The National Environmental Service (NES) delivered an engaging and interactive session on freshwater health, using the Avatiu Stream as an example, at Tereora College last Thursday.

The session attended by Tereora College Level 1 geography class students was facilitated by the school’s geography teacher, Jason Qalobula, who invited NES to speak to the students.

Through this presentation, the students had the opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world environmental action.

According to Tekura Moekaa, manager of environment policy and planning, the presentation was based on the class’s current learning standard on “Exploring an Environment Using Data”.

This learning standard explores various local ecosystems, from public spaces and coastal zones to rivers and streams.

From the presentation students explored several important aspects of water health, including what constitutes healthy water, the threats it faces, and methods for stream protection.

Their presentation highlighted practical solutions such as riparian planting, pollution prevention and increasing public education and awareness.

The session was led by NES environmental specialist Mike Bowie and supported by NES staff Keanu Harawira, Sandee Cook, Ben Maxwell and Alowesi Suveinakama.

“The students learned to identify keep stream health indicators such as water velocity, stream width and depth, turbidity, PH levels, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nitrogen, phosphate and coliforms,” Moekaa said.

Bowie said: “It’s not just students collecting the data, we want students to understand the interconnectedness between stream health, biodiversity and human impact, and most importantly, that they can be part of the solution.”

This week, the Level 1 geography class, alongside NES, will visit the Avatiu Stream for practical learning and data collection.