Living Heritage -Duntroon School - Irrigation in the Duntroon Area

This project was completed by Year 6 – 8 students, studying the reasons behind the continued development of irrigation infrastructure in our local Duntroon/North Otago area.

The students gathered their information via:

While on our field trip it was easy to see the difference that irrigation makes to farmland as you can see above.

Watching old television footage about drought in our area.
Reading old newspaper clippings referring to times of drought.
Emailing, faxing, writing and ringing experts.
A fieldtrip around irrigating farms and related irrigation infrastructure.
Inviting experts to visit.
Searching internet archives for recorded interviews with irrigation experts etc.

As more than half of the class live on farms, we had a good knowledge base from which to work - as they clearly understood the value of water to farming practices. In saying this only some of these are irrigated farms and for many children irrigation has been a recent addition to their families farm - so we still had plenty of scope for learning.

Skills:

The posing of inquiring questions to gather the necessary data
Using Front Page to develop a web site
Understanding the relevance of information gathered beyond an individual farm
Being able to judge accuracy of information
Organisation and processing of information gathered
Reflection and modification of work to enhance the end product

Interpersonal Skills:

Co-operation and communication skills
Learning to listen
Being responsible for achieving a goal and working to full individual capability
Ability to compromise and show consideration towards others.

Knowledge:

Unit related terminology
Understand how the local area has changed as people try to harness the power of water from the Waitaki via dams and past/present irrigation systems.
Water gathering/delivery and application methods
The water cycle
States of matter (solids, liquid and gas)
Value of water to humans, animals and plants etc

Essential Learning Area:

Social Studies & Science in the NZ Curriculum at Levels 3 and 4

Social Studies Strands:

Time, Continuity & Change (AO1)

Economic Resources (AO1)

Place & Environment (AO1)

Science Strands:

Planet Earth & Beyond (AO 1 & 2)

Physical World (AO 1/2)

Living World ( AO 2 & 4)

Making sense of the Nature of Science & its Relationship to Technology (AO 1 & 2)