Kimbolton School
Region: Wanganui-Manawatu
Award Category: Wanganui-Manawatu
Year: 2014
I would like to nominate Kimbolton School for a Regional Weedbusters Award this year. Staff and students of the past ten years have been working in our local native bush reserve, using it as an outdoor classroom to learn about forest life and also to teach children how to remove weeds and why it is an important part of our care of the forest. Our first Enviroschools Teacher created and completed many projects in the reserve, and we now continue to maintain these which include our Weedbusting efforts. She was an enthusiastic teacher who had a passion for life in the bush having completed earlier studies in this field.
We currently have two projects that are operating on a regular basis. The first is our whole school weeding session which takes place during the last week of each term. Senior students take responsibility to organise everyone into mixed-age groups who are then transported to the forest. We do it this way so that the older students are teaching and guiding the younger students as they work. They spend one hour removing tradescantia, thistles, poroporo, cherry trees, sycamores and other common weeds. The students carry plastic bags and sacks into the forest, which they fill and return to the wool fadge at the front gate. We usually fill 1-1 fadges within the hour. The weeds are disposed of by Mike from Fulton Hogan, our local district council contractors. This is part of our ongoing commitment to Weedbusting and Enviroschools.
Our second project is one which I have created and am teaching, along with the support of Neil Gallagher, Environmental Management Officer Plants, from Horizons Regional Council. I have selected a group of 9 students aged Year 3-8 to be the focus group. It began through discussion in early 2013 with Neil when he visited our local reserve to support our whole school weeding session. We discussed the weeding activity that we were doing and how we could take the learning further.
I arranged a meeting with Neil and James Lambie, Ecologist, from Horizons Regional Council to make some plans. They presented the Formak Monitoring System to me to use as a guide for the project.
I created a Science Unit Plan because I wanted the students to learn more about weeds and how they affect the rejuvenation of the forest and the impact they have in various areas. I included the Science Experiment Learning Process with the project also as we have a science focus at our school at present and this all tied together nicely.
At my initial meeting with the group I asked them to write down what they wanted to learn from the project. These are glued in our scrapbook. We will review these towards the end of the project to see what learning has taken place.
After the planning was complete, the group met with Neil and we travelled to the forest to build plots along two transect lines. We built eight plots, four on each transect line. The two transect lines are in different locations within the forest, one is open and exposed and the other is quite densely covered with predominantly Tawa forest. The second step was to complete a plot analysis for each of the eight plots. This proved to be a lengthy process but a vitally important one. I had simplified the Formak Recording Sheet and each of the students completed an analysis for each of the plots. We recorded a GPS location, the type of landform, soil type, forest type and plot size, and then the quantity, size and percentage cover of each plant/weed/fern/branch/fungi/leaf litter/moss/soil. The students also drew a sketch of the plots. Learning so far included all of the above, as well as plant names and the importance of accuracy when collecting data.
Back of school the group learnt more about weeds including - What is a weed? Where do we find them? Why are weeds a problem in New Zealand? How and why are weeds introduced and spread? I found the Weedbusters website very helpful in sourcing information.
Our third step in the forest was to remove the weeds from four of the eight plots. We randomly selected which plots we would weed by drawing numbers out of the hat, this random selection being part of the scientific experiment process. The students removed three sacks full of weeds from the four plots. Good care was taken to ensure that no damage was caused to any of the native seedlings within the plots.
The students and I prepared a presentation for the final school assembly of the year. My part-time teaching position of Enviroschools/Enrichment Teacher is funded by our Board of Trustees and my contract includes reporting back and sharing the work I do with the students, so the assembly presentation was the appropriate way to do this. The students are proud of what they learn about and the activities they participate in the forest and therefore enjoy opportunities to show parents and peers.
When preparing the presentation, the Weedbusters Group used the scrapbook to remember the aspects that we had covered. They divided themselves up and sorted out who would share each aspect of the project to date. We invited Neil Gallagher and Rachel Keedwell, Ecologist, Horizons Regional Council, to our presentation. We shared photos, information and learning with the group and then thanked Neil for his support.
The group are currently working on preparing information and posters for a Wall Display in our school hallway. This way, other students and adults can read and learn about our Weedbusters Project.
This year, and hopefully for the next four years, we will continue to monitor our plots and record data and observations. The data will be graphed and analysed, comparisons made and outcomes presented as with any science investigation. The students will use Maths and Science knowledge when working with the data.
Our only challenge so far with the project has been keeping warm while standing in the forest collecting data! It can be quite cold in Kimbolton due to our location and high altitude.
I have enclosed the scrapbook that the students and I have been creating to record our project. It includes goals, newsletters, data collection, photos and the speeches they wrote for their presentation. The 2014 version is also underway now and this will cover the continuation of the project over the next few years.
We thank Horizons Regional Council for their on-going support.
Could you please return our scrapbook to us in the enclosed postage bag. Thank you.
Heidi Morton
Enviroschools/Enrichment Teacher
Kimbolton School