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Irish wasp to the rescue

In January 2006, a tiny wasp was released onto a Waikato farm to kill an enemy that was devastating pastures. Ten years on, these tiny wasps have saved farmers nearly half a billion dollars. An ...

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ARTICLE

Dung beetle mania

Excrement-loving dung beetles, rolling their balls of animal poo across the ground, could one day become a familiar sight on New Zealand farms. These unlikely critters may help solve some of the ...

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ARTICLE

Bioforce – breeding bugs for biocontrol

New Zealand might be an island nation, but that doesn’t stop us from having to deal with a variety of unwanted organisms that find their way to our shores. These pests range from insects like the ...

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ACTIVITY

Finding a female

In this activity, students play a card game that models the journey of a male pea crab (a parasite of green-lipped mussels) from his mussel host and back again. Purpose This activity will help ...

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ACTIVITY

Liming paddocks

In this activity, students measure the pH of soil collected from a paddock. This will be used to estimate the amount of agricultural lime needed to promote good grass growth. By the end of this ...

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ACTIVITY

Easy care sheep traits – three-level reading guide

Students use a three-level reading guide strategy to locate, interpret and apply the information to consider the role of research in finding easy care sheep traits. Purpose Students engage with ...

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Explore related citizen science projects

CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

The Great Kiwi Earthworm Survey

Earthworms are useful indicators of soil health. This project aims to capture information on earthworm abundance and species distribution throughout New Zealand. Information provided will be used ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Myrtle Rust Reporter

Myrtle rust is a serious biosecurity threat, and help is needed to monitor its spread. This citizen science project aims to gather information on the location, hosts and intensity of this fungal ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Find-A-Pest

The free Find-A-Pest app makes it easy to report and identify possible pest species. Wherever you are, you can help protect Aotearoa New Zealand’s primary industries and native species in two ...

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TEACHER PLD

Gaming for learning

Games have long been used for developing both skills and knowledge in the education sector. As digital technologies continue to develop, the range of digital learning games also continues to ...

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TEACHER PLD

Effects of silage on a rural stream – unit plan

Students investigate silage production and test a stream to see if run-off from silage is polluting it. Students then produce a pamphlet of their findings to educate the community. Purpose To ...

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TEACHER PLD

Design a robotic milking system – unit plan

Students use information about an Automated Milking System (AMS) to design the layout of their own farm. Two-dimensional drawings are processed to make three-dimensional models of the layout ...

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VIDEO

Bioforce

Bioforce Product Manager Chris Thompson and Research and Development Manager Bruno Gatimel outline the products supplied by Bioforce and some of the methods for growing biocontrol agents for the ...

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VIDEO

Benefits of biocontrol

Val Orchard from ERMA explains how new organisms are sometimes used in New Zealand to control the levels of other organisms. (Note: ERMA was disestablished in June 2011 and its functions were ...

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VIDEO

Ian Yule – Aerial Scanning for Pasture Analysis

Professor Ian Yule, Massey University, is interested in precision agriculture sensing. He has developed a number of tools for the market. Here, Ian and Massey University, Commercialisation and IP ...

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Explore related interactives

SLIDESHOW

Weeds that threaten native ecosystems – slideshow

A slideshow of weeds and the adaptations that make them problematic in a New Zealand setting. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here for the download ...

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INTERACTIVE

Threats to marine habitats

Human actions at sea and on land are putting increasing pressure on the ocean and the species that live there.

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INTERACTIVE

Auckland Islands marine ecosystem

The marine environment of the Auckland Islands in the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands group is home to a diverse range of species. Use this interactive image to learn about this diverse ...

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