View related content below

Explore related articles

ARTICLE

Dr Peter Buchanan

Position: Science Team Leader, Biosystematics, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. Field: Biodiversity, conservation and ecology of New Zealand fungi. Dr Peter Buchanan is a scientist with a ...

READ MORE
STAR
ARTICLE

Understanding food webs in Fiordland

Research into food webs has come a long way in the past 50 years. The view of simple linear food chains where small fish are eaten by bigger fish has been replaced by a much better understanding ...

READ MORE
STAR
ARTICLE

Estuaries and farmland run-off

New Zealand has approximately 300 estuaries. They are historically important cultural sites – Māori settlers valued estuaries as an important source of fish and shellfish, and European settlers ...

READ MORE
STAR

Explore related activities

ACTIVITY

Estuary metaphors

In this activity, students discuss how a variety of everyday objects can serve as metaphors for the important characteristics and functions of estuaries. By the end of this activity, students ...

READ MORE
STAR
ACTIVITY

Fisheries role-play

In this activity, students take on the role of a stakeholder in New Zealand fisheries. In their role, they decide whether they agree or disagree with the statement ‘there are plenty of fish in ...

READ MORE
STAR
ACTIVITY

Tagging monarch butterflies for science

In this activity, students place small stickers (tags) onto caught or newly emerged monarch butterflies and release them into the environment. The tag number, information about the butterfly and ...

READ MORE
STAR

Explore related PLD

TEACHER PLD

Earthworms (upper primary) – unit plan

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 they play in the soil ...

READ MORE
STAR
TEACHER PLD

Conserving native birds – unit plan

New Zealand is well known for its unique bird life. Our endemic birds evolved in an isolated, island environment. The arrival of people, the deliberate and accidental introduction of mammalian ...

READ MORE
STAR
TEACHER PLD

SLH and conservation

Many resources on the Science Learning Hub explore ideas about conservation and related issues. This online PD session recorded on 14 May 2015 shows primary teachers how to navigate the Hub to ...

READ MORE
STAR

Explore related videos

VIDEO

Impact of freshwater on cockles

Ecologists often look for places where the environment has been changed in order to test out ideas about how the environment influences food webs. In this video, Associate Professor Stephen Wing ...

READ MORE
STAR
VIDEO

Taking a core sample

Andrew Swales and Weno Iti from NIWA take a core sample in an estuary in Kawhia. Sediment cores can show changes in estuarine ecology over hundreds of years, giving scientists an idea of the ...

READ MORE
STAR
VIDEO

Farmland run-off into estuaries

Dr Candida Savage, from the University of Otago, talks about her research into the effect of land use change on coastal areas and the organisms that live there. In particular, Candida focuses on ...

READ MORE
STAR

Explore related interactives

INTERACTIVE

Environmental forensics

Dr Candida Savage explains the clues she collects in estuaries and fiords, to understand how changes in land use affect these environments.

READ MORE
STAR
INTERACTIVE

Auckland Islands marine ecosystem

The marine environment of the Auckland Islands in the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands group is home to a diverse range of species. Use this interactive image to learn about this diverse ...

READ MORE
STAR
INTERACTIVE

Wormface – social networking for earthworms

After students have researched an earthworm of their choice they can use this interactive to complete a Wormface profile for their earthworm. You will need the Adobe Flash Player to view this.

READ MORE
STAR