On the 18th of November the Year 10 Mountains to Sea class had an exciting field trip to the Grovetown Lagoon. We were welcomed by a group of eager volunteers who took us on a tour of the great area. We then got stuck into activities, planting grasses, potting plants and water sampling. 

 The purpose of this trip was to have students take action towards improving a local environment. The water sampling was a real highlight, there were many exciting creatures found such as glass shrimp, snails, many worms and fleas and even a pregnant shrimp! 

We successfully planted and potted over 100 plants and discovered much of Grovetowns' great history. These stories included long lost WW2 planes, the Otamawaho urupa where the chief Te Tana Pukekōhatu was buried and the piggery that previously occupied the area. 

Izzy Gillispie shared her favourite experience was looking at the macro invertebrates in the creek. We also learnt about the trapping that occurs to help protect our birds, this included a live demonstration, making many students jump.

By Harriet McLauchlan