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  • Our pānui for Māehe features the enduring competencies for science learning and new resources, which explain and support their development in the classroom.

    New content to support topical issues

    There’s a lot happening in the science and education spaces and we have new content to help inform and navigate these challenges.

    Enduring competencies for designing science learning pathways

    Dr Rosemary Hipkins joined us in a recorded webinar to discuss the concept of enduring competencies – competencies that can shape science education and better prepare ākonga1 to draw on their science learning as they address challenges in their lives beyond their school years.

    For those who have yet to watch the webinar or read the research report, the four competencies are:

    • Drawing on different knowledge systems
    • Enacting a range of science inquiry practices
    • Working with literacy practices of science
    • Using science for decision making and action.

    We’ve new resources to support these competencies – with lots more under development!

    Rights: He Reo Nō Te Puehu, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    Experiencing Lake Moawhitu through time

    Ngāti Koata Trust and Lakes380 teamed up to create a virtual experience of Lake Moawhitu to show how it has changed over the last 1,000 years and what it could look like 100 years from now.

    Drawing on mātauranga and science

    We’ve added new resources to the Lakes380 suite. The article He reo nō te puehu – A voice from the dust explores the kotahitanga (collaboration2) to restore Lake Moawhitu. Evidence3 from sediment cores4 supports the oral histories of local iwi5 Ngāti Koata – and looks even further back in time before people were present in Aotearoa6. The mātauranga7 and scientific data8 were used to build a browser-based virtual experience: He reo nō te puehu – A voice from the dust. The 360-degree virtual worlds illustrate changes to the catchment9 and inspire hope for its restoration. This activity helps users navigate and deepen engagement with the virtual experience. The central issues explored in this mahi will be common for many roto10 in Aotearoa.

    The article Can customary harvesting of NZ’s native species be sustainable? also draws on mātauranga and science to create a powerful knowledge base to help managers make robust and evidence-based decisions about harvesting practices for mahinga kai.

    The literacy practices of science

    Literacy in science focuses on the literacy skills needed for science communication and to access science information. Science communication has its own conventions and specialist vocabulary. It’s also multimodal – supported by diagrams and graphs. Take a closer look at how science is communicated in the following articles:

    • Artificial intelligence offers simple explanations of quite complex technologies – using Minecraft analogies11.
    Rights: Daniel Schipper

    Expert system for a Minecraft creeper

    This flowchart is an example of the way in which an expert system makes decisions via code.

    Reading graphs in science and Using our glossary offer pedagogical help for explicitly teaching science literacies.

    Using science for decision making and action

    Awareness, innovation12, ethical thinking and problem solving often underpin action. March is World Hearing Month and the article Helping you to hear better discusses hearing loss, helpful technologies and why we need to look after our ears.

    Meet te mokomoko a Tohu: a new species of New Zealand gecko hidden in plain sight – it’s a great story about discovery, deciding how to name a new species13 and taking action to protect taonga species14.

    Rights: Nick Harker

    Te mokomoko a Tohu

    Te mokomoko a Tohu is Aotearoa New Zealand’s newest species of gecko.

    Become involved with the citizen science15 project Infection Inspection. Look inside bacteria16 that have been treated with antibiotics and decide whether it might be resistant or sensitive to an antibiotic17.

    National science educators conference SCICON23!

    SCICON23 – the national biennial science education conference is back to face-to-face. Come along and experience amazing field trips, workshops, keynotes and more. Early bird registrations are open until 28 March. Secondary and primary educators – this conference is for you and if you are interested in science and science education you are welcome to attend this awesome collaborative experience. See you there!

    Rights: NZASE and WSTA

    SCICON23 Conference

    Register for this conference now. There will be presentations from a range of experts and classroom teachers. Included are educational field trips, evening entertainment and a chance to make face to face connections with colleagues from around the motu.

    The Hub team will be also supporting Science in a Van’s Hive Mind webinar. Join us on the new date 4 May 2023 from 4:00–4:45 pm for this lively event looking at citizen science.

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    Your feedback

    We hope you enjoy using the Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao in your teaching and we would love to hear from you. Your comments, ideas and feedback can be emailed to enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz.

    Published 24 March 2023 Referencing Hub articles
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    1. ākonga: Student, pupil, learner or protégé.
    2. collaboration: Working together with a common purpose.
    3. evidence: Data, or information, used to prove or disprove something.
    4. sediment core: A sample obtained by drilling into geological material using a long, hollow tube. The organic and inorganic layers provide a vertical history of geologic and climatic conditions over time.
    5. iwi: Māori tribe or large community, often consisting of several hapū (clans) bound together by common ancestors.
    6. Aotearoa: The Māori name for New Zealand, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud.
    7. mātauranga: Māori cultural knowledge and understanding of the world; Māori wisdom.
    8. data: The unprocessed information we analyse to gain knowledge.
    9. catchment: An area that collects all the water that drains to a particular lake, river or reservoir. Also known as a watershed or a drainage basin.
    10. roto: Lake, wetlands or swamp (repo).
    11. analogy: A comparison between two things, usually using something that is easy to understand to explain something that is more complicated.
    12. Innovation: The development of a new process or product that is then used by others.
    13. 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.
    14. taonga species: Species or biota that are of value to Māori or hold cultural significance to Māori, which may include introduced species.
    15. citizen science: Citizen volunteers participate in scientific projects and work in partnership with scientists to answer scientific questions.
    16. bacteria: (Singular: bacterium) Single-celled microorganisms that have no nucleus.
    17. antibiotic: A substance produced by an organism that kills bacteria.