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Decline of birds and pollination

Birdlife has been declining in the New Zealand bush for many years, mainly due to introduced predators such as rats and stoats. Professor Dave Kelly and Jenny Ladley of the University of ...

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ARTICLE

Investigating flight – introduction

Have you ever wanted to fly? To soar above valleys and mountains, cities and oceans, feeling the wind whipping against your face? Flight has fascinated humans for as long as we have looked ...

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ARTICLE

Tracking godwits

Research on godwit migration involves tracking or following the flight path of the birds. Scientists like Dr Phil Battley and Dr Jesse Conklin from Massey University do this by putting a tracking ...

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ACTIVITY

Bird hotel

In this activity, students take on the role of migrating birds. By participating in a physically active simulation, they experience the journey from summer breeding grounds to winter feeding ...

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ACTIVITY

Birds and planes

In this activity, students explore the importance of wing shape and size and how this determines the flight capabilities of birds and planes. By the end of this activity, students should be able ...

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ACTIVITY

Birds in my backyard

Birds in my backyard is a ready-to-use cross-curricular teaching resource. It uses the Ministry of Education’s 2013 Connected article The takeaway table by Diana Noonan. Rights: Crown 2013 ...

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Explore related citizen science projects

CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

eBird

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 ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

New Zealand Garden Bird Survey

This New Zealand-based citizen science project aims to collect data about the types and numbers of common garden birds in our own backyard. This is done once annually during a particular window ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Kea Database

Taking part in this project helps scientists and conservationists know more about the habits of kea. Where are they? How far do they travel? Do they get around in groups? Logging sighting ...

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TEACHER PLD

Conserving native birds – unit plan

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 ...

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TEACHER PLD

Bird conservation and literacy

In this online PD session recorded on 15 October 2015, primary school teacher Kim MacPherson talks about the Science Learning Hub’s resources – Conserving native birds – and how she used a ...

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TEACHER PLD

Ethics and bird conservation – case study

This class case study provides an example of introducing ethical thinking into the classroom to explore a controversial issue in science. It shows how the ethical frameworks in the Ethics ...

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Explore related videos

VIDEO

The pollination problem

Many New Zealand birds have declined in numbers, so Dave Kelly and Jenny Ladley of University of Canterbury study the effect this has on native bird-pollinated plants. Dave explains the need to ...

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VIDEO

Rhabdothamnus research

The Rhabdothamnus plant relies on bellbirds and stitchbirds for pollination. Dave Kelly of the University of Canterbury explains that, where these birds are absent, the plants are not surviving ...

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VIDEO

Recently arrived birds

Dave Kelly of the University of Canterbury explains how some introduced birds can pollinate native flowers, but they don’t very often. His assistant Jenny Ladley helps study bird pollinators in ...

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Explore related interactives

INTERACTIVE

Wings for flight

Different wing sizes and shapes allow fliers to have specific flight capabilities. Match birds and aircraft with similar capabilities.

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SLIDESHOW

Methods of predator control – slideshow

This slideshow allows students to consider some of the pros and cons of various methods of predator control. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here ...

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SLIDESHOW

Diving into inquiry with whio – slideshow

This slideshow, from the webinar Making sense of data, provides additional support for the video tutorial. Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here for ...

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