Our final pānui for the year features new content and a taste of what’s on offer in 2024.
Congratulations to kaiako and educators for another year of engaging young people with science and pūtaiao! We appreciate all that you do.
Summer science – catch, freeze, post and play
Sports fans – or anyone outdoors – know all about mozzies. But before you slap – observe. Aotearoa has 13 native mosquito species and three known introduced species. Te Papa wants to know more about mozzie populations via the New Zealand Mosquito Census ❘ Te Tatauranga Waeroa o Aotearoa. All you need to do is catch a mosquito, freeze it and send it in.
Striped mosquito Aedes notoscriptus
This mosquito was introduced to Aotearoa in 1920s and is currently widespread in the North Island and down to Lyttleton in the South Island. The females like to feed via biting of both humans and animals, with their preferred feeding times evening and early morning.
Alternatively, escape the Sun and head indoors to help with Elephant ID. It’s a purposeful way to enjoy some screen time. There are lots of citizen science projects on the Hub. Our new intro article will help you make the most of them.
Visit our Summer school holidays event – it is full of ideas to keep the young ones active. If you have an event you'd like us to feature, please email us.
Remember our Summer science collection is full of ideas for taking advantage of warmer weather and outdoor learning.
Professional learning development
We have two new recorded webinars with a focus on antimicrobial resistance. They are excellent for those with an interest in health, data, microorganisms and career pathways in science:
- The science of superbugs – teaching antimicrobial resistance awareness in Aotearoa with Dr Siouxsie Wiles
- Science for communities with ESR with Dr Kristin Dyet
Here’s a taste of what we have on offer in 2024:
- On 15 February we will continue the conversation with Rose Hipkins and Pauline Waiti about what knowledge systems could look like in the classroom.
- Later in term 1 we’ll join the New Zealand Association for Primary Science Educators to prepare for Primary Science Week. The theme is ‘Fun and safety with science’ and it runs in week 3 of term 2.
- In term 3 we will share some interesting insights into animal ethics, Māori concepts and animals of Aotearoa. We will be releasing new resources early in 2024 to support this!
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence continues to create headlines. We had the pleasure of attending the panel discussion Bots vs Beings – the impacts of AI on life and work. Check out the 5 short videos – they provide excellent food for thought about ethics, science and society.
Haere rā 2023
We hope you have a restful summer break. When you are ready to think about 2024, check out our collections for planning ideas. If we can help in any way, email us – we love to help!
And, if you are working at a different school in 2024, remember to update your details on your Hub profile, re-subscribe to our monthly newsletters in the website footer or email us and we can update it for you so you keep receiving our regular newsletters. Thanks!
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We would love to connect with you through our social media. Contact us about creating collections or boards tailored to your needs. We can help foster connections between the education and science communities.
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nzsciencelearn
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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.
The SLH team wish you a safe summer break and festive season!
Noho ora mai
Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao
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