Highlands Intermediate School 2011
In March, a group of senior Highlands Intermediate students investigated permaculture and different ways of living in harmony with the natural environment. Puke Ariki’s educator, Nathan Hills, organised a trip for these students to visit some diverse examples of how people are making the most of the environment they live in, while still protecting it.
They visited Waipu Wetland, which has a selection of harakeke (flax) grown for different uses. Moturoa School students gave a tour of the propagation unit for their productive garden. The Highlands students also visited a family home garden using permaculture principles, including a moveable chicken coop, rainwater collection tank and edible gardens. The family also treated the students to an amazing morning tea made with some home-grown produce.
Highlands Intermediate School 2010
Having an art installation in the TSB Bank Festival of Lights was just one of the highlights from Highlands Intermediate’s involvement with 60 Springs in 2010. Puke Ariki educators worked with a class of 30 students on a series of science and technology projects exploring the sustainability of Pukekura Park. Their projects varied from researching and creating light installations, solar powered alternatives to allow migratory fish access and investigating the presence of mammals within the park.
All student projects were entered into the school’s science fair from which selected projects went on to be entered into the 2010 Fonterra Taranaki Science and Technology Fair. Room 3 students had 53% of their projects accepted into the regional event, two of which received merit awards. They were Shania Rona’s Dragon fly-fly and Emilie Waite’s Tracking Tunnels in Pukekura Park. Both are featured in more detail below.
Dragon fly-fly
60 Springs educator Amanda Hewlett worked with six students exploring solar power and its potential as an alternative energy source for a TSB Bank Festival of Lights event in the future. Students worked alongside Andrew Hornblow, Bright Sparks, to learn about the solar-powered technology in garden lights then explored the possibilities of creating art works using LEDs (due to their low energy consumption) with Perspex, plastic and recycled bottles. This study formed the basis of their science fair projects.
This group of students then presented their science fair projects to Trisha Logan from the NPDC Events Team as ideas for the upcoming TSB Bank Festival of Lights season. Trisha was suitably impressed. “I was blown away by what the students achieved, their level of creativity, attention to detail, planning and design of prototype,” she said.
Consequently, three designs from Shania Rona, Lisa Richards and Mitchell Tarrant were chosen to be included in the 2010/11 TSB Bank Festival of Lights. These designs were developed and produced during terms 3 and 4. Amanda (60 Springs), Shania, Lisa and Mitchell worked with artist Leonie Smith (Puke Ariki) to build the three projects. They then assessed the feasibility of powering these projects by solar energy during the festival but because of the high cost of solar panels and the restricted sunlight in the park due to all the wonderful trees, it proved too difficult to achieve in the short timeframe.
The remainder of Room 3 from Highlands Intermediate split into two groups and, led by Nathan Hills, they set out to investigate access for fish and the presence of land animals in Pukekura Park.
Animals in Pukekura Park
The land animal group’s mission was to find out what animals were present in the park at the time of their day and night visits. The group members used pitfall traps and tracking tunnels to do their research. More animals were spotted at night by the students than during the day, including cats, mice (particularly in the grass areas), rats, hedgehogs and whistling tree frogs. The students were surprised that more animals were not detected and put this down to conducting their fieldwork during the colder months of May and June.
Fish access in Pukekura Park
The fish access groups visited the park at night to carry out a spotlight survey and set fish traps to find out which fish live in the waterways of Pukekura Park. Students found an eel and some banded kokopu. Both of these fish are known to be excellent climbers of man-made barriers.
During the day, students walked the length of the park’s waterways and took photos of all the man-made barriers that might restrict access of many native fish species. They found that the largest blockage for fish to get past was the waterwheel and neighbouring waterfall. Students then made small scale fish passes using timber off-cuts and nails. Each model was tested with a hose and improved with the aim of making the most effective fish pass that would allow fish to navigate through and upstream.