UNIQUE WHAKATANE EXPERIMENT OF NATURE STUDY MAY BE START OF NEW TREND IN N.Z. EDUCATION SYLLABUS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 76, 31 July 1950, Page 5

UNIQUE WHAKATANE EXPERIMENT OF NATURE STUDY MAY BE START OF NEW TREND IN N.Z. EDUCATION SYLLABUS

An interesting experiment, in nature study has been carried out at the Whakatane Primary School over the past two and has attracted the attention of both parents and education authorities. Consisting of the study of nature peculiar to the Whakatane district it has been enthusiastically received by -the children and has even attracted the attention of the Minister of Education.

It originated in a discussion between the headmaster, Mr A. H. Fryer-Raisher, and Mr K. E. Francis, chairman of the school committee and Government Ranger for the district, on the lack of appeal the average nature study course held for children and whether it could be regarded of much real value to the average child. The verdict was unfavourable—but what was; wrong? Surely nature study should be the first subject to attract any child, ,for most children love pets and are great collectors of strange bugs and beetles at some period of their

lives, the two men contended. So it was agreed that an experiment should be started. The headmaster to provide the teacher and pupils—the ranger to provide the programme and technical knowledge. Resources would be pooled.

The headmaster named the course “Man's adaptation of Nature,” and within a few days Standard 6 and its form master, Mr P. R. Bryers, accompanied the ranger to the Ma£aetotara Stream on the first field day. The children had been told what to look for amongst the stones in the stream bed and to put their insect in the little glass bottles they had brought from home. They were to collect caddis larvae, mayfly nymphs, molluscs —anything, and Mr Francis passed from group to group identifying the specimens and telling their story, whilst the form-master, satisfied that the children were interested, carried out the ground work of his own researches.

It worked well. Diverse Collection

The children got back to school yfith a diverse collection of stream /life, preserved it in formalin and under 'the direction of their form commenced the task of learning the life history of w,hat they had seen and getting it into their work books. Later, many of them made excellent coloured drawings of their collecton. So the first important point was proved. Mr Bryers decided that the children were not only interested but keen. Lectures followed on how the caddis builds" a house of tiny ■stones bonded with silk threads and lives in it until he changes in to a river moth; and why it was the mayfly started as an egg, changed to a strange insect roaming the stream bed until it changed into a 'delicate shortlived fly dancing over the surface of the water.

The next stage introduced a study of the stream and river fish •—the bully, kokopu, whitebait and eels, which in turn live on- the insects. Why whitebait “run” only certain times of the year and how the eels breed miles away from land in the depth of the sea —were some of the obvious queries explained. Rainbow and brown trout soon came into the picture and the children examined samples of trout eggs, fry and fingerlings sent from the State Hatcheries at Rotorua. It was at this stage the first obstacle was encountered. Field days were of immense importance but streams where samples of fish could be captured by the children were too far from Whakatane for the restricted transport available. This problem remained unsolved. Liberation of Fish The Conservator of Wild Life, Rotorua, agreed to the liberating truck deviating from its normal course, to visit the school and let the children inspect the trout fry en route for liberation in one of the local rivers.

There will be about 70,000 fish carried on this truck and it is possible at a later date selected school children may be permitted to accompany the liberating tfmck on one of its runs.

The Minister of Internal Affairs is to be approached for permission to take a few specimen fish from a local stream- to illustrate the living and feeding habits of rainbow trout.

By that time the children will have followed the story through from the tiny insects in the stream to the smaller fish, which live on the insects and so to the natural and artificially reared trout that provide food and' sport as well as valuable dollar funds. They will know the evil effects of pollution of streams and the menace of erosion and begin to realise why man has tried to protect his stream life. • Later this scheme will include local bird life and its numerous

enemies; how to identify the birds, how they live and survive the menace of man and vermin. It is intended to allow the children a few field days after the worst of the winter to try their skill at identification both of birds and trees.

It will be clear that „this scheme is based on the study of local wild life and the creatures that live in the Bay of Plenty streams and forests—things that the children can seek for with their own hands.

Other Schools Too Mr Bowyer, Instructor of the Auckland Education Board, who specialises in nature study has visited the' school during the past few days and has reported enthusiastically on the scheme. It has been suggested by parents of children attending outside schools that they would like to. see similar schemes in operation for the benefit of their own children.

Thus, something has been started at Whakatane which may yet have interesting repercussions in education circles well beyond the Ba>. America today is greatly concerned with the profligate exploitation of their natural resources, forests and streams and has many thousands of her school children pledged, to conserve the natural wealth of the nation.

This experiment at the primary school must, by giving the children knowledge of field and streams, tend to train them as the future guardians of their own national resources.