Microscopes have played an important role in recent research on harakeke (native New Zealand flax) at the University of Otago. Dr Bronwyn Lowe and other researchers have been working with Māori ...
Position: Former Associate Professor, School of Engineering, University of Waikato. Field: Optics, optoelectronics. Rainer was born in Germany where he attended high school and university. He ...
Position: Microscopist, Microscopy Otago. Field: Microscopy. Liz Girvan is a microscopist at the University of Otago. She looks after two scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) at the University’s ...
In this activity, students discuss the importance of observation in science. They are given the opportunity to observe harakeke and record their observations. It is important to seek knowledge ...
In this activity, students see how increasing the power of magnification leads to much greater detail. They view the reproductive structures of ferns, moving from the naked eye to light ...
In this activity, students make 3D models of specialised animal cells, imitating what can be seen under high-resolution microscopes. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: name ...
By comparing some features of fossilised plants with the same features of plants living today, scientists hope to be able to learn more about the effect of changing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in ...
In this online citizen science (OCS) project, participants analyse electron microscope images taken of a range of biological samples, helping scientists better understand cancer, infectious ...
iNaturalist logs hundreds of thousands of photos of flora, fauna and fungi. There are even sound recordings too. Each is described and geo located. iNaturalist is used by citizens and scientists ...
The Science Learning Hub has lots of resources for primary teachers related to the night sky in the Planet Earth and Beyond strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. The night sky is fascinating to ...
Flowering plants create seeds, which get spread away from the parents and grow into new plants in new places. Pollination has to happen before seeds can be made, so flowers have a range of ways ...
This unit plan is designed for students in years 1-5. When someone mentions the word butterfly, what image pops into your head? Chances are it’s the monarch or the white butterfly, as these are ...
Dr Bronwyn Lowe (University of Otago) worked with Māori weavers to explore the properties of different harakeke varieties. In this clip, Bronwyn explains how the weavers’ traditional knowledge ...
Dr Bronwyn Lowe (University of Otago) describes her use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explore harakeke leaves. Bronwyn found that different harakeke varieties have differently ...
Professors Jane Francis and Matt Huber explain how fossilised plants are one of several proxies used to form a picture of past climates and ecosystems.
Ferns come in a variety of shapes and sizes and this interactive explores the diversity of form in New Zealand ferns. The fern body consists of 3 major parts – the rhizome, the fronds and the ...
Explore the features of different microscopes and learn how scientists choose which ones to use in their research.
In this interactive follow a core sample as it makes its journey from the Alpine Fault to microscopic examination.
