atmosphere

Farming is an economic venture – farmers work the land to gain an income. Many New Zealand farmers have an interest in preserving and enhancing the...

Nitrogen is the most abundant element in our planet’s atmosphere. Approximately 78% of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen gas (N2). Nitrogen is a crucially...

Biogeochemistry is a big word. Biogeochemistry also covers an enormous field of study. It is a systems science – a way of looking at how the...

New Zealand has a wide variety of landscapes. A day’s sightseeing journey might include volcanic plateaus, rolling hills, river basins and coastal lands. It is easy...

Dr Katja Ridel’s interest has always been chemistry, and after she finished her PhD in Germany, she took on a position at NIWA in New Zealand....

Roberta Farrell has been working in huts since 1997. Not just any old huts – Roberta is one of a multinational team (K021) who has conducted...

Many people are surprised to hear that vegetation – mainly mosses and lichens – manages to grow on the Antarctica mainland. These relatively simple photosynthesising organisms...

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, windiest and highest continent on Earth. What makes the frozen continent so valuable to scientists and vulnerable to human contact? Every...

Dr Ross Monaghan, Dr Selai Letica, Professor Richard McDowell and other scientists from AgResearch at Invermay are researching how to reduce excessive levels of nutrients in...

What do soil, farming and science have to do with each other? Actually, they are inextricably related. For centuries, humans have used science to improve soil...

Learning to manage this chemical reaction What actually is fire? How does it start? How and why does it behave in different ways? How can we...

These are some common misunderstandings about fire. They acknowledge that children have made reasonable sense of the ideas based on their experience and should be validated...

In this activity, students develop critical thinking through ethical discussion of the question: Should chemical fire retardants be added to furniture? By the end of this...

In this activity, students read online articles related to fire in Antarctica and discuss why fire is a big hazard there. By the end of this...

In this activity, students discuss a number of scenarios involving fire risk, become familiar with the school fire safety plan and create a plan for their...

In this activity, students identify and define fire risks, outdoors and indoors, using a provided image of a rural scene and an indoor scene they draw...

In this activity, students observe the teacher igniting flour when it is in a basic combustion chamber. By the end of this activity, students should be...

In this activity, students observe an empty tea bag that is set alight. The burning causes a column of hot air and gas from combustion to...

In this activity, students investigate different ways of extinguishing fire and how this is related to their knowledge of the fire triangle and fire chemistry. By...

In this activity, students cover a lit candle with an inverted jar in a saucer of water. The flame expires and the water rises up in...

In this activity, students take a closer look at a candle flame as an example of a flame that occurs in most natural fires and observe...

In this activity, students use drama to model science ideas about atoms and molecules, transferring heat and the process of combustion. By the end of this...

Position: Research Leader at Olsson Fire & Risk. Field: Fire engineering. When we first interviewed Mike he was Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Natural Resources...

Position: Extreme Fire Project Leader, Scion Field: Rural fire research Grant was interested in science and the natural environment at school. This continued at university, where...