The Hub has a very useful collections tool. Hub users who are signed in can access the tool to create their own collections, collaborate on collections, add their own notes (with both a private and public-only view) and share their collections. It is intuitive and easy to use.
It has been developed to support your lesson planning by creating ways you can sort, classify and annotate resources. Students can use it for their class tasks such as research or as a study tool. PLD providers or school leaders can use it to provide support and ideas for others. Annotation on an individual resource can be seen if used on a data show projector, allowing student instructions or prompts to be seen by a class. You can set these annotated notes to be visible or hidden.
Use the ‘Add to collection’ button on individual resources to begin a new collection or add to an existing collection. Once you have content, you can click and drag resources to reorder them and add notes.
Key collection features
- Notes in collections
- Sharing public collections
- Collaboration
- Public collections to copy and use
- Need more help?
Notes in collections
Create a note linked to a resource by entering text into the box underneath the resource image. There are basic formatting options, including being able to add external links to your note.
You can create stand-alone notes alongside resources. Hover your cursor beside the resource image that you wish to add a note next to and click the + icon that will appear. These notes could be used to break up a collection into sections – that’s what we did for the public collection Exploring space – resources for years 5/6. If you want to add separate notes for a resource – maybe both private and public ones – add the resource again and create a new note.
- Public notes – a public note attached to a resource will show on the right-hand side of the resource page and can be used as a teaching tool. It is coloured yellow and will be visible to anyone viewing your collection.
- Private note – set a note to private by selecting the people icon, and it changes to pale orange. This could be used for extension ideas or answers to questions. When a note is set to private, only the title of collection(s) that the private note is part of will display on the resource page. To change a note back to public, just click the lock icon.
Don’t forget to save your note by clicking ‘Save’ on each notepad. All the resources and notes can be moved around your collection in whatever order you want.
Sharing public collections
Your collections are private, but by clicking the padlock icon on the left of the collection title, you can create a shareable link – just copy the public URL and then you can share it. If you receive a shareable collection link, you can add it to your own personal collection – just click the copy icon. This collection will then become part of your private collection so you can now change the title and make other changes such as adding extra notes.
Collaboration
Invite others to collaborate on a collection in real time by clicking the white + button to the left of the Collections title. Enter the email address and click ‘Invite’. Your new collaborator will receive an email from enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz with a link to join the new collection. TIP: If they don’t receive the email invitation, double check you’ve entered their email address correctly and/or that it hasn’t gone into their spam/junk folder.
Once they have joined your collaboration, an icon representing them will appear in your collection. Now you can work together but be careful – if you see their icon on a note, this means that they are currently editing it, so don’t overwrite their work. Just wait until they’ve finished and their icon has gone.
Public collections to copy and use
Hub users can copy and use public collections created by the Science Learning Hub team. To do this, click on the copy icon at the top of the collection. If you are logged in, this action automatically creates a copy of the collection that will sit in your profile. Remember to rename the collection to suit your purpose – then you are ready to customise your collection.
The following collections have been created by the Hub team and are ready to use and customise as you want. We add to the list as we create new collections. Some of the collections are a curation of resources. Others have notes with curriculum information, key science concepts and/or suggestions for practising the science capabilities.
We update these collections as new resources are added to the website. Keep an eye on the site’s notification bell at the top of all our pages so you can update your personal collection too.
- 1080 and the wicked problem of predator control
- 3, 2, 1 . . . Lift off! (This collection supports the House of Science Rockets Ngā Tākirirangi kit – but it is also useful for anyone using rockets as the context to teach about forces.)
- Autumn science
- Big Blue Future (This collection supports the House of Science resource kit – but it is also useful for anyone interested in protecting the oceans as a way of protecting our planet.)
- Biosecurity
- Bringing back the birdsong
- Climate change (The focus is on the science of climate change and associated socio-scientific issues – including melting ice and sea level rise.)
- Climate change (HoS) (This collection supports the House of Science Climate Change Kit – but it is also useful for anyone exploring what is climate change, ocean acidification, sea and land water, how climate change affects Māori, the Earth's interacting systems and ideas to tackle these wicked problems in the classroom.)
- eDNA (This collection supports the House of Science 'Who Goes There?' eDNA kit – but it is also useful for anyone using biodiversity and whakapapa as a context to teach concepts such as genetics or ecosystems.)
- Exploring space – resources for years 5/6
- Flight and the science capabilities for NZC levels 1–3
- Gardens
- Light and shadows
- Mighty microbes (This collection supports the House of Science Mighty Microbes Kit – but it is also useful for anyone exploring our immune system, microbes, gut health and the history of washing hands.)
- Opportunities for using te reo Māori
- Our atmosphere and climate 2020
- Physics – force and motion
- Simple machines (This collection supports the House of Science Simple Machines kit – but it is also useful for anyone exploring this Physical World topic.)
- Sound – lower primary
- Summer science
- Rongoā Māori
- Te repo/wetlands
- The periodic table of elements
- Takahē – conservation and ecology
- Takahē – science capabilities
- Water analysis (This collection supports the House of Science Water Analysis kit – but it is also useful for anyone exploring waterways, stream health, monitoring indicators and te ao Māori views on wai.)
- Water quality
- Waves PLD resources
Need more help?
If you require more help navigating through your collections, please just ask the team – enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz.
Find out more about how we curate resources using both the collections tool and Pinterest here.
