Climate change is one of the world’s big issues. It is also a big topic to tackle in the classroom. The Hub’s planning pathways interactive suggests ways in which climate change can be broken ...
The scientific consensus is that the Earth’s climate is warming – largely through greenhouse gas emissions due to human activity. What we do about this is up to all of us. Nature of science ...
Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural environment has been shaped by climate. It has influenced both the physical environment and the plants and animals that have adapted to life in particular ...
Explore this interactive diagram to learn more about the global carbon cycle.
We are becoming increasingly aware of our impacts on nature. There is considerable evidence that humans are responsible for disruptions and changes to local and global water cycles. Different ...
In science, a model is a representation of an idea, an object or even a process or a system that is used to describe and explain phenomena that cannot be experienced directly. Models are central ...
Water can exist as a solid (ice), liquid (water) or gas (vapour or gas). Adding heat can cause ice (a solid) to melt to form water (a liquid). Removing heat causes water (a liquid) to freeze to ...
The temperature of the ocean determines what form the water takes. Most of the ocean is liquid water, but if it gets cold enough, it turns to solid ice, or if it gets hot enough, it can pass into ...
Cows are ruminants. They have especially adapted digestive systems that allow them to only eat plants. Move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and click to obtain more ...
Water in the Earth system is influencing all aspects of life on Earth. Pathways, storage, transfers and transformations have an effect on the global climate and human welfare. Within this ...
A bioindicator is a living organism that gives us an idea of the health of an ecosystem. Some organisms are very sensitive to pollution in their environment, so if pollutants are present, the ...
Water density changes with temperature and salinity. Density is measured as mass (g) per unit of volume (cm³). Water is densest at 3.98C and is least dense at 0C (freezing point). Why does ice ...
Antarctica – a land of extremes Antarctica is the highest, whitest, driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. It’s so cold that creatures often retreat to the sea to warm up. Add 24 hours ...
Just as we have essential needs for our growth, plants also have essential needs for their survival. These include: sunlight air water nutrients appropriate temperature. As long as plants have ...
Cold water is denser than warm water, so it tends to sink. Seawater is denser than freshwater. Salinity, temperature and depth all affect the density of seawater. The ocean has a complex ...
Plants are important in several key processes involved in the interacting systems of the Earth, including the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Three of these processes are cycles – the ...
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 ...
The ocean plays an important part in several Earth systems and cycles. This is hardly surprising, as it covers two-thirds of the planet’s surface. It is difficult to study any of these systems ...
New Zealand has a wide variety of landscapes. A day’s sightseeing journey might include volcanic plateaus, rolling hills, river basins and coastal lands. It is easy to notice how the scenery ...
One implication of climate change is sea level rise. Sea level is the average height of the ocean relative to the land, between the high and low tides. The rising global temperature is causing ...
Use these Material World resources for NZ Curriculum levels 1 and 2 to explore the characteristics of solids, liquids, gases and bubbles by observing water and its unusual properties. Observation ...
In this activity, students investigate the effect that contact with water has on melting ice. Climate change causes variations in both temperature and snowfall. Warming temperatures cause ...
Seaweek is New Zealand’s annual national week about the sea. It is coordinated by the Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre (MERC) and includes a wide range of events ...
The greenhouse effect is the natural warming of the Earth’s atmosphere. Solar radiation enters the atmosphere mainly as light, and some of that radiation is absorbed by the Earth’s surface then ...
