New Entrant Kōwhai Class Learners Otatara School
Early in term 3 (4 August) I joined the Kōwhai (new entrant) and Tōtara classes of Otatara School to go and visit where the tōtara tree had been lifted from the neighbouring reserve (by helicopter the previous week). The students became investigators noticing interesting things along the way, and looking at the uplift site and what had changed since their last visit. It is great to explore alongside students who are noticing the most amazing things.
Last week of term (29 September) I visited the Kōwhai class and again the observation skills of the students were evident. These quick learners already knew about the flowers and leaves as identifiers of the kōwhai tree. Today we looked even closer at what happens to the flowers as they change into bumpy seed pods. Breaking the seeds out of the pods we noticed they were yellow! We then planted some pre-soaked kōwhai seeds (replicating nature as we think this helps them germinate).
This is what we did:
- We used potting containers which have holes in the bottom for drainage
- We filled the container with soil and flattened the surface gently using a wooden block
- We sprinkled the seeds on the surface of the soil
- Covered the seeds with a layer a gravel
- Labelled our containers with name and date planted
- Learnt how to care for our seeds – keeping outside and wet (not waterlogged, but not allowing the soil to dry out)
We then ran to one of the kōwhai trees on the school site and we noticed all the flowers at different stages, the seed pods, and lots of seeds on the ground. What a find! Mrs Dolman was given seed packets of mixed native seeds (including kōwhai) to give her class to plant over the holidays.
Bronwyn
Posted: 30 September 2021