All PLD events in a separate document this term

5-29 Nov	NZQA exams
18 Nov	International day of LGBT people in STEM. https://prideinstem.org/lgbtstemday/
18-24 Nov	Antibiotic Resistance www.who.int/campaigns/world-antibiotic-awareness-week/en/
24-30 Nov	Solomon Islands Language Week, Solomon Aelan Pijin www.mpia.govt.nz
1 Dec	World AIDS Day https://www.nzaf.org.nz/ (Red Ribbon)
Moon	3Q Nov 23      NM Dec 1      1Q Dec 9      FM Dec 15

1. EarthFest – Festival of Earth Science 2024 is coming to Tūhura Otago Museum Dunedin Nov 23 – interactive exhibits, demonstrations, & talks including a career showcase. https://earthfest.nz/

Info

1. Mātauranga Māori
   • The Kupe Waka Centre at Aurere in the Far North teaches about waka building and star navigation. The main whare, Te Whetū Mārama, is named after Hec Busby.
2. Teacher opportunity
   • Royal Society Science Teaching Leadership Program builds leadership skills & knowledge of NoS while working in a local science organisation (paid leave for 2 terms). Then 4 – 6 terms of support while improving science teaching & learning in school. Apply now to start Jul ’25.
3. Literacy:
   • Recent journal articles with a science link – Land of Lizards, making a lizard lounge, Saving Wananga, The stars of Matariki, From influenza to Independence
4. Revision:
   • A blog on revising Biology with some good ideas applicable to other sciences too.

Resources

1. Biology:
   • A powerpoint on Gause’s principle: Gause
   • Videos from Colossal Biosciences on bringing back the Tasmanian Tiger: Episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4.
2. Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
   • Full outlook for the latest agribusiness trends and insights in the latest Rabo Research November Agribusiness Monthly. Full disclaimer.
   • An engineering project where students learn about greenhouse design then build and test a model https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_housing_lesson03_activity2
3. Earth & Space Science:
   • Using sponge rolls to demonstrate folding https://www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/251_Swiss_roll_surgery.pdf
   • Learn how the transmission of P and S waves help scientists understand the structure of the earth https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zswkjty/revision/1
4. Chemistry:
   • The science of ice cream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rlapUkWCSM
   • A good time of year to try out PhET simulations – Build a nucleus, build a molecule, pH scale basics, isotopes & atomic mass
5. Physics:
   • Airplanes unit from Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/curricularunits/view/cub_airplanes_curricularunit
   • An activity on lenses https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/activities/students/looking.html
6. Primary & intermediate:
   • Activity to find the best material to clean murky water
   • Online zoo modules designed for pre- and post-visit activities are also useful for the classroom.
7. Middle School:
   • Chemistry lessons on Matter, State change, Density, Periodic table, water, chemical change https://www.acs.org/middleschoolchemistry.html
   • A series of lessons on using spectrographs to help us understand the composition of light sources. https://www.teachengineering.org/curricularunits/view/cub_spect_curricular_unit
8.  Science:
   • Science fair booklets: Science Fair bklt JPC and Science fair bklt MW
   • Some activities to teach biogeochemical cycles
     • Arrange cards to show the cycle eg C cycle cards, water cycle cards
     • Read a description & use it to draw the cycle from eg C cycle Description, Water cycle description
     • Read a Connected article eg Catch my Drift 2012 and Catch My Drift TSM or Water cycle 2002 and Water cycle TSM
     • Match a list of terms with their definitions eg C cycle Matching list, Water cycle Matching list
     • Look at different images of the cycle (student- or teacher-provided) and compare and contrast. The 4^th set of Science Capability Qs may be useful. From this discussion students draw their own carbon or water cycle.
     • Play a game eg Carbon cycle, Water cycle game Kick Start from NZCER
     • Explore interactives – Carbon Interactive 1, Carbon Interactive 2, Water model, Nitrogen Interactive, phosphorus video
     • Calculate a water foot print or carbon footprint for home or school
     • Examine a case study eg the impact of deforestation, agriculture or fossil fuel combustion on the carbon cycle or human water use, deforestation & climate change on water cycle.
9. Nature of Science
   • NZCER’s water cycle game Kickstart is a clever resource that can be used with both juniors and seniors. Rose Hipkins is keen to facilitate getting it updated & republished if there’s enough demand – please email me to register interest. If representing a group please indicate numbers.

MoE/NZQA

1. A clarification. Further to last week, a student can gain credits for both CB1.1 (microbes) and AgH 1.1 (managing a life process), but not with the same investigation. So it’s not the same as an exclusion.
2. MoE’s new home for curriculum content, Tāhūrangi, is live! This site replaces tki and includes Science Online, Assessment Online, e-asTTle, Education Outside the Classroom, Enabling e-learning, and more. Science content can be found here.

Professional Learning & Development (PLD) Opportunities

1. Term 4 Science PLD 241118 now includes
   • Festival of inclusive education – Free, online PLD from Australia on ed Tech & inclusivity.
   • Te Papa PLD on exploring science within an integrated curriculum. It highlights how the use of taonga can be woven through a range of subjects. 4 Dec, 9:30-4.
2. For those still having PLD days: At BoP cluster Lian Soh shared a detailed comparison of 2024 & 2025 documents for L1 CB & Science stds that have changed. You may find it useful https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kJzseU9wZDIzgDe0Qmhw7p-orLNukYP8

Technician

1. ESR is looking into collecting radioactive materials schools want to dispose of. Please contact Ahmed so he can see what is needed in each region. ahmed.al-salim@esr.cri.nz
2. When using a MnO₂ catalyst to decompose H₂O₂ – make up some plaster of Paris and mix in some MnO₂. Then wearing gloves, roll it into pea sized balls and let them dry. The MnO₂ still catalyses H₂O₂ decomposition but doesn’t disintegrate and when rinsed off & dried is reusable. No more black stained sinks. Just ensure students don’t try to throw them out. [Rosemary McCartney]

Cheers, Mike

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