The boys were there as part of their geography class and were looking at how landscapes and plants change over time and at altitude.
‘‘You can look at this in books, but when you see how dramatic the changes are, how the glaciers move, and the different plant species, the students are blown away. When we walk up to Red Tarns, you’re looking straight out at Aoraki, which is stunning,’’ Ms Winterfeldt said.
As a new community ranger at Aoraki/Mt Cook, Ms Winterfeldt, a former teacher, is delivering a Doc EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom) programme to students from all over New Zealand.
‘‘Some of them have never seen snow before, let alone walked 1200m up a mountain. Nature is an amazing classroom.
‘‘It’s a real hands-on experience observing, taking photos and testing their classroom theories and knowledge. New Zealand is geographically very unique.’’
Otago Boys’ High School head of social science Sam Bradbury-Leather said Aoraki/Mt Cook was a fabulous place to learn how different plants adapt and survive in an alpine environment.
The 44 year 12 geography students were investigating ecological patterns, and the students gathered data on percentages of plant species coverage at different zones and the basic principles of how things change with altitude.
‘‘The Doc team did an awesome job of engaging the students on a huge range of geographical issues in the Aoraki National Park area,’’ Mr Bradbury-Leather said.
‘‘It is a stunning setting to use the outdoors as a classroom and students are now perfectly set up to complete the write-up of their research reports.’’
Ms Winterfeldt said it was an opportunity to give the students an understanding of how our native species evolved over time and how vulnerable they are to introduced predators.
‘‘I talk to them about how we all need to understand the state of nature here and take some ownership of the issues our native species face with introduced predators, for example. I want to inspire them to get out ‘naturing’. This is a first experience for some of them, and I know they’re very keen to do more.’’
Doc was contracted by the Ministry of Education to support quality teaching and learning experiences for junior and secondary school students. Doc designed and provided programmes covering a range of subjects from years 1-13. All learning opportunities were aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum statement and assessments statements to complement learning in the classroom. — Allied Media
