“My class and I are looking forward to using this amazing kit. We plan to start tomorrow. We have been through our school bush and looked for a special place for us. The students are particularly excited about planting their own seed and researching what conditions the seed will grow best in. There is so much learning in this kit and so much fun for the students. Thank you so much.”
“This kit looks amazing, and I can't wait to start using it with my class next week. We didn't use it over lockdown, but did lots of enviro themed work using the Online Nature Classroom, and from our discussions completing some of those tasks, students talked about noticing places of beauty in our town and are keen to do some predator control and planting. This kit is going to be such a valuable tool to help sustain the students' interest in valuing and protecting the environment, and we will have lots to include in our newly created nature journals.”
“Nature Spaces School Writing Kit
How have you adapted the kit to support home learning?
Students have been making observations about the environment in their own backyards
Creating artwork using things from nature that they have found on the ground
Going on a nature Scavenger Hunt
Has there been opportunities to explore and compare nature spaces at school and home?
Areas within our school environment are changing due to construction, therefore students are investigating areas to preserve some of our natural spaces to provide and keep our native birds visible to us and our community.
What do you see as the benefits of using nature as a context for learning? Give examples if possible.
Students are becoming more familiar with the different environments that they belong to. E.g school, home, community
What cross-curricular learning have you been able to explore through the context of nature?
Engaging with experts within our own local community
Participating in local planting in community parks, ways to care for our local streams
Science, Social Science, Technology, Maths”
“I had a skim through through kit just prior to the Lockdown. It looks interesting and I am looking forward to working through it with my class after Level 2 is over.
Good resource that seem real life and relevant.”
“Due to receiving the kit only one or two days prior to lockdown, I parked it and didn't consider using it for online learning during our school closure. I'm sure that if I had have thought of this and brought it home I could've used aspects of it for online teaching. I have been sharing lots of gardening videos with my children and receiving some back of them germinating plants for their own gardens. This has been a nice basis for conversations and I plan to continue garden conversations with my tamariki at school and get our hands dirty in our garden hopefully!
Using nature as a context for learning gives students the opportunity to reconnect with their environment and the importance that it plays in a community. So many of our tamariki are connected only to their devices, so giving them the tools, knowledge and inspiration to go outside and find something to do there is only going to benefit them in the long run. I see this impacting all aspects of hauora, especially if they can become involved in growing and preparing their own foods.
Science and technology fit so well with nature due to exploring and creating solutions to issues or lack of technologies. Health is brought in through the hauora side of things and also with growing, cooking and preparing a meal and learning about the benefits of eating such foods.”
“Even though we haven't had the chance to get started with this kit, it does look amazing. There looks like heaps of learning and activities that the children will get to explore. Working in a city school, I can really see the benefit of this type of kit. The teacher guide looks like it will provide a range of learning opportunities over a range of curriculum areas. I know that the children will enjoy monitoring the kowhai tree growing. Can't wait to get started.”
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to use our kit as part of our online learning, but I’m excited to get started next week back in the classroom. I can appreciate all the different elements provided in the kit and are looking forward to exploring it further with the students. I love the cross-curricular links the kit provides and how it can link in with our technology, writing, and Maori inquiry topic. We live in a beautiful nature-rich area and can appreciate how this kit will compliment the students learning.”
“Thank you for this comprehensive kit. Before the lock down our school had identified our nature
space. It is a waste area on the bottom field that has become overgrown and unuseable. We
have recognised the potential of this area and your kit has given us the resources to once
again make it a valuable nature space.
The project will be undertaken by a year 5⁄6 class under the guidance of our science teacher..
The kit’s planning sheet is well set out and follows the inquiry model we like to use. We have a
high Maori population at our school, so the Te Reo resources will be invaluable. The activity
cards are easy to follow and we will share some aspects with whanau as well. The on line
material is easily accessible.
This project will be a priority for that class when we all return. We will be keeping a record of our
mahi, including photos and videos.”
