The Forests of Life project will begin in early 2005 with Year 7-8 students from Mokoia Intermediate in Rotorua and Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, identifying nearby native bush that will be the focus of their project.
The development and management of a restoration plan will be mapped out, implemented and monitored by the students supported by mix of virtual, remote internet-based learning, and in the field experience.
Images of plants will be taken in the field using Proscopes - mini microscopes that take magnified digital images which are able to be projected back onto a computer screen to be studied by the students. The plant images will be identified using a CD of New Zealand plants and then stored to form a virtual collection known as a herbarium. Proscopes will also be used to take images of soil, rock formations and water flows.
Temperature, rainfall and humidity levels will be monitored remotely using a sensing tool called the Hobo.
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geography Information Systems software (GIS) will also be used to map out and record data related to the selected environments. GPS will be used for gathering spatial information such as the location of streams and the gradient of slopes. GIS gathers data on individual components such as rainfall and bird and plant life.
The layers of information are combined and produce a spreadsheet that is analysed and used to explain the linkages between the layers of data. From the data gathered, students will learn what plants will do well and in which location in the bush. The students will then literally get their hands dirty when they replant the bush.
A Forests of Life website with a chat room will be used to aid learning, communication and the sharing of ideas between the two schools.
Botanists, ecologists and environmental planners from Massey University and Ensis (formerly Forest Research), will provide assistance for the duration of the project and the schools’ case studies will be published.
The first of two milestone reports is due in May 2005.
