Knapdale School

Students from Southland’s Knapdale School have won a national science prize by submitting an entry to the Environmental Monitoring and Action Project (EMAP) Koura (fresh-water crayfish) Kraze competition which runs annually during March-April.

Students went on field trips to catch koura and compared two different waterways, Dolamore Park and Gold Creek. They made comparisons between them and drew conclusions about why they found many healthy koura at Dolamore Park. Students took several photos on the field trips, then made the models of koura, power point displays and posters.

They were named top primary school, winning $500 worth of water monitoring equipment as a reward. Rebecca Goffin, the National Coordinator for the EMAP, said “The children put in an enormous effort, and while we suggested schools might like to make models of koura, we thought that making them out of marshmallows and carrots showed incredible creativity.”