Poisons are substances that cause harm to organisms when sufficient quantities are absorbed, inhaled or ingested. A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms ...
All living things depend on one another to live. Animals eat plants and/or animals to survive. Food webs describe the feeding connections between organisms in an ecosystem. The three main groups ...
There are over 100 poisonous plants in New Zealand. As children grow up, they often come into contact with plants that have poisonous properties. However, children usually don’t eat enough of a ...
In this activity, students model bioaccumulation of toxins in marine animals. They participate in a food web game where feeding decisions determine their survival. By the end of this activity ...
In this activity, students learn about toxins and poisons and research what’s poisonous in New Zealand. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: describe how at least one ...
Very tiny phytoplankton cells (a type of microscopic algae) can produce potent toxins. Although the toxin produced by one phytoplankton cell is pretty minimal, it can accumulate quickly through ...
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 ...
Come and visit Aotearoa New Zealand’s underwater world in this online citizen science project. Discover, count and identify unique fish species that live within our marine reserves ...
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 ...
Students carry out a practical investigation to help AgResearch scientists monitor the spread of Microctonus aethiopoides (a tiny wasp) and its success as a biocontrol agent for clover root ...
In this recorded professional learning session, Shanthie Walker from DOC and Lyn Rogers explore why the whio/blue duck is so important to New Zealand. They use the Department of Conservation Whio ...
Paul McNabb of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson describes the system they use to monitor shellfish safety. He explains how toxins are detected in shellfish using liquid chromatography-mass ...
Paul McNabb provides a short explanation on how an LC-MS functions.
Dr Susie Wood of the Cawthron Institute in Nelson talks about how toxic grey side-gilled sea slugs are. She explains that not all these sea slugs are toxic. It seems that North Island slugs are ...
This interactive demonstrates bioaccumulation of marine toxins. It shows how toxins move through a marine food web.
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.
Dr Candida Savage explains the clues she collects in estuaries and fiords, to understand how changes in land use affect these environments.
