Piha Learning Area 1 Visit Auckland Museum!

The bus rolled up to the Auckland Museum, white pillars towering over us as we filed out of the bus. I passed my bag, heavy with lunchboxes, to another person in my group to carry. Eventually, we made it to our home base. A small area with black couches lining the edges. A woman entered through the back and turned on a projector. After a short safety briefing, she led Room 11 up a small flight of stairs up to a room with glowing red lights and tables covered with red cloth. Another projector showed a volcanic eruption. 

We learnt all about different types of eruptions, like explosive or lava flow, and what to do in the event of one. We packed bags with only the essentials so we would know what to pack. Afterwards, we immediately bee-lined for  the weird-and-wonderful exhibit. We made butterflies and found Bart Simpson in a jar before we explored more. We visited the war memorial hall, read all the names before we went to the dinosaur exhibit. 

There were so many interesting things there, like dodo bones, a moa and more. After an hour or two, we finally went to the volcano room. We hit basalt stones, and went into the volcano house. It was full of people from multiple schools, so it was quite loud when it started. We watched the harbour bubble up while listening to the news report on volcano activity. Eventually, the harbour exploded in a huge cloud of gas and steam and the event ended.

Overall, it was an extremely fun trip to Auckland museum, where we saw many things about New Zealand and volcanic activity. I am very grateful that we were able to visit it. 

~Sophie King Rm 11