Young Wairarapa scientists abound

Olivia Telford, 7, from Pirinoa School, comes to grips with the scales and fins of the aquatic world during a Year 3 and 4 Biology Two-Day Extension programme.

Primary school students throughout Wairarapa have been opening their eyes to the living world around them.

Tutor Morag O'Driscoll, a former primary and secondary science teacher, has been leading the Year 3 and 4 Biology Two-Day Extension programme for classrooms across the region as part of the Wairarapa REAP Schools Programmes.

Wairarapa REAP schools liaison Trudy Sears said Mrs O'Driscoll had an enduring curiosity and concern for the environment and "this passion comes through in her teaching of the science subjects".

Ms Sears said the two-day biology workshop had been already completed at Masterton Primary School for a class of 20 students drawn from nine schools in the town, and at Featherston School for 20 students from 10 schools in South Wairarapa.

The latest programme was held at Hillcrest School in Pahiatua on Thursday and Friday and involved 20 students from a half dozen schools in northern Wairarapa, Ms Sears said.

Students selected for the programme had shown a keen interest in sciences, displayed curiosity, and were self-motivated, she said.

The programme leads students through the use of a microscope to inspect different plants and learn the biology of differing plant types, leaves and stems, and the process of photosynthesis. Fungi and yeast also were examined, along with the "living world" of animals, mammals, birds and marine life.

Students also explored what yeast needs to live, the classification of animals and their adaptations, food chains, and what makes up different different types of animals.

Ms Sears said the workshops were open to all Wairarapa primary schools.