What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? This kit easily linked into maths statistics. There were opportunities to graph data and make some statements about findings. For example, students counted a large number of aquatic birds and discussed the mess and noise they made. Is it time to cull some

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? Because of the comprehensive nature of this kit, a couple of days or weeks is not long enough to cover the material in this kit. This could easily be a term’s worth of work. I am grateful for the materials and tools in this kit. We will definitely use the

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? We are a Dual Medium school (Auraki/Rumaki). Our students have learnt about the importance of fresh water, and they know that there is only a small percentage available for personal use. They understand that water is a living, life sustaining resource. In

“It’s been a really rough year on the flip side of Covid-19 and lockdown. Finding time on a super busy timetable has been a huge challenge, and I want to express my sincere apologies for this very late feedback... Water has been an underlying study in our classroom for several terms. We have looked at how much water we use in our households to do simple, everyday things. Students were amazed at how much water is used and wasted - Some determined that they were spending far too long in the shower based on their data collection. We have looked at the effects of extensive farming and pollutants in farm run off. We used skittles and water to illustrate the consequences of careless farming practices. We used celery and food colouring to show how contaminants can enter into our diets. We also made water filters as an attempt to cleanse some contaminated water... When this kit became available, we knew it would be perfect as an extension on an already developing topic. We saw it as enhancing our own water studies. We were meant to unpack the kit and use it last term, but were unsuccessful, especially with really fickle weather. We are also a House of Science school, and they have a water kit that we wanted to use too. Over the last couple of weeks, we have copied the relevant paperwork and given copies to each student. We have read the material carefully and tried to make sense of the content. Where necessary, we have done some enquiry to understand key concepts and terminology. In the last 2-3 days, we planned to execute some of the tasks - and it’s rained heavily. Today, we had a window of opportunity and the weather held off long enough for us to approach our selected body of water. The quality of the water was so poor, we were unable to get in and make all of the assessments. An onshore wind had driven a soup of dying and decaying weed inward. The smell takes some getting used to. We couldn’t see the lakebed at all. This is where the tools provided in the kit were brilliant. Children used the periscope and some clear plastic bottles to peer into the darkness of the water - This was most ingenious on their part. The sieve and looking glass were a hit as students had a look at what was floating around in the water, and what was in the sludge floating on top. I had students timing a tennis ball to see how quickly it could reach the shoreline. Really, the weather turned our work to custard, and students found ways to gather data in interesting ways. While things may not have turned out as we hoped, my students know that the results don’ t mean failure...”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? Science, Maths, Language

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? To continue to do water testing on a regular basis

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? This is developing.

“Initially, understanding the activities and getting my head around the tasks was overwhelming. Understanding the tasks took a long time and a lot of effort. Finding a stream that was safe for students to enter was another time consuming experience. This was huge professional learning but I'm glad I undertook it. Now that the ground work was done, I am looking forward to continue with this in the coming years. PS - would like to send you photos - not sure where to load them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? We used Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Science and Oral language with our learning.

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? The kids wanted to test other things, which led us into our hands on science experiments which they love.

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? They began to understand the spiritual significance of water for Maori.

“This was a fantastic kit, the kids loved all of the scientific equipment and water testing. I had a few students who needed extra support not only around the water but with the testing, so this made it a bit harder, but as a whole it was great.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? Literacy, maths, science, inquiry, critical thinking.

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? Looking beyond water into ways we can positively impact our local environment.

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? Promoting understanding of wai as an integral part of Te Ao Māori, linking this to the water outside our school.

“Great way to encourage students to think about and take care of their local environment while looking at issues which affect us outside the local area.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? We use this topic in Maths and English as students read up about rivers and their importance in the world. We also cross-linked it to one of our Learnz activities where we studied a river .

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? A bigger scope in Maths where we can use grafting surveys and scientific research.

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? We used our Maori boys and girls that had a good understanding of rivers to take small groups to show how a river could be harvested and how to look after a river.

“This Kit was fantastic as bit gave the students a full-on experience on how rivers function and their purpose. The added excitement was the fact the children could work in small groups and use the equipment provided. Each group worked on different aspects of the river from what lives in it and how a river flows and the effects ow weeds in a river.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? The rich measurement tasks provided from the activity made for some fun hands on learning that the children really enjoyed. It was great to then be able to take these skills and use them in a real life context.

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? Continued monitoring. Looking into what has an effect on water health.

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? We looked at the importance of rivers and how the were historically used as a means of transport. We linked into pepeha and why people identify with rivers as this helps describe the area they are from. Before entering the river we said a karakia.

“My class enjoyed the scientific learning this kit involved. It included a range of measurement activities that the kids enjoyed being able to apply.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? Maths - capacity learning as well as graphing water quality Key Competencies - Guardianship (school value)

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? We recognised that this was something that our students valued and are interested in continuing to research and raise awareness as it impacts them directly given our local rivers and lakes

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? The historical significance of our waterways and the local Maori using them as a food resource. It also linked to our school value of guardianship

“A great kit that was well thought out and highly engaging for all students.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

What cross curricular learning came about as a result of this kit? Besides the natural maths/stats that came out of this we looked at report writing in the context of the hydrologic cycle - the students used herringbone diagrams to note take and the wrote a report from them - we used these as part of our term 3 learning

How successful was this kit in promoting scientific thinking?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How effective was this kit in raising your students awareness of the importance of water health?

Not Effective At All

Neutral

Very Effective

What opportunities have arisen for future learning from this kit? I think being able to repeat this kit at a different time of year will be particularly good for us - our local stream changes quite significantly over the seasons and it will be a good contrast for the older students in my class next year.

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

Not Motivated at All

Neutral

Highly Motivated

In what ways did this kit develop understanding of the cultural significance of water in Te Ao Māori? I think the way we started this kit looking at the importance of natural objects in Te Ao Māori contexts was great - creating our pepeha with a different lens made them more significant for all of us.

“I really loved the challenges in this kit - not only for the students but also for me as the teacher. I thought the equipment provided was great - I like the durability of the sheets that will allow us to be able to repeat this kit at a later date - perhaps in a different season of the year.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Water Quality Testing 20 Reviews