Mike’s News Oct 28

Diary minus PLD (all PLD events in a separate document this term)

27Oct-2Nov Tokelau language week, Te Gagana Tokelau www.mpia.govt.nz
29 Oct Guilford & Paringatai talk about finding the stomach cancer gene, Dunedin
30 Oct NZ teachers’ day
30 Oct 1pm deadline for Yr 12 or 13 student to apply for The PM’s Future Scientist Prize
31 Oct Guilford & Paringatai talk about finding the stomach cancer gene, Wellington
31 Oct Diwali https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/new-zealand/diwali
31 Oct New education.govt.nz website goes live. Science stuff will be here.
31 Oct Deadline to submit essay on how to succeed at school. Info here.
31Oct-2 Nov Diwali, Hindu Festival of Lights
5 Nov World Tsunami Awareness Day
5-29 Nov NZQA exams
8 Nov National STEM/STEAM day US website
10 Nov World science day https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-science-day
10-16 Nov Papua New Guinea Language week, Papua Niugini Tok Pisin www.mpia.govt.nz
Moon NM Nov 2      1Q Nov 9      FM Nov 16      3Q Nov 23
  1. Talks that may be relevant for us
    • Prof Ben Kennedy won a PM’s award for Science Communication, & speaks about his work as a geologist and a communicator. 12 Nov, 6:30-8pm Building DL, Room DLEC, Ara, City Campus 130 Madras St, Chch
    • Mike Joy speaks on The Fight for Freshwater in Auckland, Nelson, Palmerston N, Havelock N, Chch (will be recorded & available here) & Wgtn. Info here.

Info

  1. Mātauranga Māori:
  2. Professional reading/watching/listening:
  3. Student opportunities:
    • Beamline for Schools is a physics competition for high-school students from all around the world to propose an experiment that they want to perform at a particle accelerator.
  4. Teacher opportunities
    • Vic Uni Wellington is offering a Professional Development grant covering tuition & student service fees for Wgtn-based secondary teachers to complete a uni summer course at VuW.
  5.  Revision:

Resources

  1. Biology:
  2. Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
  3. Earth & Space Science:
    • Geotrips have interactive map and info on a wide range of geological sites across NZ – great for field trip prep.
    • Out of the ocean, into the fire is a detailed book on the history of northern NZ by geologist, Bruce Hayward.
  4. Chemistry:
  5. Physics:
  6. Primary & intermediate:
  7.  Science:
  8. New standards
    • FaceBook suggestions for PES 1.2
      • the effect of wind force (fan) or mass on speed of waka (wind yacht). Kirsten Jessup
      • parachute drop altering the shape, how many holes and weight using paperclips. Janey Collins
      • the Physics of falling, changing mass, surface area, or projected angle and measuring time (to calculate average falling speed). Lisa Janek
      • NZIP has a list of possible investigations inside the secure resource bank for members
      • Use car ramp, changing height, measuring time and distance of toy car to calculate speed. Author? (Let me know if you posted this and I can acknowledge.)
      • V=IR and P=VI using the phenomenon of brightness. Bill McGeechan.

Vacancies

  1. Ak Uni’s Engineering faculty runs the Apollo programme for Māori and Pasifika students studying NCEA L3 calculus and has just expanded to include L3 physics. Runs during the school holidays, starting Dec/Jan then Apr/Jul/Oct 2025. Email expressions of interest for this paid position to steve.watkinson@auckland.ac.nz

Professional Learning & Development (PLD) Opportunities

  1. Hive Mind, free online PLD from Science in a van with the Science Learning Hub on Zoom. Come along to hear what yr 1-10 teachers from all around Aotearoa are up to and share planning tips & tricks. Resources from the last one here. Next one is Thurs 7 Nov 4-4:45pm – Register Now
  2. Learning Network NZ, Cnr Universal/Soljan Drives, Henderson, Auckland
  3. Term 4 Science PLD has been updated (starts this week) for both primary and secondary science. Plus flyers for HandsOn Genetics BEANZ and Genetics Aotearoa Wgtn
  4. Einstein Plus is a 1-week face-to-face (in Canada!) workshop for high school teachers with a focus on modern physics – quantum physics, special relativity, & cosmology. Jul 7-11, 2025. $300CAD.
  5. Massey uni is offering an online course this summer on Māori astronomy, led by Rangi Mātāmua. Wed & Th evenings from 20 Nov – 4 Feb with 2 weeks off for Christmas. Apply by 31 Oct.
  6. Resources available for this terms ToD:

Technician

  1. “Temu sells LED lights (which we use with conductive dough) and also some little magnets and other items for our junior classes.” Debz Walker, FB
  2. Signage some schools are using: No food or drink allowed = KAUA E KAI, E INU RĀNEI; No unauthorised entry = HE URUNGA WHAI HERE

Cheers, Mike

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