The iridescent green stonefly wriggles in the tray and Daniel’s friends gather around.

“You should get a job doing this Daniel,” says one.

“You bet I’m gonna have a job doing this. And as soon as I get home I’m going to get some seeds and plant some trees and get my family to plant some trees and then I’m going to get my whole class to plant some trees.”

Daniel’s Year 7 class is testing stream health at Craigieburn Forest Park on the second day of a Coast to the High Country environmental education field trip and they’re loving every minute of it.

The field trip has been developed by a partnership of educators from Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury (ECan), Department of Conservation (DOC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-NZ), Christchurch College of Education and Canterbury Environmental Trust.

The first day of this trip took Daniel’s class through different Canterbury ecosystems — from Mt Vernon Park on the Port Hills to the Spencer Park sand dunes, the Otukaikino wetland and the gravel braids of the Waimakiriri River. At each site they play an experiential game, hear from a City Council, DOC or ECan speaker, or do some scientific investigation facilitated by a registered teacher from WWF-NZ.

On day two they explore parts of Craigieburn Forest Park, including the local streams. On day three they learn about the value that the Maori place on New Zealand’s environment while exploring Kura Tawhiti and other high-country locations.

The Coast to the High Country delivers education in, about and for the environment in inspiring locations based on the NZ Environmental Education Guidelines. Daniel’s class has focused on “Living World” objectives from the Science Curriculum, but the trip can be customized to cover objectives from numerous learning areas including Social Studies, Technology and Health.

Children not only learn in and about Canterbury’s special environments during the field trips but are also encouraged to become more sensitive about how their own behaviour can impact on and improve these places. A follow-up visit by the WWF-NZ teacher also gives children the opportunity to focus their learning on positive actions for the environment.

Motivated by their discovery of green stonefly nymphs and caddisflies at Craigieburn, Daniel’s class became interested in seeing what they could do to restore or preserve river habitats. They learned about the effect that electricity shortages can have on lakes and streams and developed a campaign to reduce energy consumption at their school and at home.

Further visits to the nearby Heathcote River could lead to the development of an Enviro-group to pursue a habitat restoration project.

The Coast to the High Country also caters for students further on in their learning career and is a core component of emerging Year 12 courses in Sustainable Futures in Canterbury secondary schools.

Meaningful contexts for learning are a core component in New Zealand teachers’ planning books. The Coast to the High Country field trip offers an intense and exciting cross-curriculum experience. Teachers and students who share the vision of a future where Environmental Education is a central context for learning in New Zealand schools have been the first to participate in the field-trip and have led the way for others to follow.