Room 20 "Taking Action" to help preserve NZ Biodiversity

Did you know that 2010 is the international year of biodiversity??

We watched the following video clip and it stunned us; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1VYmpTikgw&feature=related

In Room 20, we decided that it was time to take action and help New Zealand's Biodiversity. We were astounded as to how many New Zealand native species had either become extinct or were on their way to extinction. Through our studies and investigations through our CLUES Inquiry process, we came to realise that a particular group of species were under the most threat in New Zealand, and that was bird life.

We wrote to the local council, contacted Forest and Bird and organised a tree planting day in our local reserve to provide more nesting and feeding areas for our local native species such as Tui.

We have written about our experiences, so please read about what we did and comment!

Helping New Zealand by Planting

The sun was shining brightly as Room 19 and my class, Room 20 made our way to the Nature Trail. We were going to help New Zealand native birds by planting native trees. Crunch, crunch went the colourful rocks under my feet as we were walking to Lady Phoenix Reserve. There were mushrooms dotted everywhere and I even saw a red mushroom with white spots! The walk took us about 10 minutes.

We were introduced to Nicki, a member of the council. She had chocolate brown that had shiny red bits in the sunlight. Nicki told us who the other people were. There was Stu, Richard, Sam and Justin. “Thank you for coming here guys” said Nicki. “We are going to be planting around that steep hill over there. It’s a bit slippery so watch out.”

Richard showed us how to plant the Kauri, Flax ,Tea and the other trees. First we had to dig a hole the size of the plant. Clang! The spade hit a rock. Then we put a fertilizer tablet in the hole. The tablet was grey like rhino’s skin. The fertilizer tablet helped the plant grow because it was food for the plant. But if he tablet touched the roots of the plant the plant could die. So we covered it with a little bit of soil. The soil was in chunks so it was hard to dig. Next we pulled the plant out of it’s plastic, black bag and carefully dropped it into the hole. Lastly we put the soil around the plant. Thump, thump went Richard’s hands as he patted the soil. I found a pink, long worm. The worm was a piece of spaghetti that I wouldn’t want to eat. It wobbled around like jelly on a plate.

‘Planting trees are really hard’ I thought. There were lots of bark in the way. The bark was as sharp as a needle. The first plant I planted had brilliant green leaves like sparkling emeralds. Hafsa and I were now walking across the steep side when suddenly SPLAT! I had slipped across the slippery mud and landed on my back! Drip, drip mud fell from my back. ‘Even though these are my old clothes, Mum will get mad’

After more planting, Mr Shore called out, “Everybody stop!” We finished planting our tree. Our tree was a palace of life for the bids. Reluctantly, Hafsa and I made our way to Mr Shore. While we were walking back, I felt really pleased about taking action to help New Zealand’s biodiversity.

By Clare