Science

Course Description

In the Nature of Science course, students will learn about a wide range of concepts and ideas including diet and sports performance, NZ biodiversity and the impact of introduced species, and heat and energy. Students will carry out a variety of investigations to discover what effects that sea levels rising will have on Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. We will also learn about how scientific ideas change and evolve over time, how to distinguish credible science from misinformation, and the importance of considering a range of perspectives on socio-scientific issues.

Recommended Prior Learning: Year 10 Science

Contact Teacher: Andrew Mackenzie

Outcomes

• Endorsement available: Yes

• Internal credits: 10

• External credits: 10

• Total credits: 20

• L1 Literacy credits: 10

• L1 Numeracy credits: N/A

Possible next steps: This course is good preparation for those students wishing to take Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics at Level 2 and beyond. It also provides a good foundation for those interested in learning more about our place in the world, and our responsibility to take positive actions to improve our local community.

Science - The Nature of Science (SNS100) 

Course Description

The Chemistry and Biology course will involve learning about microorganisms, chemical reactions, genetics, and the properties of materials around us. 

Students learn about the microorganisms that they interact with on a daily basis, and how they are used in food production and how our immune system fights certain types of microorganisms.  We explore combustion, precipitation and neutralisation reactions and where we see these in our everyday lives.  Genetics and the study of inheritance and variation teaches students about the power in DNA.  Properties of materials allow students to think about why we use particular materials for a specific purpose as we delve into what is happening at an atomic level inside specific materials.

Recommended Prior Learning: Year 10 Science

Contact Teacher: Miss  Anna Greaney

Outcomes

• Endorsement available: Yes

• Internal credits: 11

• External credits: 9

• Total credits: 20

• L1 Literacy credits: 5

• Numeracy credits: N/A

Possible next steps: This course is good preparation for those students wishing to take Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics at Level 2 and beyond. It also provides a good foundation for those interested in learning more about microorganisms, chemical reactions, genetics, and the properties of materials around us.

Science - Chemistry and Biology (SCB100) 

Course Description

This course also provides a foundation for those interested in learning more about the behaviour of cars and rockets as well as everyday phenomena such as energy transfer in relation to exploring the universe. The planet Earth and beyond strand explores the dynamic relationships that exist within the taiao (the Earth system) and the interconnections between Earth’s subsystems of the geosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), atmosphere (air), and biosphere (life). Also covered are the cyclical interactions between the Earth and the Sun and Moon.

Recommended Prior Learning: Year 10 Science

Contact Teacher: Miss Brenchley

Outcomes

• Endorsement available: Yes

• Internal credits: 10

• External credits:10

• Total credits: 20

• L1 Literacy credits: 0

• Numeracy credits: 5

Possible next steps: This course is good preparation for those students wishing to take Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics at Level 2 and beyond. It also provides a good foundation for those interested in learning more about Earth system concepts using mātauranga Māori and Western science, learning about relationships between everyday phenomena, understanding how the Sun and the Earth interact, and using the information to explain the physical world we live in.

Science - Physics and Space Science (SPS100) 

Course Description

This course is great preparation for those students wishing to take any of the Sciences in Level 2 (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and ESS). It also provides a good foundation for those interested in learning and science and business in primary industries (aquaculture, horticulture, fisheries, agriculture) which is worth $16 billion dollars annually. This course will focus nationally and locally, learning about life processes, modified growing and sustainability. This course will also include the purpose and origins of primary industries, net profit and the impact on people and the environment with matauranga influences. Science, people and the economy.

Recommended Prior Learning: Year 10 Science

Contact Teacher: Richard Thomson

Outcomes

• Endorsement available: Yes

• Internal credits: 12

• External credits: 8

• Total credits: 20

• L1 Literacy credits: N/A

• Numeracy credits: N/A

Possible next steps: This course is good preparation for those students wishing to take Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Botany at Level 2 and beyond. It also provides a good foundation for those interested in learning more about management processes in primary industries nationally and locally, learning about the ideal conditions to grow living things, the purpose and origins of primary industries, and the impact on people and the environment.

This course is not running in 2024.