Altering traditional New Zealand homes, known as weta houses.
In a groundbreaking initiative, students from Dawson Primary School and Aorere College in Auckland, New Zealand, have collaborated with engineers from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and experts from the Auckland Zoo to redesign a wētā house. This project, funded by the South Auckland pilot of the Participatory Science Platform (PSP) under the Curious Minds initiative, aims to provide a safer and more desirable habitat for wētā while offering an educational and conservation-oriented experience for the students.
The redesigned wētā house, easy to construct and better suited for tree wētā, boasts several innovative features. It is designed to be weathertight, dark, and equipped with three rooms, ensuring the comfort and safety of its inhabitants. Moreover, it includes a design feature that allows for the collection of wētā frass, an essential resource for scientific research, without disturbing the occupants.
The previous wētā houses were not ideal dwellings for wētà nor practical for data collection, often requiring power tools, skills in cutting and joining wooden pieces, and significant adult supervision. In contrast, the new flatpack prototype is easy to assemble and install for humans, making it accessible for a wider range of participants.
The students, who practised a range of science capabilities during the design process, have been placing the newly designed wētā houses in various locations around Auckland for testing. The ultimate goal is to manufacture the wētā house for widespread distribution and release the design under a Creative Commons licence, helping to populate the local area with wētā and aid with conservation efforts.
The government's National Strategic Plan for Science in Society, A Nation of Curious Minds - He Whenua Hihiri i te Mahara, is a government initiative jointly led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Ministry of Education, and the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor. This project aligns with the initiative's mission to foster curiosity and engagement with science among New Zealand's youth.
For more detailed information about this project, including updates on the field testing and potential release date, we recommend checking directly with the schools' websites, local Auckland educational initiatives, or Wētā Workshop community programs. This news article serves as an introduction to the project, highlighting its innovative approach and conservation-oriented objectives.
- The redesigned wētā house, a product of environmental-science and education-and-self-development, offers an educational experience for students while serving as a safe and desirable habitat for wētā, aligning with the mission of the National Strategategic Plan for Science in Society to foster curiosity and engagement with science.
- In the process of practising science capabilities and designing the wētā house, students are not only learning but also contributing to conservation efforts, as the project aims to manufacture and distribute the wētā house to aid with local wētā conservation and population growth, with the design being released under a Creative Commons license for wider access and replication in science and learning.
