We started our day with two special activities. First we went for a trip on the school bus to learn all about bus safety. We practised getting on and off the bus and learned about the emergency exits and the safety equipment on the bus. It was a very rainy morning, but we all had fun.
When we returned to the school we went to the gym to hear a presentation from Smokey the Bear and Mike, a representative from the Forestry Department. We learned about trees and how they help us. We even learned about photosynthesis! Smokey and Mike gave the school a cute little chair from Forestry Week and had a frisbee for each student. Mike challenged us to go out into the forest and take pictures of big trees. If we send the pictures in to the Kids’ Big Tree Registry we could win a prize.
Bus Safety and Smokey the Bear on PhotoPeach
Dear Mrs Watson and the 2/3
I remember hearing and reading about Smokey the Bear when I was a little girl ( a long time ago now). I think his stories may have been in the little Golden books. He has a great message about looking after the forests.
I wonder how you are getting on with photographing big trees. I know you have a forest at your school. What type of trees do you have in there?
One famous tree in New Zealand is a very old kauri tree in the North Island, and it is nicknamed ‘Tane Mahuta’ which is a Maori name that means ‘Lord of the Forest’
from Mrs McKenzie.
Dear Mrs. McKenzie,
The trees in our forest are cedars and firs. We have some very big trees on the island. Hopefully the students will get out and take some pictures soon.
We would love to see a picture of “Tane Mahuta”. Is it close to where you live? We will have to Google it. Lord of the Forest is such a fantastic name for a tree!
We’ll post some pictures of our big trees once the students have some to share.
Mrs. W and the 2/3’s
HiI’m from Burravoe School, we are a peerie island too. Please come and visit our blog.
Dear Mrs Watson
Here is a link to a page about Tane Mahuta. You might have to copy and paste it.
http://www.hokianga.net.nz/hokianga/waipoua/tane_mahuta.htm
The tree is in the North Island, and I have never had the opportunity to go and se it, although Rosealeigha, who used to be in this class, had been there.
Tane Mahuta is a kauri tree. Kauri gum was very highly prized, and had a variety of uses – for making jewellery; as a fire starter or to burn as a torch; to make varnish; to make linoleum and even as a chewing gum.
Do you have maple trees in your area?
from mrs McKenzie
Dear Mrs. McKenzie,
I can’t wait to show the students Tane Mahuta tomorrow! Thank you so much for sharing the link with us. What a marvelous tree.
We have a few maple trees on our island, but there are far more in other parts of our province and country. We have a lot of evergreen trees (cedar, fir, and spruce) here and also a lot of alders.
Here is a great video showing the type of forests we have where we live. It was shot in Tofino which is about 5 hours away from where we are. It shows how the first nations people use many of the things in the forest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2gvjBV-qlU
Hope you are enjoying your vacation,
Mrs. W
Dear Mrs. McKenzie,
We looked at the page about Tane Mahuta and a few other pictures we could find too. We had 13 children stand in a circle and hold hands so we could get a better idea of just how big the tree is. We all thought it was totally amazing!
Thank you so much for teaching us about Tane Mahuta!
Mrs. W and the 2/3’s