The Rising Tide / Birdwatching

Morning Group:

Time for a geography lesson. I told the children about the island nation of Kiribati, between New Zealand and Hawaii. We created our own island nation from dough in a clamshell pool and imagined what it would be like to live there. 

Of course, we had to add some sea to make it feel more realistic!

We read the book, Teaote and the Wall, by Marita Davies, and acted out what happened in the story - building walls on our little islands to keep the rising tides away from our houses.

At the end of the book, we read that Kiribati might be completely underwater in fifty years time because the tides keep rising. Why do you think that is happening? Is there anything we can do about it? This might be a good thing to find out more about at home.

Of course, we flooded our island nation to see what the sunken islands might look like as well. (But we imagined that all the people got off safely first!) 

Then we went down to the beach to play in the water and sand, in the mud and on the swing. Lots of fun.

Ideas for home:- Find out more about Kiribati and the problem they have with rising tides. What is the cause and what solutions can you think of?

Afternoon Group:We had decided last week to watch birds today, so after looking at some feathers and discussing our previous questions inside, we headed down to the beach to see what we could discover. Some were more excited about bird-watching than others, with two of the group taking detailed notes on their observations. We all noticed things though, like how the gulls ran before taking off and lifted their feet like landing gear on a plane. At the beach, we spotted seagulls and oyster catchers. Along the walk, we also saw tui and sparrows. The tide was out and the reef demanded exploration, so we went there as well. While it may not have been the most completely bird-focussed afternoon, it was good to spend time on the beach, watching things carefully.