bioaccumulation

Did you know that 80% of marine litter globally starts life on land? Mizuiku Upstream Battle is a citizen science programme run by Keep New Zealand...

Backyard Battle is a citizen science programme run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful. It gets students, teachers, volunteers and other citizen scientists out collecting litter at...

Very tiny phytoplankton cells (a type of microscopic algae) can produce potent toxins. Although the toxin produced by one phytoplankton cell is pretty minimal, it can...

This Connected article looks at the aftermath of the 2011 environmental disaster caused when the MV Rena struck Astrolabe Reef, off the Tauranga coast. Since then,...

This unit plan shows how teacher Dianne Christenson used the online citizen science (OCS) project The Plastic Tide as part of a year 2–4 unit to...

Mercury – named after a Roman god known for speed and agility – is a chemical element that has fascinated humans for thousands of years. Mercury...

The first human to ever visit the Ross Sea might have been Ui-te-Rangiora, who travelled there from Rarotonga in the 7th century. The first New Zealander...

In this activity, students become aware of the importance of estuaries. They identify some possible impacts on estuaries and possible actions that can be taken to...

Estuaries are extremely valuable. They: are nurseries – breeding grounds for fish and birds maintain the health of coastal fisheries and waters are a buffer between...

In the past, many New Zealanders have not understood the value of estuaries. Many European settlers initially viewed estuaries as unproductive wastelands. Land was reclaimed for...

People like to live near estuaries. In pre-European times, estuaries were favourite places for Māori to gather – particularly to harvest and enjoy kaimoana. Today, there...

Estuaries have a life cycle. They form, they age as they infill with sediment and they transform to other environments, such as freshwater marshes. They are...

Mana whenua of the Ihumātao Tucked in between Manukau Harbour and Auckland International Airport is the small papakāinga Ihumātao. The papakāinga is Auckland’s oldest settlement –...

In October 2011, the Greek container ship MV Rena ran aground on Ōtāiti, also known as the Astrolabe Reef, off the coast of Tauranga. The oil...

Below are links to Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to recycling and biodegradability in the Material World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum....

The resources in this collection are about where the land meets the sea. New Zealand has 15,134 km of coastline with extensive marine habitat. Land and...

This resource provides explanations of the key concepts encountered when looking at applying science to improve farming and the environment – the ‘basics’ that every student...

Human litter has worked its way into remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean where even humans haven’t managed to penetrate. A large-scale European seafloor survey...

The Science Learning Hub team understands the importance of covering all science disciplines within our content. Before beginning this collection of resources on soil and farming,...

In this activity, students explore ethical issues related to farming and environmental pollution. They learn about the science involved and the range of perspectives among stakeholders....

In this activity, students demonstrate how substances are dissolved and transported by water through the soil. By the end of this activity, students should be able...

These two practical activities help students to understand how nutrients are washed off the land and into water systems. They also investigate the effects of nutrients...

In this activity, students test nitrate levels in various samples of water and draw possible informed conclusions about the results. By the end of this activity,...

Positions: Professor – Lincoln University, Principal Scientist – AgResearch, Chief Scientist – National Science Challenge: Our Land and Water. Field: Soil and water quality. Professor Richard...