The ecology of the river refers to the relationships that living organisms have with each other and with their environment – the ecosystem. An ecosystem is the sum of interactions between plants ...
Estuaries connect land and sea. They are partly enclosed bodies of water situated at the edge of the land – a mixture of freshwater from streams and rivers and saltwater from the sea. Estuaries ...
Kōura (freshwater crayfish, Paranephrops planifrons, P. zealandicus) are one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s original inhabitants. They have an ancient lineage that diverged from their Australian ...
In this activity, students make connections between the river environment and the species in and around it, learning about their relationships. The activity helps them visualise the ...
New Zealand’s streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands support around 54 species of native fish including galaxiids, bullies, eels, lamprey, black flounder, torrentfish, smelt and mullet – and these ...
In this activity, students can test their knowledge of freshwater fish online or in a paper-based quiz. The quiz can be used as an introductory tool to gauge students’ prior knowledge, as a ...
Did you know that 80% of marine litter globally starts life on land? Mizuiku Upstream Battle is a citizen science programme run by Keep New Zealand Beautiful. It aims to get volunteers across ...
Marine Metre Squared is a New Zealand citizen science project that supports communities to monitor their local seashore. The project has been designed to provide meaningful, valid environmental ...
iNaturalist logs hundreds of thousands of photos of flora, fauna and fungi. There are even sound recordings too. Each is described and geo located. iNaturalist is used by citizens and scientists ...
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 ...
In this online PD session recorded on 5 November 2015, primary school teacher Angela Schipper shares how she adapted resources from across the Science Learning Hub to explore water pollution with ...
Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past, present, future is the largest scientific study ever undertaken on lakes in Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme, jointly led by GNS Science and Cawthron ...
NIWA scientist, Andrew Swales describes what estuaries are, how New Zealand estuaries have changed over time and why they now need to be monitored.
Dr Phil Battley, from Massey University, describes what godwits have and do to be able to make the long flight.
Freshwater ecologist Dr Ian Kusabs explains the ecological roles kōura play and their importance to iwi living in the central North Island. Questions for discussion: What three things do kōura do ...
An interactive showing the lower Waikato River. Use the zoom-in feature to find some cultural and geographical connections to the river. Listen to iwi talking about what the river means to them ...
This interactive looks at some of the measures you can take to look after your local stream – because if you’re looking after your local stream, you’re looking after our endangered native fish!
Meet some of our New Zealand native freshwater fish and learn more about them and their preferred habitats. Click on the name of the fish or group of fish to learn more.
