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Native bird losses affect plant species

A decline in bird life is having a negative knock-on effect for some of our native plant species, researchers from the Schools of Biological Science at Auckland and Canterbury Universities have ...

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ARTICLE

New Zealand bird pollination studies – timeline

See how scientists have changed their ideas about the importance of bird pollination in New Zealand in the timeline below. 1870 – Decline of birds There is a sharp decline in several native birds ...

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ARTICLE

Protecting native birds

New Zealand birds evolved in isolation from natural predators for around 65 million years. When human settlers arrived, changes came rapidly, and birds were poorly adapted to withstand threats to ...

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ACTIVITY

New Zealand bush ecosystems

In this activity, students build a food web that represents the Aotearoa New Zealand bush ecosystem. Students use images of organisms within the ecosystem to explore the relationships between ...

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ACTIVITY

Eliciting prior knowledge

In this activity, students are given an opportunity to share what they know about the whio. Two methods of eliciting prior knowledge are modelled, whio bingo and an ideas wall. Although whio/blue ...

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ACTIVITY

Whio feathers – what are they for?

Ducks have three main types of feathers: flight, contour and down feathers. Each feather type provides a different function. Whio live in very cold water and so the insulating and waterproofing ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

eBird

This comprehensive worldwide online citizen science (OCS) project collates bird species, numbers, locations and times of sightings into a large database. You can create a class as a user and, by ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

iNaturalist

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 ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Spyfish Aotearoa

Come and visit Aotearoa New Zealand’s underwater world in this online citizen science project. Discover, count and identify unique fish species that live within our marine reserves ...

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TEACHER PLD

Conserving native birds – unit plan

New Zealand is well known for its unique bird life. Our endemic birds evolved in an isolated, island environment. The arrival of people, the deliberate and accidental introduction of mammalian ...

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TEACHER PLD

Diving into inquiry with whio

In this recorded professional learning session, Shanthie Walker from DOC and Lyn Rogers explore why the whio/blue duck is so important to New Zealand. They use the Department of Conservation Whio ...

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TEACHER PLD

Why learn about whio?

In this recorded professional learning session, Shanthie Walker from DOC and Lyn Rogers continue to explore why the whio/blue duck is so important to New Zealand and why it is so endangered. They ...

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VIDEO

Mistletoe research

Dave Kelly the of University of Canterbury explains why native mistletoes are declining. He also talks about the research that he and Jenny Ladley carry out in Craigieburn Forest Park in the ...

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VIDEO

Rhabdothamnus research

The Rhabdothamnus plant relies on bellbirds and stitchbirds for pollination. Dave Kelly of the University of Canterbury explains that, where these birds are absent, the plants are not surviving ...

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VIDEO

Project Mātauranga: Bringing the kiwi back

Kiwi – Aotearoa New Zealand’s national icon – are under threat from introduced pests. In this episode of Project Mātauranga, Dr John McLennan and members of the Lake Waikaremoana Hapū Restoration ...

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SLIDESHOW

Methods of predator control – slideshow

This slideshow allows students to consider some of the pros and cons of various methods of predator control. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here ...

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SLIDESHOW

Diving into inquiry with whio – slideshow

This slideshow, from the webinar Making sense of data, provides additional support for the video tutorial. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here for ...

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SLIDESHOW

Why learn about whio? – slideshow

This slideshow, from the webinar Why learn about whio?, provides additional support for the video tutorial. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here for ...

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