Last Tuesday the Tūī hub visited Orana Park to inform our inquiry learning.

The knowledgeable zoo keepers guided us around for the day

and shared their wealth of knowledge on caring for these amazing

creatures. It was a ‘grr-eat’ day where we spent time observing and

discussing animals such as the Lions, Tigers, Rhinos, Tasmanian Devils,

Gorillas and New Zealand native birds. All students got to hand feed the

excited giraffes too! The curious Tūī students asked lots of questions

demonstrating our Marshland School values of Ako and Manaakitanga.

The students have all written descriptive recounts of their experiences

and we have been learning how to publish our writing digitally too!

Our inquiry topic is responsibility and our learners have gained insight

into how the zoo cares for these animals' key needs of shelter, nutrition

and enrichment. Following on from our visit, in the hub we have been

contrasting and comparing animals' needs with our own. We will

continue to deepen our understanding of this topic by learning about

the systems of the human body. We look forward to the students

continuing to show passion and excitement for their learning.