CAPOW – Curious About Processing Organic Waste – is a Taranaki-based citizen science project and one of the Participatory Science Platform (PSP) projects supported by the...
Students do not arrive in the classroom as blank slates. They’ve been exposed to the world around them and may have created their own explanations for...
If you dig a hole in your school playing field, will the soil there look the same as the soil in your home garden? Is soil...
What’s in soil? When you pick up a handful of soil, what do you see? All soil is made up of inorganic mineral particles, organic matter...
When Māori arrived in Aotearoa/New Zealand in the late 13th century, they found a land quite different to the Polynesia from which they had travelled. The...
Imagine having a job where you get to work outside and no one worries if you get dirty! That is one aspect many soil scientists enjoy...
Discover the world beneath our feet with Planet Earth and Beyond resources for NZ Curriculum levels 1 and 2. Without soil, we would be hungry, thirsty,...
To most of us, one earthworm resembles another. Although earthworms do have common characteristics, species differ widely in their size, skin colour and in the roles...
Charles Darwin is well known for his work on natural selection. He published widely on topics ranging from barnacles to geology to plants. He travelled the...
Observation is something we often do instinctively. Observation helps us decide whether it’s safe to cross the road and helps to determine if cupcakes are ready...
Asking where earthworms live may seem like a silly question. Doesn’t their name say it all? Soil may appear to be a homogeneous place to you...
Scientists conduct investigations for all kinds of reasons. They may want to explore new ideas, gather evidence or prove or disprove previous results. Although scientists must...
Position: Senior research associate, AgResearch (unitl 2016) Field: Soil ecology Ross Gray is a senior research associate with AgResearch. He is based at the Grasslands Research...
Position: Science Team Leader, Plant & Food Research, Lincoln. Field: Soil science Dr Trish Fraser is a senior soil scientist at Plant & Food Research, Lincoln....
Position: Senior scientist, AgResearch Lincoln. Field: Soil ecology Dr Nicole Schon is a senior scientist at AgResearch. Her research focuses on soil health and the role...
Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of evolution as set out in his book On the Origin of . He was a naturalist –...
Octochaetus multiporus is a deep-burrowing earthworm native to New Zealand. It grows up to 30 cm in length and emits bioluminescent fluid when disturbed. Scientific classification...
New Zealand has over 200 known species of earthworms, with new species being identified as they are discovered. Of these, the majority are both native and...
Adaptation is an evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes increasingly well suited to living in a particular habitat. Natural selection results in helpful traits becoming more...
When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'....
A bioindicator is a living organism that gives us an idea of the health of an ecosystem. Some organisms are very sensitive to pollution in their...
In this activity, students research an earthworm of their choice before completing a social media profile for their earthworm. The activity fosters students’ literacy skills, and...
In this activity, students use Hub resources to learn about two unusual native New Zealand soil creatures. This cross-curricular activity combines science with reading, viewing, writing...
In this activity, students use a three-level reading guide to locate information about the role of observation in science from the text of an article. They...
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