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As our part in the Wastewise unit this year, the Year 4s will be focusing on sustainability of trees. We will be looking into historic events that involve trees, such as logging and kauri gum exploitation. The children will learn, through hands-on experience, how to nurture a seedling, how and why we plant trees and will experience the thrill of seeing their small trees planted in the land. This experience will be under the guidance of the organisation called 'Trees for Survival'. We will keep a picture diary of how our planting progresses throughout the year, so please visit again for regular updates as we have another step to record. The seedlings we worked on today are called 'Manuka'. Manuka trees are native to New Zealand and grow well in our soil.
 * __Week 1.__**

We all learned how to spot a weed and how to remove it carefully, without damaging the small seedling next to it. We put all the weeds in one pile, any weed seeds that we could see in another pile and any slugs or snails in a pot. The weeds and seeds were put into the "Trees for Survival' compost bin.

After the weeding was finished, we used our rulers to measure how tall the seedlings were. If they were more than 30cm tall, then we were allowed to prune the seedlings down to 30cm. This lets the plants bush out a bit and grow stronger, rather than just tall and thin.

Once the plants were looking tidy and trim, we took them back to the TFS planting unit where they live and Mrs Fairclough gave them some plant food and some water to make them grow well. We made sure that the curtains on the beds were opened up to give the seedlings lots of light and warmth from the sun.

The next day we worked on the other types of tree seedlings, including flax and some other type of tree that Mrs Martel does not know the name of! These types of trees do not need to be pruned, so we were mainly removing weeds and seeds and making sure that the seedlings were getting enough air, soil and water. We worked very well together and made sure that the plants were all healthy.
 * __Week 2.__**

OH NO!! We were VERY disappointed to see that lots of our seedlings had dried out and died. Boo hoo, we were very sad to lose those plants after all our hard work. We are hoping that some rain might come soon and help us out with a bit of watering. We checked all the plants again. We removed all the dead plants and then Mrs Fairclough and Mrs Martel gave the seedlings some plant food and some extra water.
 * __Week 3.__**

Week 4. The Trees for Survival people sent us some more seedlings! We made a big mess in the hall! The soil was spread out up and down the hall. The seniors separated the seedlings from each other and we planted a single tiny seedling into a slightly larger container. Then we watered them and carried them around to the garden. We hope they grow well!