Collecting kōwhai seeds from outside the classroom and then growing them inside breaks down the perception that learning only happens in the classroom. This activity will...
Challenge students to explore and observe kōwhai trees with a particular focus on the seeds. Initially, students may only notice the seed pods hanging from the...
Navigating our freshwater environment is an interactive storymap that explores the state of rivers, lakes and wetlands – in a novel and engaging way. The storymap...
In this webinar, join Greta Dromgool as she introduces Tom Saunders and Chrissie Painting – two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s amazing entomologists. Delve into the fascinating...
In Spring 2020 Countdown developed a fantastic collection of insect cards and an album full of amazing facts and activities all about insects found in Aotearoa...
This activity is a ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resource. It is intended for NZC levels 2–3. The student worksheet can be printed and does not require internet...
Frogs for the future? is a ready-to-use cross curricular teaching resource. It uses the Ministry of Education’s 2019 Connected article Kimihia Kermit by Philippa Werry. Curriculum...
If you enjoy Dr Seuss, you will enjoy Dr Hoare! Poetry with Fred the Thread – middle primary is a ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resource. It uses...
Take advantage of children’s natural curiosity with the following resources. They require very little equipment – most of it should be in your kitchen or garden....
This article describes how students and Ngāti Mutunga teamed up with an ecologist to investigate frog populations – kimihia means to look for – in the...
What is a mast? You might be forgiven for thinking it had more to do with ships than conservation! The term comes from the ancient English...
Introduced wasps cause all sort of problems for people and native species, but did you know we have native wasps in New Zealand? What is a...
Nō te whaitua eukaryota ngā hekaheka, ko te īhi, ko te puruhekaheka, ko te harore ētahi o ōna huānga. He pūtautini ētahi hekaheka, ko ētahi ia,...
Fungi are eukaryotic organisms and include yeasts, moulds and mushrooms. Some fungi are multicellular, while others, such as yeasts, are unicellular. Most fungi are microscopic, but...
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) follow the same life cycle stages – egg, larva, pupa and adult – but aspects differ from species to species. By rearing...
Glow-worms are New Zealand’s underground stars. Small but bright, it is no wonder why they attract so many tourists to places such as Waitomo and Paparoa...
In this activity, students collect and observe macroinvertebrates from a local freshwater stream. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: recognise that...
New Zealand has over 200 species of freshwater macroinvertebrates. An invertebrate is an animal that lacks a backbone. ‘Macro’ means the invertebrates are large enough to...
Here are links to Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to life cycles in the Living World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. Explore...
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...
In this activity, students make small finger puppets and take on the roles of insects, birds and the wind to simulate various methods of pollination. By...
In this activity, students relate commonly eaten foods to different parts of the flowering plant life cycle. They use a graphic organiser to identify whether a...
Humans have many reasons to grow plants. We use them for food, for building materials, for pleasure and for many other purposes. A plant really just...
The New Zealand pea crab (Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae) is a parasite that spends its adult life within a mussel shell. However, the larval stages of its life...
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