Background 

Whakamarama School is a rural school 20 minutes from Tauranga, Bay of Plenty. The school caters for New Entrants to Year 8 students and has its own special character (established in 1914). Whakamarama School has 3 teachers who are proud of the ideal learning conditions such as small class sizes, excellent resources, parent support and highly motivated, innovative students.

Fieldtrip activities make use of a beautiful 3ha block of native bush just down form the school. Kindly allowed access by the Bruning family, the site is an easy stroll for students from their classroom. The Bruning's are keen to undertake pest control in their native bush, so school environmental monitoring will focus on the current health of the forest. In the future we can compare results and see what environmental improvement has taken place.

Recent Events

Small Animal and Possum Monitoring

As an initial baseline survey, Year 5/6s and teacher Wayne Steele took part in  small animal and possum monitoring in late June. 6 trackers were positioned, baited ink cards laid and the cards brought back in the next day. 10 possum waxtag detectors were also nailed to 10 trees surrounding the site. These were left out for one week. The results showed one rodent print and four waxtags having possum bite marks - indicating a moderate possum presence. There was also plenty of possum poo to be found on the forest floor.

Recently four possum traps have been installed. Demonstrated by Colin Hewens of nearby Friends of Puketoki Reserve, the students saw up close how, where and why possum trapping is done. The traps are maintained by the Brunings with positive results happening so far - on average a possum per day!

Insect Monitoring

The type and abundance of insects is a great indicator of forest health. It is estimated that in a native bush area after pest-control is undertaken, the population of insects can increase by 500% ! Insects are an important part of the food web and are readily consumed by pests like possums and rodents. In August students laid out four pitfall traps to capture and measure the forest insects. They also took part in a forest litter exercise. Three weeks later the students returned to the site and each group gathered in their samples. Baseline results are currently being counted and identified by the students.

Water Quality Monitoring

In conjunction with World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) Year 5-8 students took part in water quality surveying in the local Whakamarama Stream. WWMD aims to have people globally testing water quality and hope for 1 million participants in 100 countries. Student results are sent to the USA where the data is collated in a global review.

In groups, the students tested four main parameters: Water temperature, pH (acidity), turbidity (clarity) and dissolved oxygen. Average results:

In summary the students discovered their stream to be in very good health. A further macroinvertebrate survey is planned for the future to provide another means of water quality testing.