This term, the Harakeke Team have been investigating a problem that they have noticed. Here is some of the learning that Room Muka have done.

What is the problem?

"We have lots of pūkeko poo outside our classroom. The poo was all dried up. The poo is similar to a hedgehog. We looked it up on the computer and we saw the pūkeko by the fence." Harry

"Pūkeko are pooing outside because they like eating grass and worms and apples from the apple tree". Sofia

"The pūkeko like the warm concrete, so they poo there. They like eating apples and they really like pooing on the concrete. They eat heaps of food. Sometimes we can hear them outside." William

"The pūkeko are pooing on our deck, because they want to eat some of our food. They like eating apples and grass. They like to live in swamps." Odette

"They are pooing outside our classroom. They're silly. It makes a big mess." Laci

How did we find out some more information about it?

"We wrote letters and Ms Woods and Mr Hean came to talk to us about it. They told us that pūkeko don't like motorbikes because they're noisy. We asked them some questions, like why they don't like motorbikes." Charlotte

"We learnt more about pūkeko so we can solve the problem. We learnt that pūkeko are scared of harrier hawks." Oliver

"We learnt that they are scared of noise, like motorbikes and loud cars. Pūkeko are blue and black and red." Renata

"We asked more people about pūkeko and found out what they eat. They eat apples and grass. There are apples outside our classroom on the ground." Elaina

How could we solve this problem?

"We can make a fence to keep the pūkeko away. Then they can't poo outside our classroom." Eliana

"We can put hundreds of cameras there and then they'll run away." Theo

"We can put wood between the gaps of the fence so the pūkeko can't squeeze through. They're very big so if we fill the openings between the fence, they will be stuck over there. Then they can't push through." Fletcher

"I think we can put a zapping fence so it will zap the pūkeko if they try to get in." Luca

"We can make a siren and put it on top of the buildings to scare them away." Cathy

Our next step is to try some of our ideas to solve the problem. Have a look at the photos below to see some of the work we have done so far.