| 1-31 Oct | Health Literacy month |
| 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) |
| 4 Oct | International Observe the Moon night https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/ |
| 4-10 Oct | World Space week www.worldspaceweek.org/ |
| 5 Oct | World Teachers day |
| 5-11 Oct | Fijian language week, Vosa VakaViti www.mpia.govt.nz |
| 6 Oct | World Habitat Day https://www.un.org/en/events/habitatday/ |
| 6-12 Oct | Mental Health Awareness Week https://mhaw.nz/ |
| 9 Oct | 4pm SLH webinar on Moanamana, taking action to protect our oceans. Register here |
| 10 Oct | World Sight Day http://www.iapb.org/advocacy/world-sight-day |
| 12 Oct | Spring Migration day at Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebirds Centre |
| 12 Oct | Ada Lovelace day, women in STEM |
| 12-18 Oct | Earth Sciences week (USA) http://www.earthsciweek.org/about-esw |
| 13 Oct | NZ’s Get Ready Week includes the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction |
| Moon | 1Q Sep 30 FM Oct 7 3Q Oct 14 NM Oct 21 |
- Fijian Language week next week: Classroom Phrases Fiji 2025
- Look out for the Nobel prizes next week
Info
- Pedagogy:
- Suggestion to give to students: “ I asked ChatGPT to write an essay/paragraph on X, attached. I’d probably score it an NA. Your job is to redeem it. For an A, give good definitions and examples and use clearer language. For an M thoroughly expand and explain. For an E write your own without looking at the AI model.” Helps students see how simplistic AI is.
- Science gifts:
- Science Makes You Strong Tshirts and hoodies https://www.bonfire.com/science-makes-you-strong-1
Resources
- Biology:
- Some food chain activities in the context of kauri (several pages) and toxin accumulation in the Hauraki Gulf.
- Links for making ancestor skulls on 3D printers: Printing ancestor skulls
- Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
- Video on the history of innovation in NZ agriculture, from Māori arrivals onwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSsCX_DNj3M
- Sow the Seed Regional Hubs provide PLD for Ag & Hort teaching, including juniors. Info here. Register here.
- Earth & Space Science:
- Make stellar life cycles more tangible and practice scaling and coding by building star walls with RGB LEDs and microcontrollers
- Panama’s Ocean upwelling failed this year https://scitechdaily.com/for-the-first-time-in-40-years-panamas-ocean-lifeline-has-vanished/
- An activity on classifying rocks by their grains https://www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/303_Rock_grain_cut-out.pdf
- Chemistry:
- A forensic investigation that uses a chemistry context: Molarity Lab
- A printable PT PeriodicTable Annotated Liacos
- Physics:
- Measure the speed of Nerf gun projectiles and determine a safe dodging distance using a smartphone sound recorder.
- PhET Skatepark simulation has a worksheet that looks at conservation of energy and also introduces bar graphs.
- Primary & intermediate:
- Science Alive’s collection of lessons on native birds
- School Gen has online games : Crunch Time 2 (teaches about energy, science and sustainability), Whio Boot Camp (whio ecology)
- Education for Sustainability (EfS)
- Climate Action is a global Project to help teachers teach about climate change. Climate Action Project 2025
- Science:
- Some chemistry, Physics and astonomy resources for Space Week (Stem is free to join): https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/library/collection/501482/world-space-week-4th-10th-october-2025
- STEM/STEAM:
- Top Stem websites for Kids https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2025/04/top-stem-websites-for-kids.html
- Literacy
- Use ChatGPT to generate vocab lists, importing them into GimKit, Quizlet or Blooket for flashcards, games and other literacy activities.
- Wanting to access articles from mags & papers without a subscription? Go to Press Reader, select login via library, enter your library’s name & then your card number. E.g. Listener, Herald, Time
- A science book you might like to read:
- The Covid Response by Prof Shaun Hendy reflects on our approach to the pandemic and the lessons learned for Aotearoa New Zealand and the world.
MoE/NZQA
- Alan Munro has retired so NZQA is looking for a National Assessment Advisor for ESS. Info here https://careers.nzqa.govt.nz/jobs/NZQA-25066AMS
Professional Learning & Development (PLD) Opportunities
- Science Learning Hub is hosting a webinar on Mythbusting de-extinction to sort fact from fiction with Assoc Prof Nic Rawlence on Thurs 16 Oct, 4–5 pm.
Cheers, Mike
Mike’s News is brought to you with the generous support of NZASE and Warp Computers