Get ready to take action for manu in your local environment. Our new resources support the upcoming Garden Bird Survey but are useful year-round.
Taking action for our manu
Aotearoa New Zealand is world famous for its unique bird life but what do we know about the manu in our gardens and around our kura? What can our garden birds tell us about the health of our local environment?
Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – NZ Garden Bird Survey
29 June–7 July 2024
We’ve collaborated with Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey – alongside kura in Te Moana-a-Toi – to create resources underpinned by ao Māori.
Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – resources for kura introduces this long-running citizen science project. It includes The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey – inquiry cycle, which collates resources to engage and nurture rich learning experiences. It features short animations in which Te Ariki challenges his peers to learn about and care for birds. The animations are in te reo Māori and English.
Find out why it’s important to protect and restore our local birdlife, gain insights on how to identify manu, and how to use this information to become kaitiaki of your kura or rohe. Each of the following articles includes a slideshow with activity instructions, prompting questions and teaching suggestions – make sure to check the notes that accompany the slides.
- Manu – past, present and future
- Bird adaptations and identification
- Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – exploring data
- Taking action for our birds
Meet Yvonne Taura and Milly Grant-Mackie – kairangahau Māori who worked with kaiako, tauria and the Hub team to create these exciting resources.
We’ve also produced resources in te reo Māori – with more to come.
Te Tatauranga Manu Māra o Aotearoa – tūhuratanga amio
He kohikohi tēnei pāhekoheko i ngā tū momo rauemi ako, whakaako hoki he mea hoahoa hei whakahihiri, hei whakahihiko, hei poipoi anō hoki i ngā wheako ako tino whaikiko nei – me te aronui tonu ki te ao manu ā-rohe e pātata ana ki a koe, otirā, te whai wāhi atu hoki ki Te Tatauranga Manu Māra o Aotearoa.
Tīpako i konei ki te tirotiro i te katoa o te kape tuhi, ngā hononga ki ngā rauemi whakaako me te mōhiohio manatārua
This year the NZ Garden Bird Survey takes place from 29 June–7 July, which makes it a great end of term focus. It’s an annual event, so if your term is already full, make note of it for 2025. But you don’t need to wait. The resources lend themselves to taking action for manu in our local environment – something we can do year-round!
Free PLD webinars
Continuing with the themes of observation and action, check out our latest recorded webinar Observology for the classroom. Author/illustrator Giselle Clarkson shares her insights on ‘the study of looking’ and how to get your class of observologists exploring straight away.
Exploring mātauranga in the classroom features Chloe Stantiall and Greta Dromgool, who will share their experiences exploring mātauranga as pākehā educators in English medium classrooms. Chloe is the author of our recent kōwhai mātauranga resources.
Date: 1 August 2024, 4:00–4:45 pm
Science education – national summit
Science Education: Fit for Purpose will facilitate discussion among science teachers, science teacher professional learning providers, science education researchers and others around science education in Aotearoa.
This one-day event, at the Novotel, Auckland Airport, is co-hosted by the Science Learning Hub – Роkapū Akoranga Putaiao and the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
The summit takes place on 2 July. It is free to attend, but numbers are strictly limited and are filling up fast – register now.
A national summit – science education
Within the ever-changing landscape of science education, we endeavour to provide our learners and educators with the skills and knowledge to be scientifically literate and active citizens within a global community. A national science education summit held in 2024, will explore the future of science education.
Some things to think about
The early winter nights are a great time to try one or more of our astronomy activities. For other ideas see our Winter science Pinterest board and the article Winter science fun.
With Matariki and the July school holidays coming soon, check out the Matariki and winter school holiday event listings for a wide range of things to do across the motu. If you know of events we have missed, please do get in touch: enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz.
Follow us
We offer added value through our social media. Contact us about creating collections or boards tailored to your needs. We can help foster connections between the education and science communities.
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/nzsciencelearn
- X (previously Twitter): https://x.com/NZScienceLearn
- Pinterest: nz.pinterest.com/nzsciencelearn
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sciencelearninghubnz
Your feedback
We hope you enjoy using the Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao in your teaching and would love to hear from you. Your comments, ideas and feedback can be emailed to enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz.
Noho ora mai
Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao
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