Investigating toxins – question bank

An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about our resources on toxins and places where their answers can be found.

The article Investigating toxins – introduction has links to further resources and student activities.

Q. What is a chemical?

• Chemicals everywhere

• Finding out about chemicals

Q. What is a toxin?

• Poisons and toxins

Q. What toxic plants and animals do we have in New Zealand?

• Poisonous plants in New Zealand

• Poisonous animals in New Zealand

• Grey side-gilled sea slugs

• What’s poisonous?

• New Zealand’s toxic sea slug

Q. How do people know how poisonous something is?

• Measuring toxicity

• All in the dose

• Mouse bioassays

Q. What is a mouse bioassay?

• Measuring toxicity

• Ethics, mice and toxins

• Mouse bioassays

Q. What’s liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry?

• Measuring toxicity

• Monitoring shellfish

• Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer

• Detecting toxins

• Identifying the toxin

Q. How do toxins get into shellfish and other marine life?

• Toxins and food webs

• Monitoring shellfish

• Investigating toxins and bioaccumulation in marine food webs

• Bioaccumulation in the sea

Q. How are shellfish monitored for toxins?

• Monitoring shellfish

• Kaimoana in the Hauraki Gulf

• Testing for toxins in kaimoana

• Collaboration

Q. What is tetrodotoxin?

• Solving the dog death mystery

• Sea slugs and TTX

• Tetrodotoxin

Q. How did tetrodotoxin get into sea slugs?

• Sea slugs and TTX

• Grey side-gilled sea slugs

• Finding the origin of TTX

• Testing slug bacteria for TTX