A nature hike, taro patch service project, campfire talent show, stream exploration and “Green Machine” tour are among the place-based learning and team-building activities designed for middle-school students at Hawai‘i Nature Center’s Ahupua‘a Camp.

The program gives participants “a chance to have hands-on experience in nature while experiencing an overnight camp right in Makiki Valley,” said Pauline Kawamata, operations and volunteer program director at ­Hawai‘i Nature Center.

The two-day/one-night camp, open to students in grades 6 to 8, is billed as an “ahupua‘a adventure.” (An ahupuaa is a ­Hawaiian land division typically stretching from the mountain to the sea.)

Camp starts at Pu‘u ‘Ualaka‘a State Park with an overview of geological, biological and human-caused changes to the islands. As participants look out across the Waikiki ahupuaa, there will be a discussion on sustainable practices of the area.

In the evening, campers will have a pizza party and strive for a zero-waste meal, where everything will be reused, recycled or composted.

The second day includes gardening, a watershed exploration and a tour of the center’s “Green Machine” that recycles wastewater — activities that integrate both traditional and contemporary sustainable practices.

Campers will leave the program with a better understanding of environmental stewardship values and outdoor leadership skills, and ways to practice what they learned on a daily basis.