Inspiring Positive Environmental Change!
Inspiring Positive Environmental Change!
April 10, 2019 at 2:35 PM
In the comfort of the classroom, our Year 9 students experienced the rich biodiversity that exists below the surface of our oceans – as if they were there! How? Through a virtual reality system.
Educators from the Sir Peter Blake Trust, in partnership with New Zealand Geographic, took the students on a ‘real life’, one-hour journey through our ocean, looking at several pristine and degraded ecosystems.
Wearing virtual reality headsets that gave 360 degree underwater views with a tilt of the head, the students were three dimensionally immersed in a variety of videos that demonstrated the effects of over-fishing and pollution. For centuries, we have harvested the sea for sustenance and profit and now we are beginning to understand the impact of our fishing on seabirds and non-target fish species, and the cumulative effects on other parts of the ecosystem. The students came to understand that one of the biggest threats to our ocean is the pollution caused by plastics, run-off and sedimentation, and discussed ways this could be changed.
This fun, immersive and educational learning experience connected the students with marine environments that most will never see first-hand. This was a unique opportunity that transformed the way that content is traditionally be delivered in the classroom.
The students left feeling inspired and eager to take appropriate action to help future proof our environment. Closer to home, it also helped them to understand the importance of the service activities that Saint Kentigern participates in, such as cleaning up the foreshore of the Tamaki Estuary at the boundary of our campus.
