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    • Exploring socially relevant, real world issues is one way to engage learners. Using simple, fun hands-on activities is another. Our latest pānui features both.

    As the school year winds down, it can be a challenge keeping students engaged and interested in learning. Research shows that using socio-scientific1 issues increases student interest and motivation, and helps to develop both higher-order thinking skills and an understanding of the nature of science2. Our new media-rich content looks at issues of interest to Aotearoa3 New Zealand.

    Issues and solutions for food production

    Honey bees play a significant role in pollinating food crops and other flowering plants. Discover how dogs can sniff out bee disease. What else might dogs be trained to identify?

    Rights: Showdown Productions

    AFB detection dogs

    Learn about American foulbrood (AFB) and a new sniffer dog detection method being trialled to detect the microorganism that causes the disease in beehives.

    Select here to view video transcript, questions for discussion and copyright information.

    Forage4 and pasture species5 may be impacted by climate change6. Aotearoa New Zealand’s seed banks protect biodiversity7 for grassland plants, cereals and a selection of threatened native8 plant species. Which plant species should get priority?

    Spirulina is rich in iron9, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals – it provides 200 times more protein10 per hectare than beef. Is this fast-growing ‘superfood’ the answer to diversifying food exports of Aotearoa?

    New content coming soon: Flowering in plants is controlled by factors including seasonal cues and genetics11. With climate change, night temperatures may get too warm for some plants to flower and bear fruit. Are new gene editing12 techniques the way to meet this challenge?

    The Ethics thinking toolkit and the Futures thinking guide and toolkit may be helpful when navigating this type of exploratory learning with your ākonga13.

    Engaging learners through exploration and fun – free webinars

    Bring science alive with digital tools – join our free webinar on 3 November to learn how your students can engage with the science capabilities using digital tools such as Arduino Science Journal (free) and micro:bit to record and present data14 and have fun doing it!

    Register here

    Father and child at a table using arduino and computers.
    Rights: V Bootham

    Digital tools supporting learning

    Digital tools provide opportunities for students to participate in doing science.

    We are also collaborating with Science in a Van for Hive Mind – Fun science on 17 November. Emily and Alan will share lots of engaging science demos and experiments! We’ve curated a collection of easy and fun Hub resources to support this event.

    Check out our latest recorded webinars:

    More than water play

    Floating and sinking may appear to be simple but the science concepts that underpin them are quite complex – experiences with physical phenomena/forces feature in NZC levels 1–5!

    We’ve created a suite of resources to support Building Science Concepts: Floating and sinking including the activities:

    4 items floating in a blue ice cream container.
    Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

    Items that float and sink

    Floating and sinking provides opportunities for students to observe how everyday objects behave in water and experiment with physical world concepts.

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    Your feedback

    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

    Published 27 October 2022 Referencing Hub articles
    See all news
    1. socio-scientific: Combining social and scientific factors.
    2. nature of science: The Nature of Science (NoS), is an overarching and unifying strand of the New Zealand science curriculum. Through it, students develop the skills, attitudes and values to build a foundation for understanding the world around them – understanding how science works in order to make links between scientific knowledge and everyday decisions and actions.
    3. Aotearoa: The Māori name for New Zealand, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud.
    4. forage: Plant material eaten by grazing livestock. It includes pasture plants like grasses, legumes and herbs as well as plants that are cut and carried to the animals, such as silage or hay.
    5. species: (Abbreviation sp. or spp.) A division used in the Linnean system of classification or taxonomy. A group of living organisms that can interbreed to produce viable offspring.
    6. climate change: The large-scale, long-term increase in the Earth’s average temperatures, with associated changes in weather patterns. There is significant scientific evidence that warming is due to increased quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, with most of the rise due to human activity.
    7. biodiversity: The range of species found in a particular region. The more species that exist (the higher the biodiversity), the more likely it is that an ecosystem will survive episodes of change.
    8. native: A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans. 
    9. iron: A chemical element with the symbol Fe.
    10. protein: Any of a large class of complex compounds that are essential for life. Proteins play a central role in biological processes and form the basis of living tissues. They have distinct and varied three-dimensional structures. Enzymes, antibodies and haemoglobin are examples of proteins.
    11. genetics: The study of heredity and variation in living organisms.
    12. gene editing: Using genetic technologies to add, remove or alter genetic information in specific places.
    13. ākonga: Student, pupil, learner or protégé.
    14. data: The unprocessed information we analyse to gain knowledge.
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