An important education tool in the Taranaki Regional Council's education work is the Stream Health Monitoring and Assessment Kit, or SHMAK.
The kit, which was developed by NIWA and adapted for local use by the Taranaki Regional Council, enables students and lay people to collect consistent, scientifically valid information from streams and rivers, using the information to make assessments of the health of the waterways.
It is made up of manuals, identification guides and monitoring equipment including a water clarity measuring tube, conductivity meter and thermometer.
A scoring system gives an immediate gauge of how healthy a stream is, and with repeat visits to the same site, information can be gained about how it might be changing over time.
The modi
fications for its use in Taranaki include an introductory PowerPoint presentation, more accurate pH readings and macroinvertebrate measuring techniques better suited to Taranaki.
Students using SHMAK equipment.
A SHMAK study unit has been written for teachers and can be downloaded from this website - see the first link in the table below.
The state and variety of macroinvertebrate life gives an indication of overall stream health and water quality (follow second link in table below for more on this).
For more information, call Kevin Archer at the Taranaki Regional Council on 06 765 7127, or email kevin.archer@trc.govt.nz.
Write, shoot, edit and submit a short film about fresh water in Taranaki and win $500 worth of trees for your school.
Open to all schools in Taranaki, in two categories - primary/intermediate and secondary schools.
Your film can cover anything about fresh water:
Show what is special about our freshwater streams, rivers, wetlands or lakes. And how we are looking after them or what we could do better.
Why fresh water is important for Taranaki – for our kids, our communities and businesses or even for the bugs that live in it.
Look at how we're planting trees to look after our streams, or why we're fencing wetlands to protect them.
This is your chance to present a youthful perspective on freshwater management. The two winning movies will be shown to around 200 freshwater scientists from all over New Zealand at their Fresh Water Sciences Society Conference in New Plymouth on 24 November 2008.
They'll be interested in the views of our future generations. And there may even be talent scouts in the audience!
The two winning schools will receive a $500 voucher for trees from the Taranaki Tree Trust. The winners can plant them at their school or use them for a community planting project (with the agreement of the Tree Trust).
The movie must be:
Original and solely the students' work.
No longer than five minutes.
Submitted as a WMV or a DVD file.
Entries close at 4pm on Friday 24 October 2008.
Send your entries (or direct any enquiries to):
Rosemary Miller
The Fresh Water Movie Challenge
C/-Taranaki Regional Council
Private Bag 713
STRATFORD 4352
