In what’s described as the highest classroom in New Zealand, Department of Conservation ranger Lisa Winterfeldt sits 1200 metres up a mountain to teach a group of Year 12 students.

The boys are from an Otago Boys High School’s geography class and are looking at how landscapes and plants change over time and at altitude.

“You can look at this in books, but when you see how dramatic the changes are, how the glaciers move, and the different plant species, the students are blown away. When we walk up to Red Tarns, you’re looking straight out at Aoraki which is stunning,” Lisa says.

As a new community ranger at Aoraki/Mount Cook, ex-teacher Lisa is now delivering a DOC EOTC (Education Outside the Classroom) programme, funded by the Ministry of Education, to students from all over New Zealand.

“Some of them have never seen snow before, let alone walked 1200 metres up a mountain. Nature is an amazing classroom. It’s a real hands-on experience observing, taking photos, and testing their classroom theories and knowledge. New Zealand is geographically very unique,” she says.

Otago Boys High School Head of Social Science Sam Bradbury-Leather says Aoraki/Mount Cook is a fabulous place for learning how different plants adapt and survive in alpine environments.

The Y12 Geography classes are studying ecological patterns, and the students gather data on percentages of plant species coverage at different zones and the basic principles of how things change with altitude.

“The DOC team did an awesome job of engaging the 44 students on a huge range of geographical issues in the Aoraki National Park area. It is a stunning setting to use the outdoors as a classroom and students are now perfectly set up to complete the write up of their research reports,” Sam says.

Lisa Winterfeldt says it’s an opportunity to give the students an understanding of how our native species evolved over time and how vulnerable they are to introduced predators.

“I talk to them about how we all need to understand the state of nature here and take some ownership of the issues our native species face with introduced predators for example. I want to inspire them to get out ‘naturing’ – this is a first experience for some of them, and I know they’re very keen to do more.”

Education Outside the Classroom junior education programmes: https://shorturl.at/ASt2l

EOTC secondary education programmes: https://shorturl.at/0xhsC

Background information:

DOC is contracted by the Ministry of Education to support quality teaching and learning experiences for junior and secondary school students. We design and provide programmes covering a range of subject areas from years 1-13. All learning opportunities are aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum statement and assessments statements to complement learning in the classroom.

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