Omaru Creek

Factors influencing stream health

• Dissolved oxygen
• Nitrate
• Phosphorous
• Bacteria
• Ph
• Turbidity
• Temperature
• Salinity
• Flow Rate

These are all the factors that are currently influencing our streams health.

Te Oro Game

Today during school each of the classes got the chance to go to our school library and look at all of the displays each class made for Te Oro. Everyone got to see the amazing artwork that students created for their display. They were also able to play some games that we created about Omaru creek. The game I created was very simple and all you had to do was drag each picture into the correct box.

Omaru creek Message

This is my message I created for our Omaru Creek Display. My message is extremely important because we all want and need a healthy stream. If we do the right thing and not put rubbish down our drains we will be able to make Omaru creek clean again.

Omaru Creek

During Class I have created my own story about Omaru creek. In my story there are 3 characters that are all upset because there home is in bad condition. I thought this work was very exciting because I was able to create my own characters and have fun writing the story as well.

Dragonflies

Importance of a dragonfly

Dragonflies are very important creatures . They are usually found living inside of a creek or stream.They have a very important role to keep the stream or creek stay safe and healthy for all the creatures that are living inside of it.

Dragonflies mostly feed on mosquitoes but they like other insects as well. They also have some enemies, Birds can catch and eat adult dragonflies while frogs eat them them as well. Dragonflies are able to protect themselves from any harm. Because they have excellent eyesight, it allows them to be alert when a predator is coming there way so they are able to fly as quickly as possible to get out of danger.

Because dragonflies mostly spend their time around creeks and streams they are most likely to be eaten by things that are inside creek such as an eel. If they are eaten then the dragonflies won’t be able to keep the stream healthy and it will pollute the creek which is not good for all the creatures living inside the creek. Dragonflies also need a safe healthy place to live, so if the stream or creek is not in a healthy condition then this wouldn’t be good for them to live in.

So as a result you now know that dragonflies aren't just normal creatures that hang around. But they are important ones that keep creeks like omaru creek safe not just for everyone living around it but for the living things that are inside of it.

Things that pollute our creeks

• Rubbish
• Chemicals
• Sewage
• Waste
• Cans
• Paper

These are some of the things that can pollute our creeks. To prevent these things from entering any creeks we must think before we put things like fat down our drains. We must also put our litter in the bin because if we throw it on the ground it might end up in the creek. As you can see these photos of Omaru creek show rubbish inside of it. You can also see how dirty and unsafe the water looks.

    

Te Oro Display

Jenascia 6/04/17

Omaru Creek Display

During the first few weeks of term 1, Room 7 has been working on a display to show at Te Oro. As you can see, my friends and I decided to make a paper mache model that looked just like the Omaru creek. It was extremely exciting doing this work because we also got to add in some dragonflies, Which we made to make it look sharp.

Poem about Omaru Creek

O - Old creek in urgent help

M- Maintenance crews working hard

A - Area located in Glen Innes

R - Rubbish scattered everywhere

U - Unacceptable for the fish and eels

C - Creatures in need of fresh water

R - Reproduce our polluted waters

E - Everyone must help out

E - Environment is very important

K - Keep our earth neat and tidy

Wonderful Waters

Omaru Creek

Today we went down to look at the speed of the water in Omaru Creek.  We made some paper boats, took it down there and let them sailed in the water.  It was great to see the water flowing and not standing still like the first time we went there.

Omaru Creek

Omaru creek

Omaru creek- Writing

Unfortunately Omaru creek was in bad condition and needed urgent help. The stream was filled with disgusting things and it just looked like a big mess. There was a huge amount of rubbish blockages and sewage overflowing inside of the creek. Because residents from around the area put fat and rubbish down their drains, it has caused huge clogging in the waterway.

Maintenance crews had to take the time to clear both inside and outside of the creek. Shockingly they found rotten mattresses, cans and also kids toys stuck inside of the pipes. They also had to clear the rubbish that was clogging the waterway. After all that, they then flushed the creek with fresh water and tested it for over five days.

It is utterly important for people to think before they put things such as fat and rubbish down their drains, taking the risk and putting such things down the drain can cause horrible things and affect streams like Omaru creek. When fat is put down the drain it hardens which causes blockages.

A few weeks ago my class and I started visiting Omaru creek. We were all shocked to see how disturbing it looked. While we were there we decided to help by picking up a few things like cans and other types of rubbish. We also looked at the water inside the stream and saw how yuck and unsafe it looked.

To improve the stream Glen Innes school would like to make a start by picking up all the rubbish that we can find so that it doesn’t make the place look filthy. We should also pull out any weeds or vines that we see, so that it doesn’t make the place look so messy.

Inquiry questions

Today we were given an article to read about a man named Tamati, and how important the Omaru stream was to him. After reading the article we then had to answer the questions.

1. What was the stream like when Tamati was a kid?

It was safe enough to swim in, great for fishing and catching oysters and pipi.

2. What is the river like now?

It is polluted and unsafe.

3. Why is it bad that the river has changed?

Because it is now unsafe for creatures and people.

4. Why is the river important?

Because rivers are the homes of creatures like eels, and when it is polluted it becomes unsafe for everyone including those creatures.

Bentley ride

Last week I got to experience a ride in a bentley with my friend Heather. My heart popped out with joy and I felt extremely excited. As I hoped in the car, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were so many cool things inside such as an aircon and a G.P.S. While we were drifting off smoothly down the road, I started feeling a bit sad because I didn't want the ride to ever end. It was an experience that I will never forget.