This term, our focus for STEAM has been on Bushcraft.

We started with listing what we needed to build a fire, the tools/materials we needed and the “Fire Triangle” – oxygen, fire, and fuel. Take any of those elements away, and you won’t get a fire started. The basic materials to start a fire are most preferably rocks, wood (tinder, kindling, fuel), or flint and steel when you’re in the wilderness.

Camp is quite similar to Bushcraft because both things are outdoors and there is a lot of physical activity and searching involved, and in both places we are all collaborating together and working as a team. Although it is quite similar, camp is more relaxed and more comfortable than Bushcraft, where it tends to be more of a survival situation and style, rather than running around with your teammates at camp.

So far in STEAM we have also been exploring first aid, signaling methods, and our survival kits with our groups, testing ourselves to think over different scenarios and how we would react to them. Afterward we headed over to Tōtara Park to build a small shelter to cover one of our teammates. We had to use the objects surrounding our assigned space in order to make it, with both small and thick pieces of wood to overlap each other in order to build a low but “dark” shelter — the darker it looks when inside, the more covering it has, and the better it is.

Bushcraft has been really exciting and enjoyable so far, and we all hope to learn more, do better, and learn more from Ms Rowland.

Angela, Arsh, Saskia.