Engage and understand

Choose the main issue that students have connected with – what are they really interested in pursuing? Focusing on one issue at a time allows for deeper learning and understanding and reduces the risk of students – and teachers – feeling overwhelmed. It can also lead to a more achievable action or actions.

This step develops thinking skills and information gathering to delve more deeply into the topic. It supports the science capabilities ‘Gather and interpret data’, ‘Use evidence’ and ‘Critique evidence’.

Resources

• Water in the Waikato region – article
• Learning about the water cycle – interactive
• Water catchments – article
• Water flows and catchments – interactive
• Water quality monitoring – article
• Wai Māori – interactive
• Dairy farming solutions – article
• Horticulture solutions – article
• Urban solutions for water quality – article

Questions to consider

• Where does the issue occur?
• What causes the issue to happen?
• Who does the issue involve?
• What resources do we need?
• What other information might we need?
• Where can we find this information?
• What knowledge can we gain from local iwi as mātauranga Māori or from the local or regional council?

Transcript

LYN ROGERS

Our point of difference at The Fairfield Project is that we want this to be an educational enterprise alongside the restoration project. We want people to learn the skills needed to take action in the environment in their own lives or in other community projects. When we talk education, we’re talking community education and not just in the formal education sector, but most of our engagement so far has been with secondary schools, so we’ll be working in primary schools also.

Only one side of the gully is administered by the Trust, the other side of the gully is owned by multiple landowners. We’re looking to engage the landowners and helping them, supporting them to look after the side of the gully on their land and letting them know what they can do, the trees to use, the plants to use, the science of it all and become involved in what we’re doing.

I’ve learned the value of relationships – of people working together with a common goal, giving people time to come to new learnings, myself as well. Giving people time to work together, understanding different perspectives and spending the time to come up with shared goals. That’s probably what I’ve learned the most – that all good things will come in time if you actually create a space for that to happen.

Acknowledgements

Lynnette Rogers
The Fairfield Project
Jordan, Lucy, Hannah, Jess and Sam, Waikato Diocesan School for Girls
Jake and Sarah, Bankwood Primary School
Footage of planting out at Kukutāruhe Gully, and footage of teacher workshop, The Fairfield Project