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The Waka Tapu voyage

Navigator Jack Thatcher commanded the two waka hourua that sailed from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Rapanui (Easter Island) and back. Te Aurere and its supporting vessel Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, known ...

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ARTICLE

Navigating without instruments – introduction

The 2012–2013 voyage of the Waka Tapu closed the Polynesian triangle. This confirmed that it is possible to successfully and deliberately travel great distances by canoe while navigating without ...

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ARTICLE

Rediscovering traditional Māori navigation

There has been renewed interest in understanding how Polynesian peoples navigated the Pacific. Teams of people have built waka (canoes) using traditional designs and sailed them long distances ...

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ACTIVITY

Naming the whetū in Te Kāhui o Matariki

There are nine whetū/stars in the star cluster Matariki. In te ao Māori, each whetū holds dominion over a particular area of wellbeing and the environment. Download Exercise Rights: The ...

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ACTIVITY

Māori knowledge of animals – local contexts

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 ...

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ACTIVITY

Navigating by the stars

In this activity, students learn the cardinal points of the compass. They also learn how to use the Sun and star constellations – the Southern Cross and the Pointers – to identify the cardinal ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Planet Four

The Planet Four online citizen science project is designed to assist planetary scientists to identify and measure features on the surface of Mars that don’t exist on Earth. Help is needed to ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Planet Hunters

Search data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft for the dips in star light intensity caused by exoplanets – planets that orbit stars other than the Sun. As these exoplanets pass between the star and ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Agent Exoplanet

Help astronomers at Las Cumbres Observatory, California, study exoplanets – planets that orbit stars other than our Sun. Do this by interpreting images taken by their telescopes in Hawaii ...

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TEACHER PLD

Hub resources with te reo Māori

The Science Learning Hub has a selection of resources that have been translated into te reo Māori and a number of resources that feature both te reo Māori and English. Our webinar Opportunities ...

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TEACHER PLD

Picturebooks for Matariki

In this recorded professional learning session picturebook expert Associate Professor Nicola Daly (co-director of the Waikato Picturebook Research Unit at the University of Waikato) discusses her ...

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TEACHER PLD

Enduring competencies for designing science learning ...

In this recorded professional learning session Dr Rosemary Hipkins joins us to discuss the concept of enduring competencies – competencies that focus on what students can do with their knowledge ...

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VIDEO

Turning a hobby into a career

Kelvin Barnsdale explains how his hobby of building electronics that could survive in very strange environments lead to a career involving NASA. He provides ideas on how students can get involved ...

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VIDEO

Careers using satellites for science

Dr Wolfgang Rack and Dr Adrian McDonald discuss a few of the career pathways that involve the use of satellites and remote sensing. Point of interest Satellites are used for land, ocean, crop and ...

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VIDEO

Satellites measure ice sheet thickness

Dr Wolfgang Rack of Gateway Antarctica explains the link between sea ice thickness and global climate and how he uses the CryoSat-2 satellite to measure sea ice. Jargon alert Freeboard is the ...

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INTERACTIVE

Measuring the weather – a timeline

This timeline lets you see the historical developments in technology related to weather monitoring, measuring and forecasting. It also shows how scientific thinking changed over the centuries as ...

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INTERACTIVE

Satellites and orbits

The size, orbit and design of a satellite depend on its purpose. In this interactive, scientists discuss the functions of various satellites and orbits. Accompanying fact files provide ...

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INTERACTIVE

Te iwa o Matariki

Matariki is the name for the cluster of stars that signals the beginning of the Māori new year. Drag and drop each star's label to its location in the star cluster.

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