Creative with natives
Once again the education staff at the Botanic Gardens and the Christchurch Art Gallery look forward to offering Christchurch schools a chance to discover what it is about our local native biodiversity that can inspire great works of art and bring plant lovers to their knees.
The Creative and Native programme takes a cold hard look at what we are doing to our local native biodiversity, what we have lost and what is being done to prevent further losses.
The students start the programme at the Botanic Gardens through an adventure of exploration and investigation, discovering the special features of our native plants and animals.
They then cruise across to the Art Gallery where they are introduced to the works of artists whose work incorporates native flora and fauna. Students are encouraged to consider what has motivated the artists to focus on New Zealand's wildlife. They are then taken to the on-site gallery classroom where they are given the opportunity to create their own masterpiece, taking inspiration from the unique and unusual native plant and animal life that they have studied earlier in the day.
Really enjoyable for students and some awesome learning going on.
Teacher feedback
Teachers, this programme offers you the chance to visit two prime Christchurch education locations in one hit. The programme is cross curricula; covering Art, Social Studies and Science. Creative and Native follows the formula of other Learning Through Action programmes; it is experiential (hands-on), fun and interactive and has captured the interest of those students that have participated.
This programme is on offer to schools only during the following periods, so get in quick:
- Monday 3 April to Friday 7 April
- Monday 1 May to Friday 5 May
Requests for bookings outside this period will be considered with a minimum of two months notice.
- Learning Through Action is an education service provided by the Christchurch City Council, thanks to support provided by the Ministry of Education LEOTC (Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom) programme.
If you are teaching at one of the few schools yet to take advantage of what the Learning Through Action programme offers we would encourage you to visit the website, at http://www.ccc.govt.nz/LearningThroughAction.
Online, you can look at the map showing where the programmes take place, the activities provided and their curriculum links. You can also phone Andrea Taylor on 941-8298. |
