Earthworms are useful indicators of soil health. This project aims to capture information on earthworm abundance and species distribution throughout New Zealand. Information provided will be...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
School science is engaging when it makes connections to students’ everyday lives (Osborne & Collins, 2001) and when they have an opportunity to experience physical phenomena...
Teachers need to plan clear learning intentions and align these to activities and learning experiences that will help students achieve the goals (Cowie, Moreland & Otrel-Cass,...
In this activity, students learn about soil quality and soil properties by conducting a visual soil assessment (VSA). The activity involves digging up a 20 cm...
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...
Earthworms are of interest to most children, are easily accessible and are an animal species easily kept in the classroom for short periods of time. This...
Use this interactive to identify stressors in marine environments. Drag and drop the text labels onto the diagram. If you want to redo an answer, click...
Position: Former Associate Professor, School of Engineering, University of Waikato. Field: Optics, optoelectronics. With a desire to see the world, Rainer and his partner Anna took...
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...
In this activity, students use observation to explore earthworm anatomy and the nature of science. By the end of this activity, students should be able to:...
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