Preschoolers learn using bug motels
MOST people reach for the nearest can of bug spray when they see invertebrates.
But pupils at six Dunedin early childhood education centres are doing the opposite.
They are actually building motels for them to live in, in the Dunedin Town Belt, as part of an education programme funded by the Dunedin Amenities Society, the Dunedin City Council and the Department of Conservation.
Town Belt Kaitiaki education coordinator Claudia Babirat said bug motels had a dual function — they provided a sheltered home for certain species of invertebrates to move into, and they provided an easy way for people to look at them.
Pupils at Early Learning at Flippers recently installed a large bug motel during one of their weekly outdoor classroom Bush Days, and yesterday they got to see who had moved in.
She said it was just one of several bug motels in the town belt, and one centre recently discovered peripatuses (velvet worms), which are ancient creatures, older than dinosaurs.
The Bush Days were essentially outdoor classes when the preschoolers explored, learnt about and led projects in their adopted patches of the Dunedin Town Belt, she said.
‘‘This year, the wee ecowarriors have become pest detectives by predator tracking with ink cards [identifying predator footprints] and chew cards [identifying predator teeth marks], and doing fiveminute bird counts.
‘‘It’s about 4yearolds making an actual difference for the environment in Dunedin city.’’