What we ‘saw’ as we walked through our imaginary work place, the NZ COSSA building. We decided that the building was in Days Bay and on Moana Road (because that meant ‘sea’ and was like the name of our boat). We were keen to have it on this side of Wellington Harbour! Together we created a mental picture of our imaginary workplace.
Standing outside the building:
• “I see blue walls with paintings of maps on it.”
• “There’s a sign in block letters…it says NZ COSSA and underneath ‘New Zealand Centre of Scientific Sea Avtivity’…it is in red writing.”
• “There’s security!”
• “The door has a combination lock…an alarm pad…the code is ‘*,*,*,*’.”
In the entranceway to our building:
• “There’s a big tank of fish.”
• “There are waves of dark blue on the walls and then there is light blue…”
• “There’s a map of the depths around New Zealand.”
• “There’s a room for waiting.”
• “There are peachy coloured, sand coloured couches.”
• “I can see a couch that has lots of toys on it like dolphins on it…for children to play with if they visit.”
• “There is a reception. There are two ladies…Amelia and Charlotte!”
In a science lab:
• “We are outside a science room.”
• “There are teeth from a killer whale, seal’s fur, fish teeth, shark bones,”
• “Microscopes...”
• “A film of penguins swimming in Antarctica….”
• “I can see a computer with lots of science things on, fish and sharks and things.”
In a storage room:
• “There are scuba diving suits…and breathing gear”
• “There are life rings”
• “There are underwater cameras”
• “Survival containers and emergency food”
• “And spearguns”
• “There’s first aid”
• “Jars for putting fish in”
• “Life jackets”
Upstairs: (using the lift!)
• “Lots of comfy chairs and desks with computers.”
• “There’s a kitchen. There’s milk and weetbix if you come to work really really early.”
• “There’s a coffee machine.”
• “There are a couple of beers in the fridge.”
• “There is a biscuit tin and lollies for children visiting school children.”
• “A dishwasher”
• “A toilet room…male and female…and they are really really clean….with bunches of flowers in them!”
Looking at carpark out the window:
• “There’s a garden.”
• “There’s a little pond with fish in it.”
• “There’s a motorbike.”
• “There’s a van that you can make your weetbix and eat it in your van”
• “I come to work in a Ferrari”
• “There’s a trailer with lots of storage space on it for the equipment….and my van.”
• “There are things to life heavy boxes and things onto the trailer.”
• “There’s a space to load everything.”
• “There’s a boat room with fishing nets.”
