MAC Mag 06

Sustainability is important to many people in
Wanaka. For three lovely days in May students,
parents and members of the community were
involved in a wide range of activities around the
theme of sustainability. These included making bio
fuel using solar energy, visiting energy efficient homes
around Wanaka, creating an orchestra from recycled
materials and then performing, hunting, fishing,
composting and worm farming.
Sustainability week was enjoyed by most, loved
by some and grumbled about by others – all
captured for posterity by two small teams of students
on film and in print. Whilst we can’t include the
camera crew’s DVD in this magazine, here are some
of the news stories written by our roving reporters.
Alternative Fuel
Of course most of you know
this week is theme week.
The people in room 11 got
off to a good start with their
fuel project. First they made
bioreactors out of containers,
cardboard and tubes which
they used to show how manure
can be changed into methane
or fertilizer. Other things that
can be turned into fuel include
the sun, water, alcohol and
electricity. After that they went to
the computer room and studied
different types of fuel. Elmo
Cotter said “This project was
easy and fun,” and he chose
this option because it sounded
cool and he wanted to make
fuel.
Hugh Haworth, 8GO
Learning to Weave
Flax was everywhere on
Thursday morning in
the East Common Room.
Students chose to make
headbands, flowers, fish
and baskets out of flax.
Most students chose this
option as they thought
it would be fun. “I chose
it mainly for the knitting
part of it” said Abbi Ayre,
a year 8 student. The day
before the group went
on a journey to Rippon
vineyard where they were
shown the grapes, talked
about compost and how
the vineyard is organic.
After that they knitted.
Cindy McLeod, 8WT
Climate Change
Global warming,
icebergs melting,
the world flooding,
these are just some
few factors of climate
change. Not just
that but climate
change in general
is what Cody, Brock,
Tom and seventeen
others are studying for
theme week. Mainly
they have gathered
their resources from
the internet, books,
magazines and things
that they already
knew.
Mathew Green, 8GO
Winning Book Award Announced
During Mount Aspiring College’s
‘Sustainability’ theme week a group
of students worked on producing a book
which, some believed, should be awarded
the New Zealand Book Award. The book
contained information about global
warming and ways to conserve energy
and fuel. The aim of the group who worked
on the book was to make students more
aware of what people are doing to the
environment and things that we can do to
lessen this impact.
Some of the group’s ideas for making the
world a better place included turning lights
off, planting trees, harnessing wind power
and walking or biking instead of using cars.
The colourful and informative finished
book was displayed in the college library
above a very comprehensive collection of
information on the theme of ‘Sustainability’.
Samara Buchanan, 8CB
F r i e n d s
B O U T I Q U E
Fine ladies Fashion and Accessories
Dunmore Street PO Box 86 Wanaka
Tel: 03 443 8571 Fax: 03 443 8671
friendsboutique@xtra.co.nz
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