Mike’s News Nov 27

24-27 Nov Great Southern Bioblitz registers and uploads observations to iNaturalist. Info here.
27 Nov Deadline to apply for South Auckland Participatory Science Platform funding here
30 Nov Deadline for physics teachers to express interest in developing resources for PES 1.2 & 1.4
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. history and activities & Ideas for celebrating
4 Dec Seminar on the public role of education, AGS, Mountain Rd, 4pm. Register here.
5 Dec World Soil Day www.nzsoils.org.nz
7-15 Dec Hanukkah. Article about the festival
11 Dec International Mountains day www.fao.org/mnts/intl_mountain_day_en.asp
Moon FM Nov 27      3Q Dec 5      NM Dec 13      1Q Dec 20
  1. Next week will be the last Mike’s News for the year.
  2. NZASE has posted a link here to a group of 4 units planned by experienced teachers showing how we could teach contexts assessed with the new L1 Science assessments. Other subject associations are doing similar work for the other L1 standards, some resources are members-only, some are available to all: SCENZ and NZIP already have some resources on their websites and more in progress; ESSE, BEANZ and HATA expect to be uploading resources in December.
  3. The resources NZASE paid for from pilot schools were initially shared with members only. They have now been made available to all science teachers on the same website as item 2 above.
  4. Some 300 tickets have been made available free for teachers to Nanogirls shows in Ak, Wgtn & Chch. Register at: https://nanogirllabs.typeform.com/teachers
  5. The last 2-hour ESS Scholarship tutorials that Jenny Pollock is running this year will be Wed 29 Nov 2 – 4 pm meet.google.com/oej-sciy-ouo.
  6. Resources that might be useful for Antarctica Day
  7. At Wellington Botanical Garden Visitor centre there will be a display about research into plant diseases, at set times Fri 1 Dec – Tu 5 Dec. More info here.
  8. NZASE will host another webinar with pilot school teachers on the Nature of Science in the new NCEA L1 Science on Fri Dec 1 at 5pm. Click to join or to post Qs ahead of time in the chat.

Info

  1. Culturally Responsive & Relational Pedagogy:
    • The Speak Pacific App helps with words for 7 Pacific languages and provides a brief introduction to Pacific languages and culture
  2. Mātauranga Māori
  3. Student opportunities:
    • Alchemists Memory Set is an interactive game to learn Organic Chemistry. Takapuna Grammar School (TGS) will host a competition playing this game in week 8 of term 3, 2024. If your students might be interested in taking part, then register here and join an online PLD session at 10 am on Nov 30.
  4. Digital support:
    • Unpaywall is a Chrome extension that gives access to academic papers legally posted by authors on uni & govt websites. Info here. [Stephen Ross]

Resources

  1. Biology:
  2. Agricultural and Horticultural Science:
  3. Earth & Space Science:
  4.  Chemistry:
  5. Physics:
  6. Primary & intermediate:
  7. New standards

Vacancy

  1. Waikato uni is seeking a lecturer in Environmental, Analytical and Inorganic Chemistry.   https://elhs.fa.ap1.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX/job/1001064/

MoE/NZQA

  1. Primary and secondary schools can engage with changes in curriculum & assessment at 1 teacher-only day held in each time period in 2024: 27 May – 7 June; 21 Oct – 15 Nov. Resources here
  2. MoE has decided to put the release of a further draft Science Curriculum on hold until the intentions of the new Government are known.

Cheers, Mike

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