Toitū te Ngahere Lesson Plan

Toitū te Ngahere, the Arts in Schools for Forest Health project, was a collaborative research project involving university researchers, five primary schools and their communities, independent artists, scientists and mātauranga experts. The project set out to explore the ways in which the creation of arts projects can support children’s, teachers’ and communities’ awareness, engagement and understanding of kauri dieback and myrtle rust.

The lesson sequences presented here were developed at the end of the project, based on activities developed and led by a range of project collaborators.

• Part 1 invites students to learn about their local area and local ngahere-forest.
• Part 2 explores forests as habitats and ecosystems and the ecological and human ePects of kauri dieback and myrtle rust.
• Part 3 provides a guide and examples for designingan arts-based project responding to forest health issues that are relevant to your school and community.