In preparation for Primary Science Week, join the New Zealand Association of Primary Science Educators (NZAPSE) and the Science Learning Hub in a session which will support you to bring fun, safe science into your classroom.

Register here

Join us on Zoom

Science education is an important part of our curriculum but sometimes we can get overwhelmed with all the things we need to consider. NZAPSE has created some simple resources to make being safe super easy.

The Safety and Science/Pūtaiao: Guidance for Aotearoa New Zealand Schools and Kura is a very large document. We will highlight relevant sections, provide links and give examples of what it means for our teaching.

We want to support teachers to build their confidence in science education with the hope that more ākonga benefit from quality engagement in science. We know that teachers already have the capabilities to assess risk and to adapt activities to meet student needs. This webinar gives examples of what this looks like when planning and teaching hands-on science.

Collage of images related to primary science.
Rights: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Primary science activities

Science activities in the primary classroom support students to be curious, ask questions and think about how the world works. When planning hands-on activities, we need to identify, assess and control risks.

Please note that we are not health and safety experts. The NZAPSE team has a large amount of experience and has worked with science technicians to ensure the information provided is correct. Teachers will always need to respond to the students and the environment that they are in.

This session will be most valuable for primary educators, but all educators are welcome.

Register here

During the webinar we'll be live tweeting summarised points with the hashtags #SLH_webinar and #SLH_PLD on our X (previously Twitter) feed.

Joining the webinar

Follow these simple steps to join our webinar:

  1. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android by clicking on the link https://waikato.zoom.us/j/84864548709 and following the instructions. You can also access Zoom on your phone, just follow the prompts.
  2. Find the chat box located in the toolbar at the bottom of your screen. You may need to access this by clicking on ‘More’.
  3. Using the chat box, introduce yourself, where you teach and, if you are in a group, how many people are there.
  4. Set up your screen for optimal viewing. If you’re using a mobile device, you may wish to view in landscape. We recommend selecting a thumbnail view of the presenters – this way you can easily see what is being shared on the screen.

Then you can:

  • watch, listen and respond via chat to the presentation and discussion
  • ask questions using the chat box at any time

The Science Learning Hub team will be there to support you and answer questions.

If you have any questions, please email us.

Activity ideas

These activities support students to think about risk and staying safe in different contexts:

The PLD article Children making evidence-based decisions about volcanic risk details how students were able to use science knowledge to make decisions and take action to plan for natural disaster emergencies.

Related content

Watch previous webinars featuring New Zealand Association of Primary Science Educators:

Useful links

The New Zealand Association of Primary Science Educators (NZAPSE) is all about celebrating and supporting science in primary schools.

Check out the Primary Science Week page for activity ideas.

The document Safety and Science/Pūtaiao: Guidance for Aotearoa New Zealand Schools and Kura can be found here.

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