MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 9 December, 2015

Students present stream findings

Students from North Street School attended a meeting of Horizons Regional Council's Environment Committee today to present their findings following their study of the Makino Stream.

Horizons environmental educator Helen Thomas said students completed a guided stream study in Term 2 and then borrowed a Waiora kit to continue to monitor the stream for the rest of the year.

Waiora is a popular stream study kit developed by Horizons for its environmental education programme to allow students to undertake sampling and identify key indicators for stream health. Schools can opt to have a guided session with Mrs Thomas and in November alone she has undertaken 14 Waiora sessions with schools across the Region.

“The initial Waiora visit took place on the Makino Stream at James Palmer Park which is only a short walk from the school. The students then continued to monitor the stream from the same location,” said Mrs Thomas.

“They were so keen to continue that they wanted to be called river scientists because the stream has become a passion for them and they know their stream feeds into a bigger river. They have been going down every week during school time, as well as in their own time, to take measurements and monitor the health of the stream.”

Four students presented their findings to the Committee, commenting on changes in the water flow and clarity, the kind of freshwater life they found and the state of erosion.

“On the left hand bank of the Makino Stream the bank has slipped due to erosion from the June floods,” said 12 year old Jerome Springhall.

“The bank is still unstable and this point of the river would benefit from the planting of native bushes or trees to help stabilise it and encourage growth back.”

Environment Committee chair Colleen Sheldon said she was very impressed by the students presentation.

“The students demonstrated in depth research of the stream, not just from a monitoring point of view, but also in terms of what the findings mean. They captured the attention of a large audience including a member of the public who stood up and sang a waiata at the end of their presentation.”

Mrs Thomas says the students have developed some next steps around making the stream a better habitat.

“These included investigating the impact that introduced fish species may have on native fish; the possibility of breeding and introducing native species like koura (freshwater crayfish) back into the Makino Stream; planting natives to help stop further erosion to the banks; and continuing their monitoring into 2016.

“Finally this would not be possible without the support of parents, one of whom has taken the students down every single week and supported the students when they delivered their presentation to Environment Committee,” said Mrs Thomas.

ENDS

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