Superstar Sixers' Blog

Posted by Mrs Dobbie May 15, 2016

EOTC WEEK

7 - 11 MARCH, 2016

Endemic

Outstanding bush walk   

Trees 

Classroom

By Vatsal

Every year we have one week where we learn outside the classroom. Every year we have lots of fun experiences and this year was no exception!

DAY 1 - TEAM BUILDING

This was a fun day. We played games which required us to co-operate together and work as a team!

"How do we flip this mat over without stepping off it?"

"Well let's give it a go!"

Exciting games

Other people

Contributing together

Team work.

By Muket

"How many times can we bounce the ball on the blanket?"

"How do we have to pass the balloon?"

Andrew said "I've got my balloon!"

I enjoyed playing balloon walk and it was fun playing balloon walk.

Some people were holding their balloon but they lost their team points.

By Mere

"Of course we can get this hoop around the circle without letting go of our hands!"

"What do they find so difficult about this exercise!?"

Everything is cool, everything is fun

Outdoor games are so much fun

Teamwork gets the job done

Calling to one another - it’s so much fun!

By Khalen

Over and stepping through is the key!

Crab crawling is pretty tricky when you're not a crab!

Human knots - tricky to undo!

"Hey Andrew show us what to do with this hoop!"

We love the game "Capture the Flag"!

I loved our team building activities

We ran and ran to capture the flag

Some ran fast

Some ran slow

It was fun and we loved it!

By Ahsan

DAY 2 - BUSH EDUCATION

Day 2 we learnt about:

1. How to keep safe in the bush

2. Native insects, plants and freshwater creatures and

3. Maori legends associated with the bush

"Hmmm how to keep safe in the bush....."

Look what we came up with!

DAY 3 - BUSH WALK

Yay bush walk day. We walked the Karamatura track in the Waitakeres. Everyone made it around the track. We were all tired but nothing a hearty lunch couldn't fix and soon we were happy to paddle in the nearby stream looking for native fish, eels and koura.

Eeekk that was cold water

Out and about in a bush

Talking on the bus

Counting all of the nikau trees

By Michael S

"Follow me in single file guys!" Khalen leads the way!

Eating, drinking, laughing

Was all fun but

On the move were our feet, looking around

Trees were tall, some were short.

Carefully we walked, lest we hurt them.

By Zahara

Noah H found some shells of the native giant land snail called Powelliphanta

Here are some interesting facts about them from the Department of Conservation website

http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/invertebrates/powelliphanta-snails/

Powelliphanta snails are carnivores. Their favourite prey is earthworms, but they are also known to eat slugs.

The largest species is Powelliphanta superba prouseorum, found in Kahurangi National Park and measuring about 90mm across. These are the sumo wrestlers of the snail world, weighing in at 90g, or the equivalent of a female tui!

The genus was named after Dr A.W.B. Powell, a former scientist at Auckland Museum who studied the snails during the 1930s and 1940s.

Powelliphanta snails used to be known as Paryphanta snails, until the 1970s. Now, Paryphanta refers only to kauri snails, which live north of Auckland.

Powelliphanta snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs and therefore can mate with any other adult Powelliphanta.

Powelliphanta snails lay about 5-10 large eggs a year. Each egg is up to 12-14mm long, pearly pink and hard-shelled - just like a small bird’s egg!

Powelliphanta are nocturnal. For the most part, they live buried in leaf mould or under logs, only coming out at night to forage and to mate.

It is estimated that Powelliphanta snails can live up to 20 years. In snail terms, that is an incredibly long life span!

Because Powelliphanta snails are prone to dehydration, they cannot survive in dry conditions. For this reason, they are more common in moist high-altitude forest than in drier forests at lower altitudes.

Getting ready to go on our walk!

Wow look how big this kauri tree is! Years ago the early settlers of New Zealand chopped down these huge kauri trees to build houses and buildings.

A tree hunt was awesome

We went to the bushes

Then we found all the trees

I had a fun day

By Michael C

Enjoying fresh air

Out in the forest

To go and explore the outside

Calling of the birds

By Reem

We had to observe 2 minutes silence in the bush. It's amazing what you hear when you're quiet! so sounds!

The cool stream water felt so lovely on our feet after our big walk.

"Parlae did you enjoy your day?"

"How about you Rumman?"

Even the mums got in the water. Thanks to all the parent helpers who came!

The stream is a greeny colour and has orange fishes with grey stones.

The water was freezing like the ocean’s water.

The background was full of trees.

But I saw one eel.

I wonder why there’s an eel in the stream?

But the eel is black.

It looked like a short fin eel but I don’t think I’m right

But anyway I really

loved the stream!

By Bhoomi

DAY 4 - THE BIG OVERNIGHT SLEEPOVER

Wow this was probably the highlight of the week. Some of us had never ever been away from our families before. It was a lot of fun sleeping in the auditorium with all our friends.

We got to drink milo and eat cookies before we went to sleep. We even got to see a movie - "The Lorax"! It was hard falling asleep that night. Although Mrs Dobbie and Mrs Goundar did their best to encourage us!