New Zealand is surrounded by the sea, and scientists estimate that as much as 80% of our known species are found in the seas around New Zealand. This marine environment not only provides a ...
New Zealand’s native freshwater fish are unique – 51 of the 54 species are only found here in New Zealand. However, when asked to name a freshwater fish species, most people will first name an ...
Feeding relationships are often shown as simple food chains – in reality, these relationships are much more complex, and the term ‘food web’ more accurately shows the links between producers ...
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 ...
Adaptation is an evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes increasingly well suited to living in a particular habitat. It is not a quick process! Natural selection over many generations ...
Human beings have an impact on river ecosystems. The relationship living organisms have with each other and with their environment is extremely complex. Impacts on a species or a non-living ...
Explore this interactive diagram to learn more about life in the sea. Click on the different labels to view short video clips or images about different parts of the marine ecosystem.
The ecology of the river refers to the relationships that living organisms have with each other and with their environment – the ecosystem. An ecosystem is the sum of interactions between plants ...
Sea stars have many weird and wonderful adaptations including both sexual and asexual reproduction. Click on any of the labels in this interactive to view short video clips or images to learn ...
Classification is an important tool used by scientists to show how organisms are related to each other and to group them by their characteristics, but this can be difficult for some 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 ...
The Antarctic ecosystem is unique in that the food chains are very short and often based on the availability of krill, which is vital for all animal life forms living in Antarctica. The waters ...
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 ...
The New Zealand longfin eel (Anguilla dieffenbachii) is New Zealand’s only endemic freshwater eel. Our shortfin eel (Anguilla australis) is also found in Australia and some Pacific Islands. We ...
Help scientists establish valuable baseline data about the numbers, locations, habits and health of penguins in a range of Southern Ocean sites. This information will enable better understanding ...
In this video, Associate Professor Stephen Wing, from the University of Otago, talks about how our understanding of food webs has changed over the years. We now have a much better understanding ...
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.
In this activity, students observe how chicken eggs can be used to simulate the potential effects of increasing ocean acidity on marine animals with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons, for ...
The Science Learning Hub has a selection of resources that have been translated into te reo Māori and a number of resources that feature both te reo Māori and English. Our webinar Opportunities ...
New Zealand’s streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands support around 54 species of native fish including galaxiids, bullies, eels, lamprey, black flounder, torrentfish, smelt and mullet – and these ...
Koi carp (Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758) are a brightly coloured fish native to Asia and Europe. They are an ornamental variant of common carp (Cyprinus carpio carpio) and were developed by ...
Whitebait is a term used to collectively describe the juvenile form of a number of small native fish species that are edible. They are usually 25–50 mm long and often travel together in schools ...
On 5 October 2011, Maritime New Zealand was called to respond to an ‘incident’ in the early hours of the morning. The 236 m cargo vessel Rena had struck the Astrolabe Reef about 12 nautical miles ...
Professor Stephen Wing, from the University of Otago, is a marine ecologist. In this video, he talks about the role of an ecologist and the types of research questions ecologists try to answer. ...
