A visit from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Nga Mokopuna

By Oliver and Brooke

On the Monday of Week 5 we had Year 10 visitors from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Nga Mokopuna. Their names were Te Ao Rangi and Nga Waierua.

They came to talk about seaweed and their replanting program that we saw on seven sharp.They had to replant the seaweed because the Kina was eating it all because there weren’t enough snapper to eat the Kina.

Next up they taught us a game called the food chain. To play it we had 6 poses, that began with the sun, the seaweed, the kina, the snapper, the fishers, and the rangatira. We played paper, scissors, and rock to move up a level on the food chain.

Then they taught us about the structure of seaweed and how the little pods float the blades up to the surface so they get sunlight and grow using photosynthesis. We learnt that the importance of the food chain is very big. If one thing is out of place then the whole food chain could topple and important species could become extinct.

Then we learnt about all the different types of seaweed; Bull kelp (rimurapa), Zig Zag weed (Aramoana), Neptunes necklace (Tōngāmimi) and Nori (Karengo). All of the types of seaweed in existence are sorted into three colour categories, 140 types of Chlorophyta (green), 550 types of Rhodophyta (red) and 210 types of Ochrophyta (brown). We found out that there are many different types of uses like snacking , garnishes, face cream, and soups and salads.

It was nice having a local school visit us. It was also really nice because they were older kids and explained concepts in a simple way that adults often can’t manage. Overall it was really fun having them come and share with us.