New Zealand has approximately 300 estuaries. They are historically important cultural sites – Māori settlers valued estuaries as an important source of fish and shellfish, and European settlers ...
Throughout human existence we have relied on the oceans – for food, as a waste dump, for recreation, for economic opportunities and so on. However, it’s not only our activities in the marine ...
A habitat is the area where an organism or group of organisms live and breed. One habitat will be distinct from another due to its particular environmental conditions. However, habitats are not ...
In this activity, students discuss how a variety of everyday objects can serve as metaphors for the important characteristics and functions of estuaries. By the end of this activity, students ...
In this activity, students consider short-term and long-term responses to an environmental disaster such as the Rena. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: describe what might ...
In this activity, students become aware of the importance of estuaries. They identify some possible impacts on estuaries and possible actions that can be taken to protect them. By the end of this ...
FrogID is an Australian app that uses audio of frogs’ unique calls to identify various species and their locations. We can use it in New Zealand to record the location of introduced frogs. There ...
The Great Kererū Count is New Zealand’s biggest citizen science project to help gather information on the abundance and distribution of the endemic New Zealand pigeon. The 2020 count takes place ...
This comprehensive worldwide online citizen science (OCS) project collates bird species, numbers, locations and times of sightings into a large database. You can create a class as a user and, by ...
The rocky shore is a popular topic in primary school science. Below are some Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to the rocky shore in the Living World strand of the New ...
With 75% of New Zealanders living within 10 km of the coast, many students will be familiar with estuaries. In scientific terms, estuaries are the interface between the land and the sea – the ...
New Zealand is well known for its unique bird life. Our endemic birds evolved in an isolated, island environment. The arrival of people, the deliberate and accidental introduction of mammalian ...
Andrew Swales and Weno Iti from NIWA take a core sample in an estuary in Kawhia. Sediment cores can show changes in estuarine ecology over hundreds of years, giving scientists an idea of the ...
Dr Candida Savage, from the University of Otago, talks about her research into the effect of land use change on coastal areas and the organisms that live there. In particular, Candida focuses on ...
In this video, Associate Professor Abby Smith, from the University of Otago, talks about what we can do to help reduce ocean acidification. Point of interest Make links to other initiatives to ...
Dr Candida Savage explains the clues she collects in estuaries and fiords, to understand how changes in land use affect these environments.
This interactive looks at some of the measures you can take to look after your local stream – because if you’re looking after your local stream, you’re looking after our endangered native fish!
Meet some of our New Zealand native freshwater fish and learn more about them and their preferred habitats. Click on the name of the fish or group of fish to learn more.
