When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'. This may sound simple, but it is sometimes ...
Adaptation is an evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes increasingly well suited to living in a particular habitat. Natural selection results in helpful traits becoming more common in a ...
Although earthworms are classified as animals, their bodies are quite different to animals that live above the ground. This video highlights some of the interesting physical characteristics ...
New Zealand separated from Gondwana around 65 million years ago. Due to the geographical isolation and a lack of ground-dwelling predators, our birds evolved unique characteristics. Flight was ...
The earthworm’s body is well adapted for life in the soil. Click on the labels to see images and learn more.
In this activity, students use two separate online interactives or paper-based graphic organisers to explore these key science ideas: what makes something living and what makes something an ...
An ecosystem consists of all of the organisms living within an area and the interactions between them and the physical environment. All ecosystems, whether they are marine, freshwater or located ...
Imagine being able to smell your dinner from the other side of a sports field. Insects do this with the pair of antennae on their heads. But insects don’t only use their antennae to smell. They ...
Bar-tailed godwits can fly about 12,000 km at one time – further than any other known bird. This recent discovery excited ornithologists around the world. Dr Phil Battley from Massey University’s ...
Glow-worms are New Zealand’s underground stars. Small but bright, it is no wonder why they attract so many tourists to places such as Waitomo and Paparoa National Park. Living things often have a ...
Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of evolution as set out in his book On the Origin of Species. He was a naturalist – an expert in geology, botany and biology – whose interest in all ...
Moths, along with butterflies, are part of the order Lepidoptera (from the Greek for scaled wings). Over 90% of New Zealand’s Lepidoptera species are endemic, found nowhere else in the world ...
The kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), also called kūkū, kūkupa, wood pigeon or simply New Zealand pigeon, is endemic and one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most valuable assets when it comes to ...
Bats are found throughout the world, except in areas of extreme cold. New Zealand has three species of endemic bats – the long-tailed bat, the lesser short-tailed bat and the greater short-tailed ...
The Aotearoa New Zealand longfin eel tuna (Anguilla dieffenbachii) is New Zealand’s only endemic freshwater eel. Our shortfin eel (Anguilla australis) is also found in Australia and some Pacific ...
In this activity, students use observation to explore earthworm anatomy and the nature of science. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: identify various physical ...
New Zealand is world famous for its unique birdlife. In our resources on conserving our native birds, we look at the issues surrounding the conservation of some of our threatened bird species ...
New Zealand native birds have been greatly affected by predation. For millions of years, they lived in an environment without natural predators. Many species developed traits like flightlessness ...
Here are links to Science Learning Hub resources for primary teachers related to life cycles in the Living World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. Explore the life cycles of birds ...
Whitebait is a term used to collectively describe the juvenile form of a number of small native fish species that are edible. They are usually 25–50 mm long and often travel together in schools ...
In this activity, students classify the different types of adaptations that New Zealand native birds have. By the end of this activity, students should be able to: classify adaptations of birds ...
New Zealand has over 200 known species of earthworms, with new species being identified as they are discovered. Of these, the majority are both native and endemic, meaning they are found in New ...
New Zealand’s common earthworms occupy different niches in the soil profile. To use this interactive, move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and select to obtain more ...
Our native forests – ngahere – have complex ecosystems. Within the wider ecosystems are smaller ecosystems, such as the one formed around honeydew. Honeydew is a sweet, sticky substance produced ...
