New Zealand’s native species evolved in isolation from other regions for millions of years after the last land bridge to Gondwana was lost. Birds and insects dominated our ecosystems, and the ...
Skinks and geckos are the only 2 native families of lizard found in Aotearoa New Zealand (note that tuatara are not lizards). They are vertebrates and belong to the class Reptilia. All our native ...
While employed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Otago, Dr Kelly Hare looked at how captive management regimes could influence the health of individual skinks to promote more ...
In this activity, students discuss how a variety of everyday objects can serve as metaphors for the important characteristics and functions of estuaries. By the end of this activity, students ...
Aotearoa New Zealand is rich in animal life – from tiny pepeketua and giant wētāpunga to ngā manu a Tānemahuta and ngā ika a Tangaroa. Some of these animals are unique to particular locations ...
In this activity, students place small stickers (tags) onto caught or newly emerged monarch butterflies and release them into the environment. The tag number, information about the butterfly and ...
This New Zealand-based citizen science project collects data about butterflies in our gardens, schools, parks and farms – any location in the country or on the outer islands. This annual event – ...
FrogID is an Australian app that uses audio of frogs’ unique calls to identify various species and their locations. We can use it in Aotearoa New Zealand to record the location of introduced ...
Be part of a worldwide movement and use Global Earth Challenge to submit or classify photos to help our planet’s environment and human health. Global Earth Challenge is a citizen science campaign ...
To most of us, one earthworm resembles another. Although earthworms do have common characteristics, species differ widely in their size, skin colour and in the roles they play in the soil ...
The New Zealand Curriculum has a strong focus on ensuring that all students have the skills and knowledge to participate in public debates and decision-making processes as critical, active ...
Students of any level develop a board game illustrating knowledge of New Zealand’s possum problem and the strategies used to control it – including biocontrol strategies. Purpose To demonstrate ...
Associate Professor Alison Cree, from the University of Otago, talks about the difference between being cold blooded and warm blooded. She discusses why scientists prefer to use the terms ...
Fast skinks are assumed to be more able to escape from predators, find a mate and find food. In this video clip, Dr Kelly Hare, from the University of Otago, talks about measuring the sprint ...
Andrew Swales and Weno Iti from NIWA take a core sample in an estuary in Kawhia. Sediment cores can show changes in estuarine ecology over hundreds of years, giving scientists an idea of the ...
Explore this interactive to learn more about New Zealand’s unique reptiles and amphibians. Move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and click to obtain more information. Select ...
After students have researched an earthworm of their choice they can use this interactive to complete a Wormface profile for their earthworm. You will need the Adobe Flash Player to view this.
Dr Candida Savage explains the clues she collects in estuaries and fiords, to understand how changes in land use affect these environments. Click on the labels to watch the videos for more ...
