the children who participated really enjoyed this too. Thank you DoC for putting this kit together.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“My students have loved this kit, from finding places of hidden beauty in the school, to choosing a space needing beatifying and finally to discovering about kōwhai seeds and how to encourage them to grow. We are continuing this into Term 3, as our seedlings took longer than a month to show above the soil, and we decided spring would be easier to look forward to with new life in the classroom!”

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? Art, 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? The students are much more aware of their local environment and how important it is that we all do our bit to improve and preserve it. There are children and families talking about setting up local traplines now as well as getting involved in local groups

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? The children enjoy getting out and about, and doing hands on activities. This was also knowledge they could take home so we received a lot of positive feedback from parents about their children's engagement in this learning.

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

“We received this kit just before lockdown so I adapted it to be used by the children during lockdown. Each child found a space within their bubble and undertook observations of the flora and fauna. They then created their own Nature Journal and, where necessary, came up with a plan to deal with any problems they identified, e.g. invasive weeds. The children were also encouraged to engage with the DOC Kiwi Guardians activities and I know a lot are patiently waiting for their medals to arrive. Some activities they completed included Curious Camper, Manu Toa, Lounge Lizard, Weed Warrior, Create a Nature Journal and, of course, grow a seed (they had three opportunities for this - a sunflower at school, a popcorn kernel at home and our kowhai seeds from the kit). Since returning to school we have been participating in the CatchIT programme run by the Forest Bridge Trust where the students learn about pests, their impact on local flora and fauna, survey pests in their backyard using a tracking tunnel, then undertake a trapping operation at home using rat traps and DOC200's provided by the Forest Bridge Trust. We were also lucky in Term 2 to have Grass Esposti of Beetopia come in and teach the students all about bees and pollination. I have received positive feedback from the students and parents about this kit and adapted programme as entire families have engaged in the activities, it has involved a lot of hands on exploration, it has engaged well with experts in our local community and the students have learned skills they can continue to apply. Thanks DOC and School Kit!”

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 and literacy

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 are looking and listening more

What were the benefits of using Nature as a context for learning? Led to a passion for outdoors and a keenness today get into the garden

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

“This kit was great to create awareness of our surroundings. Even though we didn’t get to complete kit due to lockdown and our trees didn’t grow, the students still got a lot from looking at our surroundings and noticing”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Nature Spaces 20 Reviews