1-30 Sep | Save our Sight Month www.nzao.co.nz |
30 Sep | Deadline to apply for a PM’s science prize for students space project. Info here. |
30 Sep | Deadline to apply for a PM’s science teacher prize. Info here. |
1-3Oct | ConSTANZ2024 at St Peter’s, Cambridge. Accommodation available onsite Website |
1-31 Oct | Health Literacy month www.healthliteracymonth.org/ |
1-31 Oct | Save Kiwi month www.kiwisforkiwi.org/save-kiwi-week/schools |
1-31 Oct | Breast Cancer Awareness month www.nzbcf.org.nz (Pink Ribbon) |
3 Oct | Partial solar eclipse visible from NZ |
4-10 Oct | World Space week www.worldspaceweek.org/ |
5 Oct | World Teachers day https://www.unesco.org/en/days/teachers |
6-12 Oct | Fijian language week, Vosa VakaViti www.mpia.govt.nz |
7 Oct | World Habitat Day https://www.un.org/en/events/habitatday/ |
10 Oct | World Sight Day (2nd Th Oct) http://www.iapb.org/advocacy/world-sight-day |
12 Oct* | Ada Lovelace day, women in STEM http://findingada.com/ |
12 Oct | Welcome to the Birds open day at Pūkorokoro Miranda. https://shorebirds.org.nz/ |
13 Oct | NZ’s Get Ready Week – tsunami hui, earthquake drills |
13-19 Oct | Earth Sciences week (USA) http://www.earthsciweek.org/about-esw |
13-19 Oct | Niue language week, Vagahau Niue www.mpia.govt.nz |
Moon | NM Oct 3 1Q Oct 11 FM Oct 18 3Q Oct 24 |
Info
- Mātauranga Māori:
- Might this be applicable for us? Article about indigenous knowledge using seaweed to conserve shellfish in more acidic seawater in USA.
- Short sets of PPT slides on kaitiakitanga and taiao
- Professional reading/watching/listening:
- How to work with someone who is not a team player https://hbr.org/2017/04/how-to-work-with-someone-who-isnt-a-team-player
- Student opportunities:
- For students with an interest in birds, Birds NZ is planning a Youth Camp for Dec 15-20 at Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre. Background, Poster, Registration forms, Payment [This info was added very late last week, some may have missed it.]
- Digital tools:
- Affinity Photo 2 is an excellent programme for photo editing (and design) now available FREE for education staff worldwide. Affinity has lots of how-to videos on YouTube as well.
- Podcasts:
- Top tips for teaching boys https://soundcloud.com/core-education/top-tips-for-teaching-boys-korero-with-dr-michael-harvey
- The latest NZASE newsletter has an article on uncovering history with science as well as a profile of John Perrott. Sign up for the newsletter or find resources here https://nzase.org.nz/. Join NZASE here https://nzase.org.nz/membership/ .
Resources
- Biology:
- Activity modelling the digestive system [Technician, Central Southland College]: Making Poop
- Activity and stations with student answer sheet on the cell cycle and cancer
- Maritime museum (Ak) has posters and a game to go with their seabirds exhibition. Worth a visit these holidays. Resources from Maritime Museum
- Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
- Rain gardens catch and filter runoff that can otherwise cause erosion & spread pollution. This guide supports the design / implementation of a rain garden with minimal space or resources.
- NZ weed database
- Earth & Space Science:
- A guide for stargazing: The October night sky
- Poster, fact sheet and resource on the atmosphere https://edu.rsc.org/infographics/help-learners-understand-earths-atmosphere/4020025.article (RSC education is free to join)
- Three year 9/10 activities on the structure of the earth – draw a diagram & arrange a cluster and draw a scale model (Teach It and EduRSC are both free to join)
- Chemistry:
- Chromatography lab https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/wst_environmental_lesson02_activity1
- Prof Alan Blackman, AUT, has made many videos appropriate for senior chemistry
- Physics:
- Using photograph sequences to teach speed, acceleration & scale https://scienceinschool.org/article/2023/moving-pictures/
- Teachers discuss 4 ways of measuring g using a freefall method https://nustem.uk/activity/measuring-g/A
- Primary & intermediate:
- A hands-on lesson on weather station and forecasts from Science Buddies. You’ll need to create a free account. On a similar vein, this lesson from NIWA
- Students engineer nightlights, pollinate pumpkins and consider plastic pollution among other activities from Youth Engineering Solutions, Boston https://yes.mos.org/curricula/yes-curricula/yes-elementary/
- Science:
- Ecan has some Waitaha Wai resources for on the importance of water that might give you some ideas. The overall education program is applicable to any area, rest on local waterways.
- Good explanations of the science behind the current record flooding in Central Europe, with lots of visuals from BBC and X/Twitter.
- Education for Sustainability (EfS)
- How to teach the carbon cycle https://edu.rsc.org/cpd/how-to-teach-the-carbon-cycle-at-11-14/4013418.article (RSC education is free to join)
- New standards
- Michael Harvey podcast on key concepts for PES1.4 Energy https://soundcloud.com/michael-harvey-230150329/as92047-energy-external-ncea-level-1-physics-1
MoE/NZQA
- Official announcement about changes to L1 is here https://ncea.education.govt.nz/whats-new/support-ncea-level-1-and-co-requisite-implementation.
Professional Learning & Development (PLD) Opportunities
- STEM Learning (UK) has some free online PLD available as short videos. It’s free to join.
- Enquiry in the primary classroom
- Adaptive teaching – ensuring all students are challenged
- Feedback for learning – with primary & secondary examples
- Selecting resources – compares a diagram, a model & a dissection to teach about the heart
- Physics teachers day at Ak uni (FREE!) https://sites.google.com/view/uoaptd2017/2024s-day-info
- Learn more about the geological processes that formed our continent, Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia at an ESS webinar on Wed 16 Oct, 4 – 5pm. Flyer ESS Geological History Webinar
Vacancies
- National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee is looking for a teacher. Meetings (some online, some ftf) and site visits. Past members, Rachel Heeney & Alison Dodds recommend the experience. Info here. Apply by 30 Sep https://www.seek.co.nz/job/78858916
Cheers, Mike
Mike’s News is brought to you with the generous support of NZASE and Warp Computers