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    • Our final pānui for the year features new content and a taste of what’s on offer in 2024.

    Congratulations to kaiako1 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. Aotearoa2 has 13 native3 mosquito species4 and three known introduced species5. Te Papa wants to know more about mozzie populations6 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 sucking blood
    Rights: Steve Kerr, CC BY 4.0. Image sourced from iNaturalistNZ.

    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 weather7 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, data8, microorganisms9 and career pathways in science:

    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!
    Abstract painting with sky, earth and DNA
    Rights: Brooklyn Kahuroa

    Knowledge systems

    The artwork Strands Intertwined contains a DNA strand worked into the landscape, with earth on one side and a sky full of stars on the other. The artist's concept was that science could bring the land and the whānau together.

    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!

    Meri Kirihimete pōhutukawa tree, boat by lake at summer
    Rights: Zvonko Djuric, 123RF Ltd

    Meri Kirihimete

    The Science Learning Hub team wish you all a very safe and happy festive season.

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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

    Published 6 December 2023 Referencing Hub articles
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    1. kaiako: A teacher or instructor.
    2. Aotearoa: The Māori name for New Zealand, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud.
    3. native: A species that lives naturally in a country, as opposed to species that have been introduced by the activity of humans. 
    4. 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.
    5. introduced species: An animal or plant that has been transferred by humans, either on purpose or by accident, to somewhere it doesn’t live naturally.
    6. population: In biology, a population is a group of organisms of a species that live in the same place at a same time and that can interbreed.
    7. weather: Daily or short-term conditions like temperature, cloud cover, precipitation and wind affecting a certain area.
    8. data: The unprocessed information we analyse to gain knowledge.
    9. microorganism: A living organism which is too small to be seen with the naked eye and can only be observed using a microscope. Includes bacteria and most protists.
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