Welcome to the Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao.

The Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao makes New Zealand science, technology and engineering more visible and accessible to school students, teachers and community audiences.

Our 9,717 resources showcase cutting-edge science and demonstrate how the stories of science can be used to enrich school teaching and learning, making it more relevant, engaging and meaningful.

The resources are curated in topics and concepts. You can also search for specific content. To curate and annotate your own collections of content, use our collections tool – find out more in this article.

If you’re unable to find resources you’ve used in the past or are looking for something new, please get in touch – we’d love to help you.

About the Hub

We are a national project funded by the New Zealand Government to make examples of New Zealand science, technology and engineering more accessible and visible.

To do this, we use a range of media to tell the stories of New Zealand research and development. Wrap-around teacher resources demonstrate how these stories can be used as contexts for creating relevant, engaging classroom programmes in science and STEM.

Content is developed by teachers, teacher educators and multimedia experts working closely with New Zealand’s scientists, technologists and engineers.

As always, we’d love your feedback – anything from design to content. Please use the handy feedback tool at the bottom left of your screen or email us. We also have a useful article How the Hub can help. Hearing from you helps us to keep improving what we do!

Funding

The Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao is an integral component of the New Zealand Government’s Science in Society Plan – A Nation of Curious Minds, He Whenua Hihiri I te Mahara.

The Hub features work from all of New Zealand’s universities and Crown Research Institutes and many other organisations. It represents a significant investment by the government and New Zealand’s research and development sector in school science and STEM education.

The project is managed by the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, Te Wānanga Toi Tangata Division of Education, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato.

Read more about the Hub’s annual highlights: 2021–2022, 2020–2021, 2019–2020, 2018–2019 and 2017–2018.

Introducing our social media

The Hub has an active presence across several social media platforms. Our aim is to interact with and support Hub users, facilitate closer connections between scientists and educators and promote other relevant resources, connections and conversations in the science/technology education and communication space.

Following us is also a great way to make connections between topical events and Hub resources and for keeping up to date with new content and science-related events.

Find out more about how we can help here.



Introducing our team

Dr Cathy Buntting

Hub Director and Director, Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, Te Wānanga Toi Tangata Division of Education, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Cathy loves working in the ‘third space’ between science and education, facilitating connections between these two sectors for the mutual benefit of both. She is also a strong advocate for the thoughtful and strategic incorporation of digital technologies to enhance learning.

Andrea Soanes

Hub Associate Director

Andrea is an experienced secondary school teacher and brings to the project a passion for science and environmental education in rich, relevant contexts, extensive school and community connections and considerable project management, leadership and resource development experience. Andrea received the 2018 Kudos Secondary Science Educators Award, awarded for significantly enhancing the understanding and appreciation of science in the Waikato wider community.

Simone Marsters

Kaihautū Māori | Māori Advisor

Ko Maungataniwha me Pāngaru ngā maunga
Ko Ngātokimatawhaorua me Mataatua ngā waka
Ko Tapapa me Hokianga ngā wai tapū
Ko Te Uri o Māhoe me Ngāti Kura ngā hapū
Ko Ngā Puhi te iwi.

He honongā hoki ahau ki Te Arawa waka me te riu o Waikato, tōku ūkaipo. He tūpuna hoki nō Gloucestershire, England.

He kaiako mātanga a Simone i mahia ai ki ngā akomanga reo Pākehā, rūmaki hoki. I arahina i a ia i ngā mahi hei tautoko, hei awhina ki ngā kaiako whānui kia āta mārama ana ki a mātauranga ā tēnā hapū, ā tēnā iwi. Ko tōna inaianei kia tautoko ngā mahi o te Pōkapu mai i te kitenga o Ngāi Māori. Nā te whangai atu o te mātauranga Māori ki nga taitama, kia whānuitia ā rātou kitenga, ā rātou ako hoki. Kia whakamanahia ērā puna mātauranga Māori kia hāngai atu ki ā rātou akoranga.

Simone is an experienced primary school teacher who has worked extensively in English and Māori medium settings. Simone has successfully led projects to support kaiako across schools in understanding mātauranga Māori from local hapū and iwi. As Kaihautū Māori, she provides support and advice from te ao Māori perspectives. Sharing mātauranga Māori with our ākonga extends their opportunities to think and to learn, and validates indigenous knowledge as an integral part of their learning.

Vanya Bootham

Hub Director of Technical Content

Vanya has been with the project from the early days and manages the processes of getting new content onto the site as well as all updates and technical enhancements. Vanya also contributes to new content development. She sees the internet as an incredibly powerful tool for easy development and curation of content by multiple users.

Rachel Douglas

Hub Director of Media

Rachel is an extremely talented digital media specialist with a wealth of experience in the media industry. She has spent many years interviewing scientists and creating multimedia resources for the Hub. She is also responsible for our image research, copyrights and communication mahi. Rachel plays a key role in connecting people across the science and education sectors.

Angela Schipper

Hub Content Developer

Angela is a very experienced primary school teacher and has been part of the Hub team for many years. She contributes an enormous amount of knowledge, skill and enthusiasm for science education to the Hub. Angela is one of our key content developers.

Greta Dromgool

Hub Professional Development Facilitator and Content Developer

Greta is an experienced science teacher who has worked in both secondary and intermediate schools. Greta leads our professional development webinars and social media and is passionate about supporting teachers at all levels to offer engaging, thought-provoking science lessons. Greta received the 2020 Kudos Secondary Science Educators Award.

Tom Goulter

Hub Video Editor

Tom has spent more than 15 years doing video post-production for the education sector, including holding a founding role in the Science Learning Hub Video Unit. He brings training and experience across the fields of writing and video editing to the task of helping the Hub team tell engaging, informative stories about science, innovation and kaitiakitanga.

Professor Bronwen Cowie

Hub Strategic Advisor and Associate Dean Research, Te Wānanga Toi Tangata Division of Education, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Bronwen has worked on a wide range of national and international research projects in education, including in science and technology education. Her current research interests include classroom assessment, student voice, the role of digital technologies in supporting teacher and student learning and culturally responsive pedagogies.

Quality assurance

All content is reviewed by the featured scientists and/or their organisations as well as by a panel of education experts. Some content is provided directly by scientists or science writers.

Content team support

Helping to ensure the superior quality of our resources are our designer Jo Aitken (The Little Design Company) and style editor Mary Bennett (www.proofreading.co.nz). Other experts such as voice-over artists, animators, translators and more are called on as needed.

The Haunt crew

The team at Haunt Digital are our webmasters and technical wizards. You can find more about them on their website.

Celebrating our awards

New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards 2018

The Hub was one of three finalists in the Excellence in IT Education category for the 2018 Excellence in IT Awards. The New Zealand ITx awards are sector-wide and recognise the individuals and teams behind software and information technology.

World Summit Award 2013

The Hub was a winner in the e-learning and science category of the World Summit Award 2013. More than 160 countries are actively involved in this biennial award, which celebrates e-content and creativity.

TUANZ Innovation Award 2011

The Hub won the Education category at the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) 2011 Innovation Awards. The awards honour innovation across New Zealand’s telecommunications sector.