Diary of a Turtle 25 Reviews

4.6 Rating 224 Reviews

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Which kit components were the most impactful and why? Having a class set of gloves to pick up rubbish was awesome. We have a stream on our school grounds so we did a rubbish pick up along that.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? Fortunately our stream and ngahere is well cared for, so only about 1 bag of rubbish.

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? It reinforced our school value of Kaitiakitanga, and built a sense of pride in our students towards our ngahere, as well as a deeper understanding that our stream connects to the ocean.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? "We don't want rubbish ending up in the stream because it will end up in the ocean and a turtle might eat it!"

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? Not unusual, but there were a few vapes that were getting plenty of attention from my class

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bag, Plastic Bottle, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Wrapper

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“My class really enjoyed this kit. They naturally connected with it because of their love of animals, and because the connections we could make with our school setting. There was enough content to pick and choose which activities were relevent, and what time allowed for. We were also able to engage with the kit at our own pace across the term”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? The kids have loved filling out the posters

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect?

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? They have been been more aware of cleaning up the environment and have an understanding of how rubbish gets to the ocean. They want to be part of looking after our environment.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? I found rubbish outside my house and I put it in the bin.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? cucumber

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bag, Plastic Bottle, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Container, Plastic Straw, Plastic Wrapper, Plastic Cup

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“Our tamariki have loved tracking our turtle and keeping our environment rubbish free. They have taken this learning home with them and shared it with their whanau.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? Rubbish collection and change.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? five mini bags

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? We now all sit and eat our rubbish, so we don't have an kai or packaging in the playground.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? There are lots of packets in the playground.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? foil packets from muslie bars

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Wrapper

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“We didn't get to track our turtle consistently... but we did explore the rubbish in our area. We have a lot of bins at our school that get emptied daily, and sometimes more often. Even with our caretaker keeping a real eye on them. As a school, we made a big change to our eating habits due to the rubbish. We now sit and eat for 10 minutes before we go out to play. This way, we have no more rubbish in the playground. This is a positive change for our school. I have kept the kit and contents. In 2026, I will be working with different learners, and tracking the turtle will be used as the context for some of my units.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? Turtle tracker because it was interactive and engaging.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect?

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? They are picking up rubbish when on family outings.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? "She's having a turtle party" talking about our turtle on the map.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? A sausage

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bag, Plastic Container, Plastic Straw, Plastic Wrapper

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“Diary of a Turtle was such a fun engaging resource. Our Year 0 students loved tracking the turtle every day and the map was very interesting. They have even taken the initiative to pick up rubbish when on family outings to the beach and love pointing out the storm water drains. We have had great feedback from whānau too, saying the tamariki have been talking about their learning at home. A fantastic mix of science and maths.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? The teacher notes were easy and simple to follow

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? We didn't have a large amount of rubbish and most of what we found was not 'lunch rubbish' it was paper or community type rubbish eg glass

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? we had some great discussions and our students are very quick to pick up rubbish they see so it doesnt end up in our stream

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? Turtles eat plastic because they think it's a jelly fish.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? A tire in the bush

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bag, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Wrapper

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“My class loved tracking our turtle and looking at how rubbish can travel from our school to the drain following to our local stream. We were excited learning about turtles and sharing with our peers about protecting our marine life by either taking home our rubbish or not having rubbish in our lunch boxes.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? The visual posters,gloves and the turtle were all great catering for the New entrants. Those that had sensitives found the gloves great as they fully participated in collecting the rubbish.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? 2 Bags of rubbish that we had to collect around the new school build as we were unable to get to the lakes/rivers (health and safety).

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? They have a great insight from using the kit and we also did a Art exhibition around Sea life where the community came in and the students were able to share this learning and share their "Turtle" art work.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? Discussions around why are people putting rubbish into the sea and what will happen if we keeps happening. Why do people want to hurt our sea life? What if we start picking up rubbish how can this help our Turtles and other sea/river life.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? Little beads out of the packets that go into a container to keep moisture away. Some of that "colour sand" that was in the news regarding asbestos concerns. My class had to shut for a week so raised lots of questions about what is in products.

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bag, Plastic Bottle, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Straw, Plastic Wrapper, Plastic Cup

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“That is wonderful feedback! It sounds like the Turtle Diary activity was a great success. Here's a summary of the positive outcomes you mentioned: High Engagement: The activity successfully engaged the students and sparked a desire to learn more. Knowledge Sharing: Students were actively sharing the knowledge they gained. Environmental Awareness: They connected the content to the impact of the environment on turtles and other marine life. Local Connection: Students were able to connect the learning to your local area and lakes, which makes the information more relevant. Global Perspectives: The activity facilitated a valuable exchange where international students were able to share their perspectives. This combination of deep engagement, local connection, and global sharing shows a truly impactful learning experience!”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? Interactive and being able to follow the progress of our tutle.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? One and a half

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? They are aware and I think that we just have to keep talking about our whole environment each year to ensure it makes a difference.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? Oh no that's terrible. Why do people not think about what they are throwing out and where rubbish goes.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? Sunglasses. (an empty shotgun shell was the most interesting but then we do live rurally)

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bottle, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Wrapper

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“A great resource that covered so much. We really only touched the surface of rubbish and its effects to turtles as we went off on tangents of recycling, rubbish in our school and on the roadside. The class thoroughly enjoyed seeing how far 'their' turtle had gone. After getting the text messages we wrote what was happening to our turtle. It was interesting that Seven Sharp had the clip about the turtle that was found in the NI. We watched this and had some great discussions about all the rubbish in the ocean. We made the kit fit with our Topic of movement - turtle, sea, rubbish. Thanks for another great kit.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

Which kit components were the most impactful and why? Turtle tracking QR code. The kids loved tracking Winnie each day.

How many bags of rubbish did your class collect? 4 supermarket bags full

How has this kit impacted your class culture toward whenua ora (land wellness) and sustainability? It has definitely given the children an understanding of the impact rubbish has on the environment.

How high was student engagement throughout this kit?

Very Low

Neutral

Very High

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? I learned that turtles need clean oceans to live, so we have to look after their home and not leave rubbish on the beach.

What was the most unusual piece of rubbish found? Fishing line

Which of the following types of plastic waste did your class collect? Plastic Bottle, Plastic Bottle Top, Plastic Wrapper, Plastic Cup

How well did this kit help your class build statistical thinking and numeracy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

How well did this kit help your class build literacy skills?

Helped a little

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

Diary of a Turtle helped my students better understand the impact plastic waste can have on marine life. Agree

“Our class loved following and tracking a turtle named Winnie. The experience helped students learn interesting turtle facts and understand why turtles are endangered. Learning extended across many areas of the curriculum and kept students highly engaged. A key part of the project was collecting rubbish to stop it reaching the ocean and learning ways to reduce plastic waste. It was a meaningful, hands-on way for students to learn how they can help protect the environment.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago