Meet The Locals 2: Education Resources
Rescue and Recovery
Feathers and frogs!
Years: 7, 8 and 9
Levels: 3 and 4
Years: 7, 8 and 9
Levels: 3 and 4
This unit is about the work being done to look after and build the
populations of kakapo, native frogs and takahe.
Part A - Kakapo Recovery
New Zealand's giant nocturnal parrot went from being one
of our most common birds to one of our rarest. You'll meet James
Reardon a biologist with DOC and the new presenter for Meet the
Locals series as he heads off to Anchor Island in the Dusky Sounds
to track down kakapo. Other videos from the Meet the Locals series
are used too.
Part B - Save our Native Frogs
We focus on New Zealand's unique native frogs and this
time James heads to Whareorino in the King Country to check out the
Archey's frog, one of New Zealand's critically endangered, native
frogs that have changed very little in 70 million years. Again,
we'll also use other Meet the Locals videos.
Part C - Takahe Recovery
This time James Reardon begins his journey at a takahe
training camp in Te Anau before heading for the Murchison hills to
check up on some takahe released into the wild the previous year.
You'll see the earlier video too that showed the chicks' journey
from their predator free island in the Hauraki Gulf to
Fiordland.
Science achievement objective
Living world
Students will:
(Ecology)
Explain how living things are suited to their particular habitat
and how they respond to environmental changes both natural and
human induced.
Evolution: Appreciate that some living things in New Zealand are
quite different from living things in other parts of the
world.
Social Studies supporting achievement objective
Understand how people participate individually and
collectively in response to community challenges.
Technology supporting achievement objective
Explain the nature of an intended outcome explaining how
it addresses the need or opportunity.
Learning outcomes
In Part A - Kakapo Recovery
Students will:
1. Assess the adaptive features of the kakapo and decide how
much of an impact they have had in contributing to their
downfall.
2. Work in pairs and list the options that can be put in place to
protect vulnerable species from predators. Students decide which
option will be the most successful.
3. Show they understand the significance of tracking tunnels by
constructing and placing tunnels in likely predator areas.
4. Follow a timeline to grasp a clear understanding of how close
the kakapo came to extinction and mark the positive and negative
influences on its survival.
5. Formulate strategies for a kakapo recovery plan after viewing
relevant facts and idea notes to accomplish recovery aims.
6. Interpret facts about Codfish Island to decide how they will
influence the kakapo recovery programme there and then watch the
latest Meet the Locals video to see the programme in action.
In Part B - Save our Native Frogs
Students will:
1. Use a jigsaw activity to gather information about New Zealand's
unique frogs and present it to others making use of simple flip
charts.
2. Draw a flow chart to show how frogs are an indicator species or one that illustrates the benefit of some frog research technology.
3. Become familiar with the threats posed to our native frogs, list the groups that have and will influence their future and together list possible "in their shoes" scenarios that may or may not help New Zealand's native frogs.
4. Use a video planner to organise a five minute video on native frogs using the resources and knowledge gathered.
In Part C Takahe Recovery
Students will:
1. Find out about the rediscovery of takahe and together work out
possible reasons for the small number surviving.
2. Identify and list the adaptive features that once helped takahe survive but led to its decline, when stoats and deer entered their territory.
3. Watch a video to identify the measures in place that assist in the takahe recovery. Pick one of these measures and list the "next steps" that should be made if recovery is to be successful.
4. Use the latest video as a resource and design an infographic that illustrates aspects of successful takahe recovery and provides a "bright idea" to help solve a recovery problem.
Assessment activity
Choose from the activities in the unit.
Teaching and Learning Activities
PART A - KAKAPO RESCUE
1. A vulnerable bird?
Watch
Meet the Kakapo and then in pairs
or small groups try
Assess the threat.
Students will come to
see that the features that once helped the bird now put it in
danger.
2. Why an island?
Think, pair and share
- Which of our native birds are especially vulnerable to
introduced predators such as stoats, rats and feral cats? (E.g
Ground dwellers such as kakapo and kiwi and tree hoppers such as
kokako).
- What are the options for protecting these species from
predators? (E.g. traplines through the mainland bush, predator free
fenced mainland islands, predator free islands).
- What makes one option better than the other and which option would you choose for a highly threatened species?
Watch two videos now. The first, Pomona Island, shows what the locals are actually doing to make the island predator free. Before you watch ask the students to identify:
- The two tasks that need to done when creating a predator free
island. (Eradicating the pests and making sure they don't
return.)
- The five pests being eliminated on this island.
- The ongoing tasks and costs.
Ulva Island shows an island
that's been predator free for more than 10 years. Watch this video
and as a class decide on what measures are probably being taken at
Ulva Island to ensure it remains predator free.
(E.g. Traplines, tracking tunnels and checking bags and boats for
stowaways!)
3. Track your pests!
Tracking tunnels indicate if pests are still in an area,
or if they have somehow managed to return. They're used to monitor
islands and mainland areas where the aim is to eliminate or reduce
pest numbers.
- Watch Bushtelly to see how they work.
Students can make their own tunnels and place them at home or
around the school. They'll be surprised what's there!
-
A simple tunnel
-
Another home made tracking
tunnel
- This short guide for identifying footprints will be helpful
4. Kakapo are rare!
New Zealand's big friendly parrot almost became extinct.
To help students see just how close, follow the timeline,
Kakapo are rare
and mark the positive
and negative influences on this bird's survival.
As a class decide which of the negative influences had the biggest long term impact? (The great speed with which the birds have disappeared from even large untouched forest blocks indicates that predation, rather than habitat loss, was mainly responsible for their demise.)
5. Lets help the kakapo
Now watch
Saving the kakapo to learn more
about how DOC brought the kakapo back from the brink of extinction.
Don Merton features on this video. Don also played a huge part in
saving the Chatham Island black robin.
Before viewing ask the students to watch for three strategies
that would become part of the Kakapo Recovery Plan.
(1. Ensure the eggs are not eaten by rats. 2 Train the females
to eat supplementary food - the rimu tree doesn't always oblige
with a food supply. 3 Monitor all surviving birds very
closely.)
6. Recovery plan needed
Kakapo are among the slowest breeding birds on earth so
when planning for recovery DOC must keep this in mind.
Use Kakapo 3 Planning for recovery . Students can study the aims and the ideas to help achieve them. Their job is to list some actual strategies that will put the ideas into practice.
(For example: From the actual recovery plan - To maximise egg
and chick survival the recovery team planned to:
- Monitor all nests using remote video cameras and other
appropriate technology.
- Ensure nesting females received adequate nutrition by using feeders linked to scales. This was shown on the video.)
7. Recovery continues
Finish with the latest video about the kakapo. You'll
meet the new Meet the Locals presenter,
James Reardon.
In this video James takes a trip to Anchor Island in South-west
Fiordland's Dusky Sound. It's 13,000 hectares of pest free island
and a home for kakapo.
A look at this map will show students Dusky Sound and near Stewart Island you'll see Codfish Island - another home for more kakapo.
Reveal one fact at a time and ask students to consider how the information will affect the kakapo.
- The first kakapo are transferred to Anchor Island in 2005 after DOC eradicates stoats.
- Anchor Island has a beech and rimu forest ecosystem and Codfish (the other kakapo island) only has rimu forest.
- Rimu and beech forests flower at 3-5 year intervals but not necessarily at the same time.
- There are more years of abundant natural food on Anchor Island compared to Codfish
- Rimu fruit often fails to set in the deep south. Beech seed is more likely to do so.
- It's hoped the kakapo on Anchor Island will start feeding from both forest types.
Four things to watch for on this last video are:
- The habitat the kakapo lives in.
- The reason why they're vulnerable. (You'll see kakapo freeze. With its camouflaged feathers this was once good protection from the giant eagle. Unfortunately it's poor form of defence now!).
- The technology used in the recovery programme.
- The danger introduced birds pose to our very rare parrot.
Enjoy the video and then to
finish off, discuss and decide in class whether kakapo will ever be
seen on the mainland again.
PART B SAVE OUR FROGS!
1. What do you know?
New Zealand's native frogs are threatened just as the kakapo is. We
once had seven species and now there are four. They belong to the
genus
Leiopelma , an ancient group of frogs that have
changed very little in the last 70 million years.
The activities focus on students building their knowledge to
complete a video planner for a 5 minutes video on New Zealand's
native frogs.
To begin, form groups of five for a jigsaw exercise. Use
Frog 2: Know your frogs
as
your resource. Each group member needs to go away and become an
expert by reading
one of the five fact sheets about our
native frogs.
Then, using simple flip charts to illustrate
some of their
points the students return to the group to present their
findings.
(The flip chart is a good way to introduce the type of
illustrations that will later be needed for the storyboard-part of
the video planning process.)
2. Do they know what we know?
Now watch the
Frog Recovery video . This
video will reinforce the students' findings and they will see the
frogs.
Two new pieces of information are added here. The presenters talk
about frogs as an
indicator species and you will find out
about a special camera that is set up to photograph the markings of
individual frogs so they can be identified.
Divide your class in two.
- In pairs half your students can draw simple flow charts to show
how frogs can indicate that an aspect of the environment has
changed for the worse.
- The other half can draw a flow chart that illustrates the value
of the camera that helps identify each frog so a data base can be
built up.
(For example the flow chart might show how individuals within an area are identified so they can be checked for chytridiomycosis - the deadly disease caused by the chytrid fungus.)
3. Lets look at the threats
Several factors have contributed towards the downfall of New
Zealand's native frogs. Loss of, or changes to habitat through
deforestation or goldmining, pollution from storm water and
herbicides as well as wild pigs and goats silting up the streams
that they live in or near. DOC has purchased land within the frog's
habitat in an effort to control the conditions in which they
live.
The other huge threat is chytridiomycosis - the deadly disease
caused by the chytrid fungus. It's wiping out frogs world wide and
even climate change could weaken frogs' immune systems and make
them more prone to fungal infections.
(For some brief background information see
Frog 3: A deadly disease
)
Discuss the threats in class and then think, pair and share to come up with a list of people that can influence, in a positive or negative way, the future of our native frogs. Share the ideas in class and come up with a master list.
(E.g. Hunters, farmers, the public in the towns who use storm water drains, the saw mill operator, DOC scientists, a government mining minister, a Green Party MP, a mega store owner with a promotion that gives tadpoles away.)
Now watch
Maud Island Frog -
You'll see the measures in place to protect against some of
these threats
4. In their shoes
In small groups use
Frog 4: In their shoes
so students can
put themselves in the shoes of others and come up with some likely
scenarios to positively influence the native frog's future.
'Press conference' is a good activity to follow this one. Some
students take the role of the hunter, the farmer etc while the
others become reporters and stand and introduce the news agency
they're from. They then ask a searching question.
(E.g. "Jenny Askalot from TVNZ. Could the manager of Goldmine Plus
explain the measures they will put in place to protect our native
frogs that we know are in the planned mining area?")
5. Plan your own video
In Chapter 2 of this video
, James Reardon reinforces much of what the students have
learnt. James travels to Whareorino near Te Kuiti with DOC
Scientist Lisa Douglas to find the Archey's Frog.
You'll see up close:
- Their habitat and why they are threatened.
- Their special features and their development stage which is so different to other frogs.
- The threat posed by the chytrid fungus and how Lisa and other DOC staff are monitoring these frogs.
All this shows why the Archey's frog deserves as much protection, as any of high profile species in New Zealand.
The students should now have a good bank of knowledge to plan their own video. Use Frog 1 Video Planner . They'll know enough to plan each scene!
PART C TAKAHE RECOVERY
Fossil remains indicate that takahe were once found over a wide area of New Zealand but in the 19th century only four birds were seen alive. By 1930 takahe were thought to be extinct.
Then, in 1948 after a lot of searching, an expedition led by Dr Geoffrey Orbell's found a few pairs of takahe living in the alpine tussock grasslands of the Murchison Mountains.
Surveys later found about 250 birds in the region's valleys and neighbouring ranges. 500 square kilometers of the Fiordland National Park was then set aside to protect and aid in the bird's recovery.
By 1981 however the population was down to an estimated 112 birds and the species was in danger of extinction.
Today takahe have been established on four predator free islands and the Burwood Bush captive breeding and rearing unit in Te Anau helps the population recover. With careful management recovery is underway in Fiordland but numbers are still low.
1. Backcountry birds
Share the brief history above with your students.
Use the map on page 9 of the recovery
plan to show where the population was and is
today.
2. The survivors
As a think, pair and share activity, ask how the
population of takahe, found in the 1940's managed to survive.
(In some places, climate change reduced the grasslands that takahe fed on. The grasslands of Fiordland remained however. The Murchison Mountains is also a very remote area so early human hunters, Maori and later the sealers, would have had less impact. Unfortunately predators like stoats were introduced to Fiordland in the late 1800s so they were certainly there by the time takahe were rediscovered in 1948. Perhaps stoats found more animals to eat back then and therefore had less of an impact on the remote takahe population.)
3. No match for the threats
The establishment of deer are thought to be the main
reason for takahe decline since 1948. Control, from helicopter and
ground has been one of the most successful management actions.
Large numbers of deer were introduced during the 1940's and 50's
and they destroyed the grassland habitat. Stoats had a big impact
too.
Use sites like the examples listed below to find the adaptive features of the takahe. Students should identify and list those features that once helped takahe survive but later led to its decline, when stoats and deer entered their territory.
Useful sites:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/birds/land-birds/takahe/threats/
http://www.kcc.org.nz/takahe
(Ideas: Takahe are flightless, nests are built on the ground and a 30 day incubation period means the eggs are vulnerable for a long time. These birds favour the tussock grasses to eat and shelter in. Deer eat and move around in the same habitat. Takahe need to eat almost all day, making them more vulnerable to predators.)
4. A helping hand for the younger generation
This takahe release
video looks at the transfer of seven takahe chicks from a
predator free island to their "training camp" in Fiordland. It's
here that the chicks learn the skills to help them survive in the
wild.
Watch the video as a class and together list the measures in
place that all help in the takahe recovery.
(For example the chicks grow up in a predator free environment)
Work in small groups and choose one of the protective measures listed. Decide on the next steps that must be put in place if recovery is to be successful.
For example:
Step 1 Raise the young chicks on a predator free
island.
Step 2 Teach the young birds to recognise and know what to do if
they see a stoat. (This is done with a stoat puppet!)
Step 3 Set up and monitor the stoat trap lines where the young
takah? will be released.
Step 4 Attach a tracking device to each bird before release.
Step 5 Release the young birds in the wild.
Step 6 Use tracking tunnels to gather evidence of predator
populations and continue to trap.
Step 7 Regularly track down and check each of the released
birds.
5. James finds out how
James Reardon heads for the hills in
Part 3 of this video .
He investigates a takahe training camp at Burwood Bush near Te Anau
and then tracks down a bird released in the Murchison
Mountains.
Watch the video as a class focusing in particular on:
- The job of the foster parent birds.
- The use of technology as a vital recovery tool.
- The challenges faced by the recovery team.
An infographic combines a number of visual elements to present information. Google "infographics" to see some great examples.
Students can design an infographic that illustrates aspects of the takahe recovery programme. The elements should include:
- A headline that catches the eye.
- A sub heading that gives a little more information.
- A map showing the location of the training camp and release site.
- Two illustrations that explain recovery methods. (You may need captions.)
- A "bright idea" that could be put in place to deal with this issue. Wild takah? lay 2 to 3 eggs but can generally raise just one chick.
6. Summing up
How can people, other than DOC and other specialist
staff, help ensure the survival of these species? Share some ideas
in class.
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