The pupils, helped by a group of 40 adults, comprising teachers and parents, took part in a variety of tasks at the Enviroschools Regional Big Day Out, held at Dunedin's Araiteuru marae, in Shetland St, yesterday.
Included were workshops on planting vegetable seedlings, measuring water and air quality and running recycling schemes.
Enviroschools regional co-ordinator Jenny Neilson said the Dunedin City Council-funded programme was aimed at getting school communities to think about "the whole sustainability package''.
Included were modules on establishing a "zero-waste'' school and implementing energy conservation measures.
The event, which is usually run in October, was being held in April to allow schools to implement programme components before winter, and share ideas, Ms Neilson said.
Teachers attended three professional development workshops.
Port Chalmers School teacher and 2008 Science, Maths, and Technology Fellow Jenny Upton held workshops on the population and distribution of the endangered Hectors dolphins, and the critically endangered Maui dolphin, which inhabits North Island waters.
Sir Peter Blake Environment Educators Fellow Dr Simon McMillan conducted outdoor workshops with pupils at the Kaikorai Common, between Shetland and School Sts, where pupils were to measure pollution in waterways caused by fertiliser run-off, and agricultural and industrial activity.
