Visiting the Auckland Zoo

Blogging about the Zoo 

Walt: Report, Recount and Reflect

When:   We went to the Zoo in Week 7 of Term 2. 

Where:  The Auckland Zoo near Western Springs in the Pt Chevalier area.

What:    A school trip that follows on from our trip to Tiritiri Matangi in Week 5.  

Who:     All of Te Waka Ako syndicate, plus 7 parents and 5 staff. 

How:     Lucky for us, by double decker bus!

Why:     To extend our knowledge and inquiry into New Zealand Animals and how they are being
              impacted by us.

Thursday in Week 7 saw all of our seniors head out to the Auckland Zoo to check out the New Zealand animals in particular, but anything else too. We all were in groups with six students and had certain times of the day we could roam freely and other parts of the day in educator programmes. Fraser was Hauraki's educator and he was outstanding. He was super cool and hooked the students and adults in to learning ' big time'. The students were so well behaved that the educators met us at the end to praise them and tell them they were the best group they had had through in the last few years!! High praise indeed. Our group loved seeing the penguins and the Ruru owl in the New Zealand sections. And of course who doesn't love tigers. He came up so close to the glass!

The Zoofari programme is an outstanding opportunity for schools to take up. Many of our students either hadn't been to the Zoo or had only been with a previous school trip. The educators we met up with inspired the students so much. They were informative, friendly and upbeat. We also had 45min checking out the Bug Lad that is inside the Zoo at present.

Link = https://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/get-involved/zoofari

We had lovely weather and could have stayed several more hours to check out all the animals.


 
 
 

Starting to Build

Our Installation Building started in Week 3. We nearly got it all done in one day with the help of two fabulous builders from a company connected to a staff member in our school. They let the students help out in different ways.
We used recycled timber for the whole structure and 6 pallets for the base.

 

By the end of the day all we needed to do was add wood to the roof line and battens on walls so we can attach the plastic bags to enclose it and a door to seal it up. The students were very excited and continued to happily collect rubbish from the classes.






A couple of weeks later the last of the construction works were done and we could attach the large plastic bags that we receive from the local supermarket with old bread in. These we stapled onto the wood so they overlapped. They have proven remarkably weather resistant! And Auckland has provided many tests with wind and rain battering us. 

 

 

ARTWORK MESSAGE

This Installation Art work is ‘talking’ about….. How much soft plastic is used by a small school of 10 classes in 8 weeks. We are looking at what we are doing to our natural world that is having a negative impact on the other animals that live in it. We are filling up the world with rubbish like we are filling up the house. It’s a house because WE (humans) are doing the polluting and we live in houses.

We want people to THINK about…..

Would we trash our house and leave rubbish everywhere? Why are we doing that to the World. Don’t we live in it? How we are affecting our World. How much soft plastic we are using and if it is all necessary. How can the world last with all this plastic. It might look beautiful on the outside but inside/ hidden is the rubbish.

We want people to TALK about…..

How people could change their habits or behaviours to use less soft plastic. How people could make sure all soft plastic that is used is recycled. How they could help clean up the damage so far. How they could help in any way.