Embedded Files
Weekly Tasks
Weekly Tasks
Books
Books
Podcasts
Podcasts
Story Collider
Story Collider
This podcast reveals the vibrant role that science plays in all of our lives through storytelling. It’s important to share not only stories about scientific work but also stories about the science that impacts all of us in our everyday lives. Storytellers range from PhD scientists to journalists, teachers, firefighters, bartenders, and everything in between.
Kia Pākiki Canterbury
Kia Pākiki Canterbury
Kia Pākiki Canterbury is a monthly podcast presented by the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. The name means "be curious," and the show explores the region's latest research and mahi across science, technology, and the humanities.
Articles
Articles
https://poutamapounamu.org.nz/module-8/5-key-messages-from-chapter-7-school-leadership-bes
Reducing Exclusionary Attitudes through Interpersonal Conversation
Potential benefit of predator exclusion fence for the threatened ground wētā Hemiandrus fabella. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 53(2): e70022. https://doi.org/10.1002/njz2.70022
Navigating towards marine co-management with Indigenous communities on-board the Waka-Taurua
Websites
Websites
Movebank is a free, online database of animal tracking data hosted by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.
IZE is a global network of conservation educators connected through a passion for wildlife and desire to work with society to save biodiversity. I signed up to be able to do the learning modules and am using these as a basis to create curriculum aligned lessons for my school.
Science communicators association New Zealand provides a community for science communicators to discuss and debate their craft with others, and hosts science communication events throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Story Collider is a nonprofit dedicated to humanising science through personal storytelling.
The Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) is a diamond-open-access, peer-reviewed journal focused on science communication. The Journal covers a broad range of issues pertinent to science communication and public engagement with STEM, including citizen science as well as environmental and health communication, where these relate to communication of research
Te Hoiere project is a multifacted project with many people working together to improve freshwater, through landscape-scale projects that lead to environmental, social, economic, and cultural benefits for our communities. It has a schools programme.
The New Zealand Food Composition Database provides the most reliable source of this information. It contains the nutrient content of over 2,850 foods commonly prepared and eaten in New Zealand. Great for humans but also used by Wellington Zoo to plan animal meals.
Hundreds of science articles. Written for students. Approved by scientists. FREE https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/
Learning about identification through dichomotmous keys https://www.lucidcentral.org/key-search/ and https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/tools-and-resources/identification
https://spacewardbound.nz/ - I registered our interest for this.
Teaching Resources
Teaching Resources
Climate Change resources to accompany the film Thin Ice – the Inside Story of Climate Science
Under the Wharf includes instructions for settlement plates
Signs of the Sea looking after coastal plants and animals. Includes activities that parent volunteers could run using cards (signs).
Royal Albatross resources to download
ABC Australia has science videos and mini science lessons.
The crunch labs website based in USA has fun tik tok style videos and lessons
The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary has colouring pages
Mountains to Sea has a helpful resources page.
Kids Greening Taupo has lots of ideas for exploring nature.
Acclimatisation Societies
Acclimatisation Societies
After European settlement a network of regional 'acclimatisation societies' was set up from the 1860s onwards in places such as Canterbury, Otago, Wellington, Nelson, and Auckland. These groups operated independently rather than as one national body, and were made up largely of European settlers, including farmers, landowners, and local politicians who were supported by colonial governments. They shared a strong enthusiasm for reshaping the new environment by importing familiar British animals, often with little understanding of how these species would actually survive.
Some introductions were successful, but many were not. Species such as deer, pigs, and trout were brought in for hunting and fishing, while rabbits and possums were introduced for food and later fur, before rapidly becoming a major pest. Predators like stoats, weasels, and ferrets were deliberately released to control rising rabbit populations, but instead spread widely and heavily impacted native birdlife. Other experiments, including squirrels and various pheasants and partridges, struggled to establish at all, despite repeated attempts and long sea voyages.
Over time, these efforts revealed how unpredictable and experimental acclimatisation really was. While a few species became established, many failed outright or created far greater problems than expected, highlighting a period where ecological understanding lagged far behind human enthusiasm for reshaping New Zealand’s unique environment.
Other examples of crazy things the acclimitisation societies tried to introduce include mongoose
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