The after-school Environmental Curriculum with the SeaStars (Grades 4 and 5) is an introduction to the marine environment through such topics as Ocean Zones, Awesome Ocean Species and Roles of Marine Life. Bhongolethu Foundation has integrated this curriculum into their natural science subject and AISCT offered it as part of their after-school activities.
Dear Earth Letters with MasiCORP Students
MasiCORP Students from Ukhanyo Primary School reflected on some very special elements from our very special home.
Ocean View SeaStars – Assisted Reading Group
Communication is so important to convey feelings, experiences and information, and this can be done through storeytelling, writing and reading. To not be able to communicate in one of those ways means that you could miss out on some really awesome things. We have initiated an Assisted Reading Group where the Ocean View SeaStars help others to experience the ocean, to peer beneath her waves and to discover the magic in nature, through those three types of communication. Paired reading allows for one-on-one attention at the pace of the student. Each pair then reports back to the group about their book; what it’s about, what they have learnt and what they have enjoyed. They also get to make their own pack of ocean-themed flash cards to familiarise themselves with marine species and terms.
“Putting a Lid on Pollution” – A Kelp Forest Mural by the Ocean View SeaStars
The aim of this piece is for it to become a visual reminder of the plastic waste rapidly clogging ocean ecosystems, and to encourage conversations about how we can minimise our impact on the environment. Each week the Ocean View SeaStars will ficus on a species; they will learn what roles the species has within the kelp forest ecosystems and then they will work together to build it out of the beach-cast plastic. We will also be spending time discussing how to prevent so much waste ending up in the ocean. We hope to make this into a travelling artwork that will accompany the students as they visit school to chat about marine pollution and the power of our choices.
World Fish Migration Day 2022
As part of our Surviving in the Ocean term, MASICORP students from Ukhanyo Primary and Masiphumelele High schools learnt about migration and the various barriers and threats experienced by species that require migration to survive.World Fish Migration Day highlights these issues in a global celebration to raise awareness and encourage action in protecting rivers and fish. We chose to celebrate South Africa’s largemouth yellowfish; a fish living in freshwater ecosystems that are severely degraded through damming and habitat loss, sewage and agricultural runoff.
So as to reuse the Fish Flag banner, students will be learning how to sew and will make pillow cases out of their designs.
You too can support the World Fish Migration Day movement
Mascot:
- African spiny sea star
- Scientific Name: Marthasterias africana
- IUCN Status: LC (Least Concern)
- Distribution: Southern African endemic. Found along the west and south coasts of South Africa, to a depth of approximately 150 m.
- Average Adult Size: 200-250 mm across
- Locomotion: Involves the use of tube feet whose ends are shaped like suction pads. Secreted mucus helps with the stickiness.
- Predators: Crabs, sharks, seabirds and even other echinoderms. Their spines help defend them against these predators.
- Interesting Fact: These animals are ravenous predators; hunching over their prey, they expel their stomach through their mouth and digest the prey externally.
