Teacher PLD
Animals of Aotearoa
In this recorded professional learning session, Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall provide insights into the Māori knowledge of animals classroom resources. This suite...
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Māori knowledge of animals
Māori knowledge of animals is vast. This article is an introduction to Māori knowledge of a selected sample of animal species indigenous to Aotearoa. Mātauranga Māori...
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Takahē – new genetic research
Takahē are one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation success stories. Now new research has shed light on their evolutionary history. This article has been republished from...
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Meet te mokomoko a Tohu: a new species of New Zealand gecko hidden in plain sight
Exciting news for all fans of lizards (mokomoko) a new species has just been rediscovered. This article has been republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons...
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Lapita cultural complex
Around 3,500 years ago the earliest ancestors of many Pacific people and Māori – the people provisionally named Lapita – appeared in Oceania. Records of the...
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Ancestral Māori adapted quickly in the face of rapid climate change
A more precise timeline now shows Aotearoa was first settled in the North Island before the settlers expanded south and then retreated again when the climate...
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How did ancient moa survive the ice age – and what can they teach us about modern climate change?
One of New Zealand’s iconic moa species was almost wiped out during the last ice age according to recently published research. DNA from ancient eastern moa...
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How the Ice Ages spurred the evolution of New Zealand’s weird and wiry native plants
The most controversial feature of the New Zealand flora is the plethora of small-leaved trees and shrubs with wiry interlaced branches. This article has been republished...
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From the smallest bones come the biggest secrets
Dr Nic Rawlence tells us about the amazing research by one of his students, who developed a specialised technique that allows scientists to non-destructively extract ancient...
Teacher PLD
Building Science Concepts: Birds
Explore the science concepts that underpin knowledge and understanding about birds and their structure, function and adaptations. The New Zealand Ministry of Education’s Building Science Concepts...
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Life in Aotearoa New Zealand
This Connected article, written by Matt Boucher, looks at why our wildlife is so distinct and how the species developed and adapted to their current state....
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Squawkzilla
This Connected article by Sophie Fern covers the discovery of Squawkzilla – a giant parrot that lived in New Zealand 19 million years ago. Two leg...
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Te tapa ingoa
This Connected article by Priscilla Wehi and Hemi Whaanga explores how early Māori named and grouped the plants and animals they found around them. Discover what...
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Taxonomy – the science of species discovery
Our planet has life on it, and for that reason, it may be unique in the universe. Ironically enough, we know much more about some of...
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What Alice saw
In 1880, Alice McKenzie saw a large blue bird in a remote part of Fiordland. Alice and her family made careful observations of the bird and...
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Takahē – question bank
An inquiry approach is often recommended for science education. It supports student-directed learning and can enhance engagement because students pursue questions and lines of inquiry that...
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Population genetics
In any one species, there is a large amount of genetic variation. The survival of a species is often linked with the extent of genetic variation...
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Population biology
Population biology is a field of study that explores populations and how they interact with their environment. Scientists observe all factors influencing a population within an...
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The takahē’s evolutionary history
Scientifically, takahē have been something of a mystery. For several decades, it was assumed that takahē were extinct in both the North and South Islands –...
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The takahē’s ecological niche
Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) once lived throughout the South Island. Their original habitats were the bushy edges of lowland swamps and rivers. Today’s remnant takahē population lives...
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The uniqueness of New Zealand plants
New Zealand plants are unique! New Zealand has some of the oldest primeval forests in the world, the largest type of moss and some of the...
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Palaeogenomics and human evolution
Genomics has opened up our understanding of ancient hominins and human evolution. Genomics is an area within genetics that concerns the sequencing and analysis of an...
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Becoming human – hominins
As humans, we’re curious about ourselves. Where did we come from? How did we evolve? Hominins Like all living things, early humans are classified using the...
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Evolutionary research – advancing our understanding of us
New technologies can extend our scientific understanding. They can also mean we have to throw out earlier ideas. Prior to the 1950s and the ‘radiocarbon revolution’,...