Sea Week is New Zealand鈥檚 annual celebration of our oceans, designed to raise awareness about the protection of our marine environments. From Monday 2 to Friday 6 March, the Enviroschools Council hosted a range of events, with every day filled with different activities.
On Monday, students were given chalk to draw their favourite sea animals on the pavement!
On Tuesday, the Enviroschools leaders organised a small five-question quiz that was presented during 奥丑腻苍补耻 assembly. This quiz provided fun facts surrounding sea life, highlighting the diverse species that live all around the world. It aimed to spread awareness, helping educate students on some endangered species that live in our seas, such as the Amazon River dolphin and Albatross, which are both unique animals that we strive to protect. Students who answered correctly were rewarded with a piece of chocolate, creating motivation and friendly competition. Overall, students had an enjoyable time engaging with the quiz, so we thought it a huge success
After sit-down lunch on Wednesday, students were invited to fold origami in the form of sea animals! We provided them with recycled paper as we put great consideration into caring for our environment. For guidance and inspiration, a couple of YouTube tutorials were used, helping them familiarize themselves with the art of origami. By the end, we were able to finish a collection of well-made fish, turtles, sharks etc. Overall, it was a very enjoyable hands-on activity that allowed students from all year levels to engage their inner child.
Our penultimate activity of the week was a stream water testing from the Kilkenny Stream. It was amazing to see students stop by and participate before continuing and for students to learn the importance of this testing and what we can do to help. It was especially interesting for us to learn how poor the water quality is in the stream – with both water clarity and phosphate being significantly above the value considered to be the trigger value to call the pollution hotline. Seeing students interested in something new to them is especially heartening to see and we hope we’ve inspired those who came to pursue environmental volunteering – potentially even water testing as well.
On Friday, BDSC鈥檚 school grounds were filled with colour as we held our first non-school uniform day of the year under the theme 鈥渂lue and green鈥�. It was great seeing students dressed up in vibrant sea colours and posing to take exciting photos with friends by the chalk art. Through our mufti-day, we were able to collectively show support towards sea life and advocate for marine protection. All donations will go towards our enviroschools groups here at BDSC.
~ Enviroschool Council Leaders