Inspiration for 2023
Transitioning and planning for a new year
As we move from the holidays to the new school year, check our new resources and find some inspiration for science learning in 2023.
Giants of the forest
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Tāne Mahuta and the Amazon’s Majestic Samaúma are trees of very special significance. These ancient giants intersect the domains of science and indigenous knowledge. The articles Indigenous perspectives – giants of the forests and The Majestic Samaúma – art meets science are great starting points for exploring STEAM with videos and a 3D animated model that zooms into the tree to reveal its biological processes.
Forest giants
Tāne Mahuta (on the left) is called the ‘God of the forest’. Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest living kauri tree is 51.5 metres tall and its trunk is 4.5 metres in diameter. It lives in the Waipoua Forest in Northland.
This majestic samaúma tree reaches 70 metres in height and towers over the other trees in the rainforest. It has huge buttress roots that are taller than an adult.
Tāne Mahuta image by W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the majestic samaúma © Joseph Michael.
The resources also explore indigenous connections and include He awa whiria – braided rivers – the analogy of science and mātauranga Māori as two rivers that run beside each other, connecting and converging at certain times.
Labelling interactives
Continuing with the technology theme, we’ve created new labelling interactives, each with supporting student activities to help ākonga get the most out of the experience:
Labelling the parts of a pua/flower – bilingual and English versions.
Label the human digestive system
Use this interactive to label some parts of the human digestive system. Drag and drop the text labels onto the boxes next to the diagram. Selecting or hovering over a box will highlight each area in the diagram. If you hover your mouse over the text labels there is more information.
If you want to redo an answer, click on the box and the answer will go back to the top so you can move it to another box. If you want to check your answers, use the Reset incorrect button. This will reset incorrect answers only. When you are happy with your selection, use the Check answers button to check them. Use Reset all to practise again from the start.
Free professional development opportunities
We are very excited to host Dr Rosemary Hipkins for the webinar Enduring competencies for designing science learning pathways. These are competencies that focus on what students can do with their knowledge and understanding, and provide a foundation for the current Science Curriculum Refresh and Review of Achievement Standards.
Date: 16 February 2023
Time: 4:00–4:45 pm
Phormium tenax, harakeke in flower
Harakeke, New Zealand flax, is an important and useful plant. It provides many ecological services and materials, as well as being the subject of several well known whakataukī.
Image sourced from iNaturalistNZ.
You can also catch up with recent PLD offerings:
Some things to think about
Keep these on your planning radar:
Physical World – Sound – concepts, resources and activities (new content)
Bug of the Year – February and we have curated lots of resources on insects
World Wetlands Day – February learning with these resources
Smart Water – sustainable use of water from source to tap.
If there’s other planning that you’d like help with, please get in touch! See below for contacts via social media or email. Best of luck with the new school year!
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We hope you enjoy using the Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao in your teaching and would love to hear from you. Your comments, ideas and feedback can be emailed to enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz.
Noho ora mai
Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao
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