Tōtara Park Trip:

On Tuesday 30 July week two term three The Kāhu Hāpori went to Tōtara park. We went to Tōtara park to embrace our knowledge about kaitiakitanga (Gardians of the environment) but our main focus is being Gardians of the GalaxSEA. Going to Tōtara park helped everyone learn about different plants and insects. We used The Seek app to identify plants, birds and insects.

         Here are some things that I found in Tōtara Park

My Experience:

My experience was a mixture of great and painful because walking a lot doesn’t have a very good impact on my foot injury. Going to Tōtara park was interesting because looking at how the water flows in different parts of the park was wired. The water goes from slow and steady to fast and dangerous. I also saw some parts of the river covered in sea foam/bubbles.

 

Botanic Gardens Trip:

On Tuesday 6th August week 3 term 3 the Kāhu hapori went to Botanic Gardens. We went here to experience the difference between the water as exactly a week ago we went to Tōtara Park. We continued our learning in kaitiakitanga by looking at how the plants and water and how it is kept in a public environment.

Here are some things I found at Botanic Gardens:

My Experience:

My experience was great and very tiring because we walked for around 3 to 4 hours. We did two things the first thing my group and I did was an alphabet scavenger hunt and then we took a walk around to understand how the water is kept at Botanic Gardens. The water was reused, so the water that helped the sculptures look better and the water in the tank was rain water so whenever it rains the water gets trapped in the tanks.

 

The Difference between Tōtara Park and Botanic Gardens:

First the biggest difference is that Botanic Gardens is man made (the plants are planted by the people there). While at Tōtara Park the plants and trees are all natural. Next again the river at Botanic Gardens is more cleaner than Tōtara Park. Tōtara park is a natural environment so it does not have sculptures like Botanic Gardens. At Tōtara Park the river had sea foam and it was filled with dirt, grass and mud. When the Kāhu students went to Botanic Gardens we noticed that the water was clear/blue.

 

The Similarities Between Tōtara Park and Botantic Gardens:

As many as there were differences there are also a significant amount of similarities. Both these places have plants like lawn daisies, spurge plants and different types of ferns. Both these places also has simple things like grass, trees and dirt. These places both also have a river that flow through the entire environment.

 

How does this connect to Our Theme (kaitiakitanga):

Both these places are a great way to understand and connect with our environment. Our semester theme kaitaiakitanga is all about being Gardians Of The Environment but the Kāhu hapori theme is pacifically being Guardians Of The GalaxSEA! So taking a look at the conditions of the rivers that flow through Tōtara Park and Botanic Gardens helped us SEA what we could do to help. We are not only learning and discovering how to help but why to help we learn about the WHY so we can understand that our world need us to help before it is to late!

-By Ishita Luthra-