A Donald’s Creek Science Station!

Over the past few weeks we have continued to explore what our taxonomy of Donald’s Creek may look like. What are the fields of knowledge and the methods of observation and research that we apply as we learn about the stream and the surrounding site? What are the data, the stories, experiences and questions that we encounter, as results of our enquiries, along the way? How do we organise this information, how do we communicate this to the community of Featherston?

We started shaping our thinking into a few different frameworks – a physical framework and a conceptual framework. We needed a work surface, and using 4 flatpack cardboard boxes we built a makeshift 3D work surface and started brain storming with post it notes directly onto this.

It’s amazing what you can create out of cardboard. It’s perhaps even more amazing how cardboard can trigger our imagination. Give a small child a cardboard box and it instantly becomes whatever the child wants: a boat, a car, a house, a fort, a train carriage, a treasure box. A craft knife and some colouring in pens, maybe some more cardboard boxes, can become intricate forts and multi-story houses with important purpose – in our case it’s a first draft for a make shift prototype fresh water monitoring science station!

There is no end to the many wonderful ideas, thoughtful suggestions and inspired designs that the students offer up: we start closing in on its proportions, we envision and debate combined aesthetic and functionality, and we arrive at a set of solid groupings of knowledge including freshwater monitoring, history, matauranga maori, mapping, kaitiakitanga and waste-awareness and management.

And here’s the station used to showcase the project at the Featherston Expo this weekend. It was the perfect opportunity for us to connect with other local groups with shared interests and start getting the word out about our upcoming community event on 30 November – 12noon-2.30pm – save the date! We had lots of great feedback and comments to our project as well as to our environmentally friendly easy-fold-and-transportable-reusable work station that we hope to create on site! (Not in cardboard tho, but in more permanent materials..!)