Squawk Squad Week 1

This term we are participating in the National Squawk Squad learning journey.

Squawk Squad is running a free 7-week, nation-wide programme starting August 5th, teaching your tamariki to become kaitiaki for Aotearoa. Through fun activities, interactive videos, virtual reality and prizes, you’ll cover exciting topics ranging from Predator Free 2050 to Kaitiakitanga to Climate Change.

Week 1 is looking at predators in New Zealand that are causing a decline in our native bird species.  As a class we looked at which bird species we could name, and seeing if we knew whether they were native to New Zealand or not.

We discussed what might be causing the decline of our native species, and wanted to know which of these predators could be found at our school.  We created our own tracking tunnels to see which predators we could identify.




We used two old milk bottles, removing both ends, and sliding them together to create a longer tunnel. We placed peanut butter inside the tunnel to attract any predators in the area.  The predator had to walk through a small tray of dye before they could get to the peanut butter. Upon exit, they would have to cross a white bit of paper. This is where we would look to see what footprints we would get, and try to identify the predator they would belong to.



We left our tracking tunnels around the school in areas where we thought their might be predators.  We set them on Friday, and looked what we found again on Monday morning. We were very excited to find some foot prints on our papers. The only tracking tunnels that had footprints were located in the front garden by the hall's parking, and under Te Puawai's deck.

Here are some of our papers. It is hard to see the foot prints, but upon close examination, they are clearly there. We suspect mice and rats.