Education news
Environmental Education News Update:
NEW THIS WEEK (10 November 2009) Vodafone World of Difference Announcement, New DVD resource for Kiwi children available, WWF's Environmental Education Action Fund recipients and feedback request.
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Vodafone World of Difference
Posted 10/11/09 - On 5 November in Auckland the Vodafone World of Difference held their Announcement Ceremony, and the great news is that Te Rawhitiroa has been selected as one of the World of Difference Recipients for 2010.
DVD Resource for Kiwi Children
Kate Cobb has asked us to let you all know about a great new DVD for Kiwi children called OURS. It's produced in New Zealand, features some local Nelson enviroschools and it's full of info about our land, our creatures and our environment. The DVD is aimed at 3-7 yr olds and might be of interest especially to facilitators of ECE's where there aren't many support resources. Copies of the DVD can be purchased online, and more info (including some teaching ideas) can be found at http://www.oursdvd.co.nz/index.html
In addition, a TV adaptation of OURS will screen on TVNZ6 Freeview x 3 DAILY at 7.20am, 11.20am and 3.20pm from 14th December. There are 18 episodes, 4 minutes duration. They differ slightly from the DVD version.
WWF's Environmental Education Action Fund Recipients and Feedback Request
Posted 10/11/09 - Below is the outcome of the September round of WWF's Environmental Education Action Fund. Congratulations to all successful recipients.
Ecomatters Environmental Trust, Waitakere
$4590 - Towards costs for a community gardening coordinator
Hukanui School, Hamilton
$3438.50 - Towards costs for the Living Room eco classroom project
Kaitake Kindergarten, Taranaki
$1380 - For sustainability projects
Landscapes Connections Trust, Otago
$11 865 - Linking Landscapes project, coordinating participation of five schools to restore and protect Kakanui catchment
Lincoln Envirotown trust, Canterbury
$3438.50 - Towards costs of Community Garden Coordinator
Naenae Primary School, Wellington
$1500 - To purchase trees for orchard
St Leonards School, Dunedin
$2840 - To purchase hens, hen house etc
Whaingaroa Environment Centre, Raglan
$2400 - Water quality monitoring project with Raglan Area School
For six years WWF's Environmental Education Action Fund has been providing grants to NZ schools and community groups to support projects where as part of their learning, students take action for their local environment.
To ensure the fund best meets the needs of community groups and schools engaged in such activities, Wendy Barry is seeking feedback from people who in any way have had some involvement with the fund. This could include people who have supported an application, made an application themselves, worked with a recipient, seen the impacts of receiving or not receiving funding. WWF distributes $55 000 a year through this fund so its important the money goes where it is most needed and can have the best impact for supporting EFS outcomes.
If you are interested in offering some feedback, then please contact Wendy Barry on (04) 499 2930 or email at wbarry@wwf.org.nz There are no questionnaires or anything, just an informal chat and a brain-pick!
WWF's Project Lantern - Vote Earth!
Posted 19/10/09 - Earth Hour has developed Project Lantern, designed to give children from New Zealand and all around the globe the chance to show their vote for Earth vs. Global Warming. The project encourages children to make a paper lantern, decorating it with words and images that express care for the environment and asking leaders for action by making the statement, “I Vote Earth because...”
Full details about Project Lantern can be found at www.wwf.org.nz
Download the Project Lantern Summary (177 KB)
Download the Project Lantern Teachers Kit (711KB)
If you have any questions or ideas about this project contact Lee Barry, Earth Hour Project Manager:
lbarry@wwf.org.nz
NZAEE Biennial Conference 19-22 January 2010
Posted 18/09/09 - The NZAEE Biennial Conference (Hawkes Bay), Taking the Next Steps – Te Ahu Whakamua now has a dedicated website that brings you full details about the conference and details on how to register. Visit the site at www.nzaeeconference2010.co.nz to discover more about the conference program, keynote speakers and the exciting range of field trips on offer, as well as the social program, venue and registration fees.
The site will be used to communicate conference news and updates, so bookmark it today and check it regularly to hear more about this essential conference for all involved in environmental education and educating for sustainability.
Web-based Environmental Education Programme now live
Posted 07/09/09 - Australian-based company Visy has just launched the second generation of its environmental education programme, Visy Enviromaniacs.
A free web-based learning programme that will help teach students more about the environment and how to make the world a better place. The programme includes five computer games based around topics of recycling, water, energy, packaging and litter. Each topic is supported by lesson plans that tie into curriculum guidelines allowing teachers to deliver the programme in class. Schools can win prizes such as computer equipment and teachers that register, go into the draw to win a tropical holiday.
Ths site is accessible from home or school. Register by going to:
www.visyenviromaniacs.co.nz
Plant Me and Garden Goodies
Posted 24/8/09 - A spotlight on two gardening themed initiatives.
Plant Me
Fundraising with a difference. With their ethos of sustainability, the planet and real food, Plant Me offer fundraising with veges, herbs and flowers, a variation to the usual chocolates, pies and calendars.
For further information visit: www.plantme.co.nz
Garden Goodies
Garden Goodies is committed to providing New Zealand schools with affordable products to assist with sustainability programs. An online garden supply business with access to an extensive range of garden products at dealer prices. As they operate solely over the internet they are not subject to the same business overheads like other garden outlets. With this in mind they have been investigating the possibility of supplying schools with garden products at favourable prices.
For further information visit: www.gardengoodies.co.nz
Eco North News
Posted 24/8/09 - CBEC Eco Solutions provides education, consultancy and practical environmental solutions. Our goal is to reduce waste to landfill by recycling and reusing. CBEC Eco Solutions provide services to the Far North District Council Waste Not Campaign and Whangarei District Council Waste Minimisation Campaign.
They offer the Zero Waste Education programme free of charge to schools.
Download their latest newsletter (890 KB)
NZAEE Conference 2010 - Call for Abstracts (Deadline for abstracts extended)
Posted 9/8/09: This great biennial national Environmental Education conference is always a great event. The organisers are currently calling for abstracts from interested speakers. The deadline for abstracts has been extended to Friday 28 August 2009. The conference is in the Hawkes Bay in January 2010.
Download the call for abstracts information (116 KB)
For more information: http://www.nzaee.org.nz/events_news.htm
Chameleon Island games now on sale
Posted: 23/7/09 - After many requests for Chameleon Island games at the 2007 Teaching for Sustainability Conference in Wellington, we are happy to advise you that the games have finally been completed and manufactured and are available for sale.
Chameleon Island’s goal is to foster the climate change mitigation message through games, making it fun and easy to understand for families, and can easily be used as educational tools for schools.
The current games are based around home appliances, but innovatively used to cover areas in energy rating systems, carbon tax, subsidies in the energy sector, and emissions trading.
http://www.chameleonisland.co.nz/
Environmental Monitoring and Action Project website
Posted: 23/7/09 - This site offers information on what’s going on in fresh water around the country. You can download information sheets, unit plans and more. Students can participate in competitions and receive a regular newsletter. There is the opportunity to access water testing kits so your students can test the health of their local river.
http://www.emap.rsnz.org/index.php
Free pohutukawa trees
Posted 23/7/09 - It is Pohutukawa Coast time of year again, when Whangarei District Council and the New Zealand Refining Company are providing 2600 Pohutukawa trees free to keen growers.
Pohutukawa Coast was set up 19 years ago to help re-establish young Pohutukawa trees along our coastline.
Whangarei District Council Parks & Recreation Manager Paul McDonald said 2600 young trees, grown by Tawapou Nurseries at Tutukaka, will be available this season.
That brings the total distributed since the project began to 39,400.
The NZ Oil Refining Company donated $5,000 towards the cost of growing the Pohutukawa trees to a good size for planting out.
The Pohutukawa trees will be available to collect and plant on private or public land during the next few weeks.
Whangarei District Council Parks & Recreation Department and the Northern Branch of the Royal Forest and Bird Society will assist with the distribution of the trees, as they have done in the past.
To obtain trees, city dwellers and people living in the north of the District should contact Botanica Whangarei in First Ave (Hours: 10am-4pm 7 days) on 430 4200 Ext. 8738 or 027 477 0518.
Tutukaka Coast residents may pick up trees from Tawapou Native Plant Nursery, ph 434 3971
Southern residents may pick up trees from Nola and Athol McCullough, ph 432 8332.
People living to the north-east and in Whangarei Heads can pick them up from Alan Willis and Rona Mahy-Willis, ph 436 2808.
For more information please contact Whangarei District Council Paul McDonald on 430 4200 Ext. 8215.
State of the Environment Report Cards
Posted 9 July 2009: The Northland Regional Council 2007 State of the Environment Report has now been condensed into 12 handy report cards for ease of use.
The SoE Report differs from the Annual Monitoring Report as it is a summary of all environmental data collected by the Council, and other relevant organisations, over a five-year period (2002-2007). The report also looks at pressures acting on our natural environment and what the Council and local community is doing to tackle resource management issues.
The cards can be viewed at www.nrc.govt.nz/soereportcards
They can be printed off the website, or a limited supply of individual report cards and bound sets will shortly be available from the Council (on request).
New EfS Resource
Posted 22 June 2009: WWF is pleased to announce our new EFS resource for schools. These two digital stories feature schools who have received funding from WWF's Environmental Education Action Fund and are outstanding examples of schools who have embraced student-led learning, engaged with their local communities, and implemented the New Zealand Curriculum through taking action to improve their local environment.
These stories will interest teachers at any stage of their Education for Sustainability journey. Each one consists of a short film featuring students, staff and community supporters, and downloads of planning documents, project overview, history and other relevant info.
Hukanui Primary School in Hamilton, and Lincoln High School in Canterbury are the two featured schools.
Here's the link:
http://www.wwf.org.nz/what_we_do/education/inspiring_schools/
These digital stories can be used
- as a motivational starter at a meeting to introduce teachers, trustees, or parents to EFS
- to get ideas for similar projects (eco-classrooms and ecological restoration)
- as a reflection tool to compare where your school is at with the featured schools
- to show to students for information and motivation
- as a professional development workshop for teachers where they identify and unpack aspects of EFS presented in the video
"That's not junk" - Excellent book resource for Enviroschools
Posted: 21 May 2009
About the book
This book is aimed at 4 - 7 year olds, it is flexible enough to be enjoyed by older children due to the theme and humour. A family sets out one 'simmery summery jinkery junkery' summer's day. They all find an assortment of 'treasures' that have been discarded by other people. Returning home with their finds, they set to work together and build the most amazing treehouse contraption you could imagine. Attached is a small scan of the cover, along with a portion of the final image.
The book also contains a page with reusing and recycling information. It is published by Penguin and has already received encouraging reviews. (And it is based on real events!)
The book strongly promotes and encourages reusing and recycling but in an appealing fun way. It has already been used as a basis for classroom activities and discussion on waste and reusing. The author hopes it will inspire people and fire children's imaginations, to have a new attitude towards dealing with 'waste'.
"That's not Junk!" and Enviroschools.
The author of the book thought a class set of the book would be a useful tool for Enviroschool educators as a novel fun way to start off discussions and projects around waste. She is more than happy to help provide accompanying support material if required.
If there is anything further you'd like to know, or you would like to place an order please don't hesitate to get in touch with Nikki.
Nikki Slade Robinson
e-Mail: gonikki@paradise.net.nz
www.penandink.co.nz
Ph 07 3154 972
Fax 07 3154 973
WA$TED! Book Sale
Posted 21 May 2009: Carthew Neal and team are selling off the final WA$TED! book for $5/copy for orders of 50+ (retails at $29.95). Please send out to your networks or to anyone who may be interested.
The tips and hints from the series seem almost more relevant in the current climate that when it was originally printed.
Based on TV3's hit new series WA$TED, this book is jam-packed full of tips and information on how to save money while saving the planet. In the same up-beat, lively way as the TV show, this book never preaches and is always positive and helpful.
Divided into Rubbish, Power, Water and Fuel, each part begins by helping you audit your own household use. It then goes into detail on everything from worm farms to what to do with big purchase packaging to nappies to double glazing to towel rails to rainwater butts to tuning your car to food miles.
It's good to look at, easy to read and you'll find yourself making all sorts of changes to reduce your carbon footprint.
If you would like to order copies please contact Carthew on carthew.neal@fumes.tv.
Find out more about the book on the Wa$ted website
Enviroschools Newsletter
Posted 21 May 2009: Find out what our Enviroschools are up to in the first of our new regular Enviroschools newsletters.
Read the Enviroschools newsletter
Virtual Youth Forum on Climate Change
Posted 29 April 2009: In conjunction with an International Youth Forum on Climate Change and Global Warming organisers are running a virtual forum via the Internet.
The Virtual Forum is being offered by TWC and the GLOBE Asia and Pacific Consortium to extend and enhance interaction for those who will be attending the event at the Indian National Science Academy, as well as make it possible to participate for those throughout the Asia Pacific regionwho cannot travel to the New Delhi meeting.
The online forum will provide personal profiles, discussion groups, a conference blog, schedules of virtual and live events, a library of multimedia materials, web casts, a directory of participants, virtual student-scientist research presentations, virtual vendor booths and more.
Visit: http://www.globeforum-ap.com/main.aspx?menuPath=
To register click on Register on the grey task bar.
Donate NZ
Posted 29 April 2009: DonateNZ is a great website which connects community organisations with people ready and willing to help. It previously cost to be a DonateNZ Recipient member, however due a change in their operational structure, they have just announced that the Recipient service is now absolutely free!
If you are a School, ECE or Not-For-Profit organisation, you are eligible to be a Recipient member. This allows your organisation to:
- Benefit from donated goods and services
- Appeal for donations for your organisation
- Market your cause through a unique profile page
Register your school to start receiving: www.donatenz.com
Posted: 14 April 2009
Wet-feet is an innovative teaching resource for students - developed around freshwater systems including dune lakes, streams, gum field drains and wetlands, and their native flora and fauna.
It was published by the Kaitaia Department of Conservation office and is based around Far North freshwater systems so is ideal for use in Northland schools.
Visit the DOC website to view the "Wet Feet - investigating fresh water" resource
Enviroschools EcoHut Challenge
Posted 17 March 2009:
EcoHut Challenge 2010 invites school-age students to design and build an ecological habitat on their school grounds, that enhance all living things around it.
The goal is to shift the view that ecological design merely aims to reduce the impact of building on the environment. It is much more than that; an ecological building should add significant benefits to the ecosystem that it is situated in.
A variety of investigations will be made. How can habitats be designed to support nature to grow? To convert and distribute natural energy? To nourish the soil and other creatures? To provide natural warmth inside from harsh winters? To express the culture of our local community?
Imagine hundreds of youth-inspired EcoHuts dotted all around the nation... The small and achievable nature of these buildings make ecological building design more realisable and able to be mainstreamed. If youth show competency in creating eco-buildings, then society is compelled to follow.
Furthermore, let’s use the EcoHuts to show a way forward, by contributing to revisions being made in current building industry and government policy, to implement a sustainable approach to building.
Key dates:
March 2009: Launch, Registrations + Toolbox (info pack) mailout
Mar 2009 -Mar 2010: EcoHut Design + building stages
March 2010: Regional Judging
April 2010: Awards
Contact:
Andrea Ricketts, Enviroschools’ Eco-building + Energy Manager
Andrea.Ricketts@enviroschools.org.nz
Download documents:
Registration form (370 KB)
Poster (634 KB)
Energy efficient schools - A guide for trustees, principals, teachers, students, caretakers, and energy managers
Posted 11 June 2008:
This 40-page booklet was produced in collaboration with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and The Enviroschools Foundation. It outlines why and how schools can reduce energy use and costs, and includes case studies, templates for energy audits, planning tools, and contacts for further information.
Download a copy of the brochure on the NERI website
New DVD Resource on "How to Save Kiwi"
Posted 5 February 2008:
A great resource if you are planning to study the Kiwi at your school this year.
"How to Save Kiwi" is designed to be shown to a variety of audiences. The first chapter is general and about kiwi. It can be shown at displays, events, workshops, to children or adults, as advocacy material about kiwi. It is intended to generally inform people about kiwi, their threats and what is being done to protect them. The following chapters contain more detailed information, in the form of tutorials, on a variety of topics which kiwi protection projects or landowners may use.
The DVD is available from the Save the Kiwi website www.savethekiwi.org.nz This website also has other kiwi information and you may choose to create a link to it on your website.
DVD resource on Climate Change available
Posted: 10/09/07
ICLEI Communities for Climate Protection New Zealand has released a new 9 minutes long DVD based on climate change issues, including the latest evidence, the potential impacts on New Zealand, and some things each and every one of us can do to help mitigate climate change.
You can buy a copy, complete with samples of other climate science resources, for $20 (including GST and p&p). Contact email: ccp-nz@iclei.org