Enviroschools Newsletter no. 11 - May 2007 - Waikato Regional ...

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Education for sustainability Kia ora koutou! Welcome back to school. We hope the year is going well for you and that you are settling in after the holidays. It is exciting to see the variety of ways teachers and schools are incorporating environmental education (EE) and aspects of education for sustainability (EFS) into their programmes. We are your school support services advisors in education for sustainability. We: • provide support for you when incorporating EFS or EE ideas or contexts into curriculum • put you in touch with others • hunt out resources for you • help with planning for learning. We work closely with Enviroschools facilitators and other environmental educators in the region, and look forward to providing support in your schools. Please feel free to contact any of us. Integrating environmental education is the key to success at Vardon By Jeff Bryant Year 5 and 6 students at Vardon School raised money for their school camp in a different way last year. Each class in the senior syndicate was asked to design a game, something edible and something creative for their end of term gala to raise money for the school camp. The difference was that the gala was re-named an Enviro Expo and all products had to be ecologically friendly, using waste materials wherever possible. The students started their learning with a focus on the zero waste objectives, in particular, on the three Rs. Over two terms they built on their ideas, bringing their maths, social studies, technology, science and other curriculums into a holistic learning project. Students in Room 10 discovered (during a shared reading response) that people in England were selling bags with environmental messages on them. This inspired the class to design a range of eco-friendly cloth shopping bags. The students even went on an outing to the local mall to interview shoppers about how much they might pay for such a bag. Mary Loveless loveless@waikato.ac.nz 027 471 9736 Mary works mainly in primary schools across the region and is also a science advisor. Lyn Rogers lynr@waikato.ac.nz 027 278 1124 Lyn works mainly in secondary schools across the region. When asked how she found time in an already full curriculum to have such a big environmental focus, senior syndicate teacher Reshma Patel Harman replied “You have to integrate, you can’t be the type of classroom that says lets do three weeks on this and three weeks on that. It can’t just be a unit, it has to be constantly worked at”. Reshma also commented that she was surprised how the project also led students to “recognise a community problem and move from thinking ‘I have done my part’ to working as a team to assist everyone”. Tania Mills taniam@waikato.ac.nz 027 252 7162 Tania is a Te Kotahitanga facilitator and also works in social studies in both primary and secondary schools. Lynette Brown lynette.brown@clear.net.nz 027 252 7165 Lynette is working in both primary and secondary schools, mostly in the southern part of the region. As an Enviroschools facilitator, I was impressed with the achievements of the students at Vardon. The work the students produced provided great examples of simple action projects that captured the four dimensions of our environment. Too often we focus simply on improving the natural environment, leaving out the social, economic and decision-making aspects. The four dimensions of our environment Natural Who decides Social Economic
NEWS RELEASE – APRIL 26 2007 “Plant for the Planet” Can one million trees be planted in New Zealand during 2007 The Trees for Survival Trust is sure they can and has taken on the task of encouraging all New Zealanders to join them in planting one million trees this calendar year. Why The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has an objective of planting one billion trees throughout the world in 2007. As the Kiwi contribution to the world-wide effort, the Trust is coordinating the campaign to plant and care for at least one million trees. The proposal to get involved in the campaign came from a suggestion by Rotary International President Bill Boyd. Involved in the New Zealand Trees for Survival Trust from its beginning with the Rotary Club of Pakuranga, Bill says the value of planting trees is well documented. "Despite our clean and green image on the world stage, New Zealand needs more trees and we hope that this campaign will go some way towards addressing the issue." "Through Trees for Survival we are offering not only an environmental focus but also an invaluable educational tool for our young people, " he said. Rotary and other service clubs throughout the country are being urged to assist schools and their communities to become involved in achieving the goal. Arbor Day on 5 June and Conservation Week from 6-12 August will be focuses for the 'Plant for the Planet' message. The coordinator for the Billion Tree Campaign in New Zealand, David English, says a website www.tfsnz.org.nz provides information on the New Zealand pledge to plant 1 million trees. "People who wish to support the initiative can email btcnz@tfsnz.org.nz to become involved. The campaign is open to all individuals, children and youth groups, schools, community groups, farmers, private sector organisations and local authorities. Each pledge can be for a single tree to many thousands," he added. The campaign is seeking to enlist the support of the nursery and garden industry in the supply of trees to enable the campaign to reach its goal. "Pledges from around the world in support of the campaign now exceed 800 million trees," says David. "UNEP says favourable growing conditions give nations in the southern hemisphere an advantage over most countries when it comes to growing trees, so we are sure of reaching and sustaining our target. "Now is a great time to highlight the need to revegetate our country and we hope this campaign will educate our young people on the value of trees in our environment. Their aesthetics, their part in the prevention of erosion and in improving stream water quality, in creating new habitats as well as their role as carbon sinks emphasises the need to plant more trees. "The Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign encourages planting in all areas, whether rural or urban, school grounds or community parks and of trees, not just natives, that are well adapted to local conditions. Councils throughout the country have been very supportive of this campaign, so the process is well under way," he said. Information on the UNEP programme can be found on the website www.unep.org/billiontreescampaign/index.asp. For further information contact David English phone 09 526 0296 or 027 281 4108. Released on behalf of the Trees for Survival One Million Trees Campaign by CAL Public Relations, contact Rob Crabtree 09 273 2065.
Page 1 and 2: Waikato Enviroschools newsletter no
Page 3 and 4: Kiwi Forever 31 March to 5 April 20
Page 5: Scenario 1: Teachers (and students)

Enviroschools Newsletter no. 11 - May 2007 - Waikato Regional ...

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