18-24 Nov	Antibiotic Resistance www.who.int/campaigns/world-antibiotic-awareness-week/en/
23 Nov	Te Papa talk on adapting Botanic Gardens for climate change 11am-12:30pm. $30
23 Nov	BEANZ workshop Dunedin, Logan Park HS, 74 Butts Rd. 9-3. Register here
23 Nov	SCENZ will have its AGM online 8-8:45 pm
24-27 Nov	Great Southern Bioblitz Register and upload observations to iNaturalist. Info here.
24 Nov	Physics Teacher’s Day LT401 in the Engineering Bldg, 20 Symonds St, Ak.
27 Nov	Deadline to apply for South Auckland Participatory Science Platform funding here
30 Nov	Deadline to apply to enter for The Earth Prize sustainability project. Info here.
1 Dec	World AIDS Day https://www.nzaf.org.nz/ (Red Ribbon)
1 Dec	Antarctica day
Moon	1Q Nov 20        FM Nov 27        3Q Dec 5        NM Dec 13

1. Café Scientifique – uncovering the journey of rubbish and recycling in Tauranga, 20 Nov, 7pm at the Tauranga Yacht and Power Boat Club at 90 Keith Allen Dr, Tauranga. Info here
2. Forest and Bird webinar on invasive species in Aotearoa, Wed 22 Nov, 7:30-8:30pm. Info here.
3. Nano Girl’s touring show is in Wellington 3 Dec, Auckland 2 Dec, and Christchurch 26 Nov. Info here
4. In-person seminar with Prof Gert Biesta on the relationship between education and democracy, and the public role of education, as well as the current positioning of teaching and teachers within society. Auckland Grammar School, 4pm Mon 4 Dec. Register your interest here.

Info

1. Culturally Responsive & Relational Pedagogy:
   • If you want someone to come to your school to help you with incorporating Pacific values into your subject area contact https://www.learningcircle.co.nz/pld-courses/pasifika-led-education
   • Huia Puketapu from Te Ātiawa will work with Wellington schools and departments on mātauranga Māori.
2. Mātauranga Māori:
   • A paper looking at science and indigenous knowledge with respect to coasts https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11160-021-09679-3
3.  Pedagogy:
   • Preparing for parent-teacher conferences https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/parent-teacher-conferences-strategies-and-forms-for-teachers-to-prepare
   • How whanau can help with homework https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/homework-help-tips-for-parents
4. Student opportunities:
   • The Sir Peter Blake Trust will bring a virtual reality experience to your school. Annika brings enough VR sets for 40 kids at a time, 4 sessions a day. Not expensive and funding is available. https://www.blakenz.org/programmes/blake-nz-vr/
5. Digital support:
   • FLIP (used to be called Flipgrid) is useful for students to upload a video clip with music and annotations as an alternative assessment. It uses the same tools as social media platforms that most kids are familiar with so few need teacher instruction. https://info.flip.com/en-us.html
6. Local curriculum article about Field-Based STEM in the Wairarapa https://times-age.co.nz/midweek/natural-world-enhancing-local-education/
7. Form class activities:
   • Gratitude activities https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/gratitude-activities-for-middle-and-high-school
8. A webinar for non-teachers having to present to science students. https://courses.outtherelearning.co.nz/kickstart-your-science-communication-free-webinar
9. Congratulations to Sarah Gaze for her NZIC award for important contribution to chemical education. For over 10 years she has shared quality online resources (ppts, student notes and workbooks) for science and chemistry that were particularly useful during the lockdowns. https://nzic.org.nz/awards-winners-11

Resources

1. Biology:
   • Convergent evolution examples https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/convergent-evolution.html
   • Alison Campbell was storing all her resources at Waikato Uni but they have shifted to a Microsoft OS. New link here.
2. Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
   • News video clip on the use of drones to spray in orchards https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/10/18/orchardists-embrace-drones-for-sustainable-crop-spraying
   • Interactive game for growing food Kiwi Kai https://kiwikai.nz/
3. Earth & Space Science:
   • activity investigating factors that affect the size and shape of impact craters https://www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/68_Moon_craters.pdf
   • Investigating factors that affect tsunami inundation https://serc.carleton.edu/ANGLE/educational_materials/activities/205662.html
   • ELI activity exploring graphite as an essential mineral for the green revolution https://www.earthlearningidea.com/PDF/424_Essential_minerals_graphite.pdf
4.  Chemistry:
   • How desalination plants work https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/desalination.htm
   • A graphing activity about US vaping stats https://www.turnersgraphoftheweek.com/uploads/1/1/2/2/112252793/gow_11-13_2023_vaping_stats.pdf
5. Physics:
   • article on appliances and energy use https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/sustainable/5-energy-hungry-appliances.htm
   • Shedding Light on Nuclear Radiation series https://www.liacoseducationalmedia.com/shedding-light-on-nuclear-radiation-episode-2-alpha-radiation
6. Primary & intermediate:
   • Observe effect of salt on freezing point by making ice cream in a bag https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/ice-cream3.htm
   • Zoo activity book on lizards https://rfacdn.nz/zoo/assets/media/primary-lizards-resource-pack.pdf
7.  Science:
   • Zooniverse https://www.zooniverse.org/projects & Science Learning Hub are good to find citizen science projects for your kids to get involved in. https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/citizen_science
   • Practicals suggestions for term 4: Hands on suggestions for term 4
8. Education for Sustainability (EfS)
   • A game about sea level rise https://mycoastalfutures.niwa.co.nz/
9.  STEM/STEAM:
   • Science in School is a free journal for Science teachers. Issue 65 is now out. It has interesting resources and practical activities. https://www.scienceinschool.org/issue/issue-65/
10. Nature of Science
    • A draft report from PISA on scientific literacy makes interesting reading https://pisa-framework.oecd.org/science-2025/assets/docs/PISA_2025_Science_Framework.pdf . Lian Soh, Papamoa College, compared the 2025 topics with those from 2018: PISA contexts
11. New standards
    • Anita Semmens, Hamilton GHS, suggests white kiwi as a context for CB 1.3. https://activeadventures.com/blog/manukura-the-worlds-only-white-kiwi
    • New Te Marautanga o Aotearoa NCEA resources are now available, tailored to align L1 to L2, offering guidance on the NCEA changes. Science resources here. Online sessions here

MoE/NZQA

1. Resources for teacher-only days on NCEA https://ncea.education.govt.nz/teacher-only-days

Cheers, Mike

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