NZ Science Journal 2014

The careers issue

Storie s from th e st a rs:

Inside

‘capabilities’

Dunedin-based software company Education Perfect would like to recognise the Top 20 Schools who competed in the inaugural NZASE Education Perfect Science Championships! The competition ran for 8 days in August with students answering 7.3 million questions customised for the NCEA and junior curriculum.

Education Perfect now offers past NZQA exams with model answers and instant feedback.

Teachers can register for a free trial at http://worldseries. educationperfect.com/ registration.

Top 20 Schools in New Zealand: NZ Ranking

School

# Students Registered

Score

1

St. Cuthbert’s College

862

107,429

2

Mission Heights Junior College

287

85,964

3

Riccarton High School

219

85,454

4

Bayfield High School

389

79,085

5

Botany Downs Secondary College

1810

73,080

6

Westlake Boys High School

1778

63,178

7

Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt

698

55,885

8

Otago Girls’ High School

846

54,225

9

Burnside High School

1040

50,633

10

Katikati College

294

41,490

11

Waiheke High School

538

41,089

12

Queens High School

152

40,553

13

Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Correspondence School)

9654

39,186

14

South Otago High School

152

34,990

15

Columba College

487

30,722

16

King’s High School

387

29,920

17

Horowhenua College

202

28,386

18

Lynfield College

727

24,562

19

Saint Kentigern College

1796

22,313

20

Upper Hutt College

202

22,169

New Zealand

Science Teacher

NEWS

CURRICULUM & LITERACY

LEARNING IN SCIENCE

Putaiao

EDUCATION & SOCIETY

ASSESSMENT

TEACHER EDUCATION

SAFETY

NZASE President’s Address Welcome to the second print edition of the New Zealand Science Teacher (NZST) journal and my second year as president of New Zealand Association of Science Educators. With Sabina Cleary stepping down as senior vice-president at this year’s AGM, we elected our new vice-president Chris Duggan to the Executive Board.

Chris is the director of the House of Science in the Bay of Plenty. Fortunately for NZASE, Sabina agreed to take on the new role of publications manager.

With NZST now up and running, Matt Balm stepped down as the publications manager. It is through his efforts that much of this new format has been accomplished. On behalf of NZASE, Matt was thanked for all his efforts. The NZASE Council felt that this role was still necessary but needed a new focus. Sabina will now be the liaison person between NZST and the member/subject organisations to help ensure the content in our journal best represents the various organisations.

SciCon2014 was held in Dunedin in July this year and attracted an array of science education representatives: teachers, industry, ministry and tertiary. The theme of ‘Wild Science’ gave a wide range of possibilities for speakers, but almost everyone who attended noted that the three international speakers – Bill McComas, Tom Pringle aka Mr Bunhead, and James Piercy – were the highlights of the conference. The Peter Spratt Medal was awarded to a most deserving recipient, Jenny Pollock. This award was to acknowledge her long-standing commitment and dedication to science education and NZASE. SciCon2016 will be in Wellington and the conference is most likely going to be hosted by the University of Canterbury, as they celebrate the completion of a major new building.

The past year has seen some challenging changes and some continuations. The Science Reference Panel was convened to address the Science Challenges and specifically the Science in Society challenge.

As a result, both the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) have made changes to their funding in terms of science education. Recommendations from this panel have also raised questions about the nature of science education in both initial teacher education and professional development of teachers. As these changes take effect, the need for organisations like NZASE and its publication of NZST to remain consistent and meaningful to the science education community grows.

Thankfully, some things have been continued. After many years of service to the Animal Ethics Committee, Mark Fisher stood down but was able to nominate a replacement for him in this role. His nomination of Vicki Melville was accepted; she has settled into this role and the Animal Ethics contract between the Ministry of Education and NZASE has been renegotiated for another three years.

This second edition of NZST is a collection of articles and contributions from various members. It ranges from Ma-ori achievement in physics, Rose Hipkins on key competencies, sustainability at a primary school, teaching climate change in science, through to a range of interviews with people in the sector.

Respectfully yours,

Steven S. Sexton

www.nzscienceteacher.co.nz

New Zealand Science Teacher >>

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New Zealand

Science Teacher

Contents

The careers issue

Welcome to the voice of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators.

Kia ora koutou, Represented in these pages are the voices of NZASE and the wider New Zealand science education sphere. We hope you will enjoy the range of interesting material gathered here for you.

After you’ve read this print edition, remember to visit your website, www.nzscienceteacher.co.nz. Freshly updated most weeks, the site is home to academic articles, classroom stories, and opinion pieces by those in the sector.

Do join in the conversation too: leave a comment on an article, chat to us on Twitter, email me with any ideas you might have, or revive the art of snail mail and pen a letter to the address below.

At the beginning of 2014, I met with members of NZASE’s editorial panel, and we discussed the themes and direction for the year ahead.

We decided on some engaging themes for each term, ranging from ‘Science in Fiction’ to ‘Sky’. The sky theme encompasses so much of what is intriguing to budding scientists as they embark on their educational journey.

From nursery rhymes about the stars at night to visiting an observatory or making a model of the solar system, astronomy has long been an integral part of early education because it helps us place ourselves in the universe. It sparks big questions about who we are and reminds us of how rare and precious our Earth is.

In this issue, we take a look through the telescope at Matariki, and see the special place it has in our education system. We talk to Japanese space scientists, including the space-selfie-taking astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, about space education in New Zealand, and we investigate gravitational microlensing.

The ‘Science in Fiction’ theme required some lateral thinking on my part. My best idea was to summon a meeting of my science fiction-loving colleagues, where we discussed ideas like the overview effect and virtual reality. The cult show Doctor Who was, and continues to be, a favourite of many aspiring scientists, and we include in the journal an article about Auckland scientist Simon Granville and how the popular television show shaped his burgeoning career.

This edition of New Zealand Science Teacher includes an interview with accomplished science fiction writer Bernard Beckett, who also happens to be a secondary school teacher. Bernard believes science fiction can be a great starting point for further teaching of the ‘big questions’ in science and he describes the “privileged flourishing of curiosity” that those working with young people will recognise and understand.

The first theme on the website this year was ‘Careers in Science’. With our government’s focus on guiding young people into STEM careers, it’s vital we celebrate the many role models working in the sector already. I spoke to a wide range of people: ecologists and medical doctors; food scientists and shark experts; eye surgeons and neurobiologists; educators and journalists. Their stories can all be found on the website. Some have also been included in this journal, including that of physicist Elf Eldridge, who is currently a physics PhD student at Victoria University, as well as a passionate science communicator and educator. When I asked him about the best part of his job, he replied: “having the time and freedom to be truly curious”.

May we strive to create the right environment for our students, and ourselves, to be truly curious.

Nga- mihi nui,

Melissa Wastney 2 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

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2 4 8 10

NZASE president’s address Steven Sexton.

Welcome Editor’s letter.

Capabilities in science These play a vital role in teaching and learning, writes Rose Hipkins.

Teaching and blogging A chemistry teacher explains how keeping blogs has changed the way he approaches his work.

Ask-a-scientist Could we grow four-leafed clover for agriculture? This and other interesting questions answered by scientists.

13

Nurturing curiosity

14

Examining a changing world

17 18 20 22

Physicist Elf Eldridge writes about his career path.

Teaching climate change in school science.

Moments of magic Neurobiologist Melanie Cheung melds tikanga and Western science in her work.

Having a blast Engaging young scientists with rocketry.

Looking for cosmic needles Gravitational microlensing has produced some unique discoveries in New Zealand.

Silverbeet, seeds and sunflowers Teaching school-wide sustainability concepts.

Infernal Essays

24

A teacher shares her strategy for a written biology assessment, and a student essay, ‘An antibiotics uprising’.

Level 1, Saatchi & Saatchi Building 101-103 Courtenay Place Wellington 6011 New Zealand PO Box 200, Wellington 6140 T: 04 471 1600 | F: 04 471 1080 © 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.

NEWS

26

CURRICULUM & LITERACY

Exploring wonder and mystery through space science Japanese astronauts talk about science education.

Everyday physics

28 29 30 32 34 36 38 42 44 46

Asking relevant questions is an important element of learning physics.

Using online competition to engage students in science The Education Perfect Science World Series involved over 200 Kiwi schools.

A chat with New Zealand’s Batman Ben Paris works to raise the profile of our native bats.

Using 3D printers to teach biology Michael Wilson built a 3D printer to construct models for his classroom.

What does it mean to be a scientist?

Primary teacher Emma McFadyen investigates with her students.

A reason to look up Matariki provides a culturally-relevant context for our students.

Supporting achievement in physics for - ori students Ma We need a culturally-inclusive science programme that uses a variety of teaching strategies.

Nanogirl shares the science love Nanoscientist Michelle Dickinson is inspiring young scientists all over the country.

Coolest experience yet Biology teacher Sarah Johns travelled to Antarctica as part of an Endeavour Teacher Fellowship.

Ripping yarns: Science education and the environment Environment-science storytelling has much to offer in the teaching of Nature of Science concepts.

LEARNING IN SCIENCE

52 53 54 56 57 58 62 63 67 72 74 75

Putaiao

EDUCATION & SOCIETY

ASSESSMENT

TEACHER EDUCATION

SAFETY

Falling for science Bernard Beckett integrates big scientific ideas into his novels for young adults.

The inspiration of the Doctor (Who) Scientist Simon Granville was inspired to study science by the Doctor himself.

A life richly rewarded Dr Judith O’Brien was awarded the Miriam Dell Award for her work as a science mentor.

An inclusive approach to teaching physics Fenella Colyer designs culturally-relevant physics lessons for her students.

Mushroom power Student Tom Morgan won a PM’s Science Prize for his work with mushrooms.

The seedling: students’ perceptions of science education How do our students see their science classes?

Innovative science education We need to set our students new kinds of challenges, writes Chris Clay.

Clarifying a future direction Student Mitchell Chandler was inspired by a scientific trip to the sub-Antarctic Islands.

Creating ‘science champions’ in teacher training Investigating the use of CoRe design to develop content knowledge in science.

Wild Science and Twitter chats SciCon2014 confirmed existing connections and sparked new ones.

Embracing wildness We need to encourage children to embrace the wildness around them, for a better future.

Standing Committee reports

New Zealand science teacher ISSUE 133 ISSN: 0110-7801

New Zealand Science Teacher is published by APN Educational Media on behalf of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators.

JOURNALIST: Melissa Wastney (@NZScienceTeachr) T: 04 915 9784 | E: melissa.wastney@apn-ed.co.nz Production: Aaron Morey and Dan Phillips Editor-in-chief: Shane Cummings (@ShaneJCummings) General manager & Publisher: Bronwen Wilkins Errors and omissions: Whilst the publishers have attempted to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information, no responsibility can be accepted by the publishers for any errors or omissions.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 3

CURRICULUM & LITERACY key capabilities

Unlocking the idea of

‘capabilities’ in science

According to our curriculum, all students should become responsible, thoughtful citizens in society. The ‘science capabilities’ play a vital role in teaching and learning, writes ROSE HIPKINS. Why read this paper?

Five ‘science capabilities’ were recently published on TKI (find them at bit.ly/1pRYFVT). When teachers first encounter them, it is common for them to ask why they were called ‘capabilities’. Some teachers don’t like the thought of being asked to consider yet another idea on top of The New Zealand Curriculum’s key competencies.

If this is how you feel, this paper might help. It explains why the capabilities were developed (i.e. what they are supposed to ‘do’ in terms of teaching and learning), why they were called that, and how they fit in with our curriculum’s key competencies.

Box 1

Strategies used to deny or explain away

climate change This set of strategies comes via the New Zealand-based ‘Hot Topic’ website and has been drawn from the book Climate change denial: heads in the sand.

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Conspiracy theories:

Quoting fake experts:

For example, ‘Climategate’. This media scandal centred on a series of email communications between several groups of scientists. The scientists said they were discussing how best to represent their data so it could be understood by the public. The climate change sceptics claimed the messages between the scientists were evidence that they were conspiring to create misleading data sets.

The British peer Lord Monkton, who toured New Zealand at the start of 2013, is a climatechange sceptic. He is not a climate change scientist but used his social status in the UK to lend authority to his personal views about climate change. Climate-change scientists said he had no authority to make knowledge claims in their expert area and should not be using his status to do this. As the headline at the start of this chapter shows, Lord Monkton deflected critique of his arguments as personal attacks on him – and of course, there was a personal element because of the way he was using his personal status.

Why were the capabilities developed?

(How do they relate to the curriculum?)

The capabilities were developed to show some explicit ways to ‘join the dots’ between all of the following: »» the content strands of the science learning area »» the ‘overarching’ Nature of Science (NOS) strand »» the statement in the front of NZC that outlines why all students should learn science »» the key competencies »» some existing resources designed to support learning in science.

The New Zealand Curriculum says all students should become “responsible citizens in a society in which science plays a significant role”. Each capability encapsulates something that is needed for that ambitious goal to be met. Here are the definitions from the webpage:

Gather and interpret data: Science knowledge is based on data derived from direct or indirect observations of the natural physical world and often includes measuring something. An inference is a conclusion you draw from observations – the meaning you make from observations. Understanding the difference is an important step towards being scientifically literate.

Use evidence: Science is a way of explaining the world. Science is empirical and measurable. This means that, in science, explanations need to be supported by evidence that is based on, or derived from, observations of the natural world.

Critique evidence: In order to evaluate the trustworthiness of data, students need to know quite a lot about the qualities of scientific tests.

Interpret representations: Learners think about how data is presented and ask questions such as: What does this representation tell us? What is left out? How does this representation get the message across? Why is it presented in this particular way?

Engage with science: This capability requires students to use the other capabilities to engage with science in ‘real life’ contexts.

Each capability sounds really simple. For science teachers these ideas will certainly be familiar. Interpret Representations and Engage with Science both map directly onto the curriculum NOS sub-strands of Communicating in Science and Participating and Contributing. The first three capabilities map to Understanding about Science if the focus is on scientists’ work and to Investigating in Science if the focus is on students’ own work.

So what exactly do the capabilities add, and why did we think something new was needed? I’ll use an example to illustrate and explain the ‘something extra’ that the idea of capabilities brings.

At least 10 resources sit behind each capability. Each resource models an idea for explicitly integrating an aspect of the nature of science into teaching and learning by making a simple adaptation to an existing resource. The general idea is to provide rich experiences that will demonstrably contribute to building the capabilities over time, helping students to become more discerning when they engage with science as responsible citizens. >>

Impossible expectations: This strategy involves sceptics saying that scientists should be certain before we need to listen to their knowledge claims, and that they should be in total agreement with each other. Scientists say they cannot and will not give such assurances of certainty.

The central endeavour of science is to doubt and test knowledge claims to ensure their robustness. Doubting and debating comes with the territory. The uncertainties of complex systems change provide a further complication. Because outcomes of complex systems are emergent and unpredictable, certainty about climate changes is impossible, no matter how well scientists do their work.

Misrepresentations and logical fallacies: Some sceptics claim that the climate changes happening now must be natural because the climate has changed in the past. Scientists would certainly agree that the climate has changed in the past but argue that the logic of this argument is flawed. For example, it assumes that all instances of climate change will have the same underlying causes. In cases like this, sceptics call on common-sense ideas and experiences to support knowledge claims.

This poses real challenges for scientists because their rebuttals are often counterintuitive and harder to understand.

Cherry picking evidence: Sceptics might say, for example, that a colder winter than usual is evidence that warming can’t be happening. Again they draw on common-sense experiences to look for seeming exceptions and counterexamples. Scientists would say that all the relevant evidence must be considered, not just selective parts. For them, counterexamples need to be carefully explored for what they might teach us that we don’t yet know. They should be taken as opportunities for knowledge-building, not confirmation of existing views.

New Zealand Science Teacher >>

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Getting beyond the rhetoric of “responsible citizenship” Can science teaching and learning in school really contribute to The New Zealand Curriculum’s vision of students becoming “responsible citizens in a society in which science plays a significant role”? As I’ve just noted, the aim of the capabilities resources is to show how to add that something extra to explicitly and deliberately support this goal. I’ll now turn to a real dilemma to illustrate what the capabilities approach could add.

With three colleagues, I’ve just written a short book called Key Competencies for the Future (Hipkins, Bolstad, Boyd & McDowall, 2014). We devised a futures-thinking process, based around some wicked problems, and used this to explore the sorts of things that students will need to be capable of doing if they are going to build proactive futures, rather than wait for whatever is coming down the line. Climate change is one of the wicked problems we chose. We used it as the basis for a discussion of the challenge of sorting out conflicting knowledge claims and deciding who to trust. That’s a pretty fundamental citizenship responsibility. The slightly abridged table in Box 1 comes from this chapter.

Have a look at this table. Pick just one of the strategies that might be used to deliberately mislead people and then go back to the descriptions of the five capabilities. Could they potentially help with spotting deliberate misinformation? For example: »» If you have had lots of varied experiences of seeing how important it is to critique evidence and to deliberately seek out and address counterarguments (Capability 3), would you be more likely to spot the fallacy behind “impossible expectations”? »» If you had explored different ways to present information and had seen for yourself that different modes have their strengths and drawbacks (Capability 4), would you be more likely to understand the “Climategate” conversations as discussions about how best to communicate complex ideas?

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»» If you had been challenged to think about the sufficiency of evidence (Capability 2,) would you recognise “cherry picking”?

The questions I’ve just asked relate to what we’d like adults to do. But when do we think this sort of capability-building should and can begin? The resources that sit behind each capability directly address this question by showing how to begin with really simple experiences at curriculum levels 1-2 and gradually build up from there.

Why not just call them competencies?

The New Zealand Curriculum defines the key competencies as “capabilities for living and lifelong learning” (p.12). But what does this actually mean? We could read this sentence as if key competencies and capabilities are synonyms. I don’t think they are, and the difference isn’t just splitting straws. Let me explain why.

Several decades ago, the economist Amartya Sen and the American political philosopher

Climate change is one of the wicked problems we chose. We used it as the basis for a discussion of the challenge of sorting out conflicting knowledge claims and deciding who to trust. That’s a pretty fundamental citizenship responsibility.

The questions also assume a willingness to engage with contexts and controversies that could crop up in any number of ways and places. How much experience is needed before you can recognise the relevance of school learning experiences to the challenge at hand? Obviously, the more the better, but probably only if the connection between now and possible future relevance is an explicit focus for discussion.

Students need to experience what these conversations feel like and sound like. The capabilities resources add this layer by identifying the link between the activity and the citizenship goal.

They do this under the heading “What’s important here?” in each resource.

The biggest challenge of all relates to dispositions. You can’t make people critically engage with science. If we want today’s students to do so as tomorrow’s citizens, we have to show them how, give them lots of practice, and support them to see these as things they can do, and want to do, for themselves. A few unrelated experiences in school science experiments won’t be enough because demonstrations of capability are multifaceted and context-specific, and you have to want to deploy them.

For these reasons capabilitybuilding requires lots of related experiences that make a powerful impression on students and that build over time.

Martha Nussbaum devised a ‘capabilities approach’ to address social justice issues that arise from economic inequalities.

Typically, when economists want to tell how well a nation is doing, they measure things like GDP and the average wage.

But broad-brush measures such as these smooth over huge differences between individuals and groups. Some people are simply better placed to take advantage of opportunities to maximise their employment/ earning opportunities. The capabilities approach addresses inequalities by saying that we should focus on whether people are capable of making good use of opportunities that are potentially available to them. If not, we should ask why not and do something about it.

A lot of researchers in special education, or those who research the impact on learning of things like poverty, poor health, or racial violence (and sometimes all of these in combination), have picked up on this connection and brought these ideas from economics into education. The following quote illustrates what the approach adds to traditional thinking about educational opportunities.

Jimmy Scherrer contrasts what he calls a capabilities perspective with a resources perspective. The latter looks to things such as school funding, or teachers’ levels of expertise

when addressing inequality of achievement and/or opportunity.

The capabilities model doesn’t neglect these things, but says they are not enough as measures of how well we are doing in meeting the challenge of educating all our students in ways that allow them to become the people they are capable of being.

The concept of capabilities starts from the premise that there are fundamental things that people need to be able to access to make the most of new opportunities. Martha Nussbaum developed this aspect of the capabilities model to describe a basic set of 10 capabilities that every person needs in order to become the person they are capable of being. But capabilities cannot be treated as if they are just individual possessions. Amartya Sen refused to name specific sets of capabilities because he said this could lead people to neglect the role of contexts in determining whether or not capabilities can be demonstrated. He noted that public reasoning strongly influences opportunities to demonstrate capabilities. By this, Sen meant things such as the ethical and political frameworks that enable or constrain certain ways of being and doing. He also noted the influence of what he calls epistemic reasoning, which is the thinking (often tacit) that determines whose knowledge ‘counts’. These two interrelated aspects – the personal and the contextual/public are neatly summed up in the next paragraph.

“What are capabilities?”

Martha Nussbaum (2011) asks.

She replies, “They are answers to the question, ‘What is this person able to do and be? … They are not just abilities residing inside a person but also the freedoms or opportunities created by a combination of personal abilities and the political, social, and economic environment” (Scherrer, 2014, p,20).

We’ve tried to keep both personal and public aspects of capability embedded in the new resources. We’ve named a basic set of five science capabilities.

These are based on the Nature of Science research literature but we are very aware that students

Box 2 will need many other related capabilities if they are to engage with science as responsible citizens. We couldn’t possibly name all the combinations that might be needed so we’ve gone for a strong manageable core set that is likely to underpin lots of others. We’ve assumed that students will need appropriate and ongoing learning opportunities if their potential capabilities are to grow stronger over time. The resources model the scaffolding of conversations about important aspects of the ‘public reasoning’ envisaged

by Sen. Conversations about which knowledge to trust (and why), ethical considerations, and so on, are already part of NOS approaches.

Getting back to The New Zealand Curriculum Going back to the NZC definition of what key competencies are (or perhaps we would be better to say “are for”) we can also see that the idea of capability has a future-focused feel. It is about how today’s learning is preparing students for their lives outside of school, and for going on learning in their futures. In the Key Competencies and Effective Pedagogy project, we found that all the teachers whose stories we gathered had dual learning purposes in mind. There was a sharp focus on the knowledge and skills that are the traditional fare of learning, but this was combined with a thoughtful rationale for how and why the learning was contributing to

students’ futures – to the people they could be and become.

Box 2 is a slightly abbreviated summary of one story from the Key Competencies and Effective Pedagogy project, which we also included in the climate change chapter of Key Competencies for the Future. As you read it, consider how this teacher’s students were potentially building future citizenship capabilities at the same time as they were learning how to conduct more robust investigations as part of their current school learning.

The discussion comes full circle when we take the idea that capability-building is for now and the future back to our curriculum’s statement about why all students should learn science. If we want them to fulfil their potential as responsible citizens, it’s up to us to ensure they build the capabilities they will need. Science capabilities are only one part of the overall mix of capabilities but as science teachers they are our responsibility. Some fortunate students will develop their science capabilities anyway. But many others depend on us to help them be and become the responsible citizens they are capable of being.

Rose Hipkins is a chief researcher at NZCER in Wellington, New Zealand. She leads NZCER’s work related to how the key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum are understood and enacted. 

References: Hipkins, R., Bolstad, R., Boyd, S., & McDowall, S. (2014).

Key competencies for the future. Wellington: NZCER Press.

Nussbaum, M. (2011) Creating capabilities: The human development approach. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.

Scherrer, J. (2014). The role of the intellectual in eliminating the effects of poverty: A response to Tierney Educational Researcher, 43(4), 201-207.

More discussions you could read: Hipkins, R. (2013). Competencies or capabilities: What’s in a name?

Set: Research Information for Teachers, 3(3), 55-57.

Hipkins, R., & McDowall, S. (2013). Teaching for present and future competency: Lessons from the New Zealand experience. Teachers and Curriculum, 13, 2-10. Retrieved from bit.ly/1mjGGXi Smits, H. (2013-2014). Competencies or capabilities?

Alberta Teachers’ Association Magazine, 94(3).

Retrieved from bit.ly/1yXOa8m

Is there such a thing as

healthy chocolate?

R

ight at the start of the school year, the students in this Year 11 science class looked at an advertisement for ‘healthy chocolate’ (bit.ly/1sknA9b )Their teacher asked them to discuss whether or not they trusted the claims made in this advertisement. They were encouraged to justify their decisions and record their thoughts on whiteboards, post-its, or electronic forums. The teacher then gave the students some ‘evidence’ behind the claim. They had to sort and interpret this for themselves, and then revisit the advertisement to consider their original decision. Had it changed or stayed the same? Why or why not?

In small groups, students then used a framework provided by the teacher to build a checklist of things to look for in trustworthy science. They then applied the checklist to a range of case studies to evaluate the science behind claims. Once they had some confidence with the checklist, the teacher gave them an article outlining the science behind the claim ‘healthy heart chocolate’ and asked them to evaluate this article using their checklist. Once they had done this, students revisited their decision about whether or not to trust the advertisement.

The checklist that students developed during this activity was subsequently used as they developed their own investigations.

The teacher continued to challenge them to explain why she should trust their conclusions, using the language developed for the checklist. In subsequent NCEA assessments of students’ own investigations, the majority of Year 11 students were able to develop valid methods and evaluate their methods with specific reference to ideas within the checklist. In the following year the teacher observed these same students vigorously debating the methods they had devised for investigations. They were confident in their understanding of the nature of science investigations and able to express and justify their opinions and reflect on their methodology.

New Zealand Science Teacher >>

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TEACHER EDUCATION secondary

I’m not getting

b(l)ogged down Chemistry teacher MATT NICOLL explains how blogging has changed the way he teaches.

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rrogantly, I think I have some pretty good ideas when it comes to education. I also love reading about others’ ideas and trying out new things. I am also humble enough to honestly reflect on my own practice and ideas. Purely by trial and error, I have found blogging to be a manageable and worthwhile avenue in this way. In addition, I have also found blogging to be an effective way to build a collective record of my lessons for (and sometimes with) my students.

One of the Registered Teacher Criteria specified by the New Zealand Teacher Council

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is to “demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of personal professional practice”. In the past, I have struggled to provide evidence that I feel genuinely demonstrates this commitment; I have never faltered in this commitment, but where is the proof?

In 2012, I made a deliberate decision to keep an online record of my ideas and current practices. I chose to use blogs for two main reasons: being in

the public domain, there was a good chance that I would get feedback and suggestions from others, not just my direct colleagues; and I could add to my professional learning record whenever I wanted to, not relying on transferring my notes and commentaries into a professional learning folder kept in my office, for example.

The main positive spin-off of this decision has been that others have found use in what I share, and it has helped build

Blogging has been one way that I have built a network of critical and respected peers.

some strong connections with other like-minded educators.

Another real ‘win’ with blogging has been that I tend to revise my posts more regularly than I ever reviewed my professional learning folders in the past. The last of the unexpected positives is that writing these reflections seems more meaningful, so feels less like work than it used to. Knowing others read what I am writing, and sometimes comment or find use in it, has made me more motivated to reflect more often.

In effect, blogging has been one way that I have built a network of critical and respected

peers, inadvertently satisfying another of the Registered Teacher Criteria: “use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice”. bit.ly/1o6Y5Jw. While I am not blogging to ‘tick the boxes’, it definitely makes Appraisal and Attestation less onerous.

Getting students involved From maintaining a professional reflection blog, I became very comfortable with blogging as a platform for collaboration, and saw a lot of benefits from it. The next step was to facilitate using blogs to keep a collaborative set of ‘notes’ with my classes.

My original goal was for the students to maintain their own

respective class blogs, having filmed me teaching, filmed the experiments, and photographed the work on the whiteboard.

In reality, this was highly unsuccessful.

The students who were trying to create the blog posts in each lesson were not able to also complete the studentcentred tasks in class. I even tried excusing the bloggers from doing the homework to accommodate this, but it did not make enough of a difference.

The blog posts were of a poor quality and often needed editing or correcting by me. The students were missing out on the face-to-face collaborative tasks in class. I expected the bloggers would know the

My blogs »» Professional Development:

http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz

»» 2013 Year 9 Science:

http://9ascience2013.blogspot.co.nz

»» 2013 Year 11 Science:

http://l1science2013.blogspot.co.nz

»» 2013 Year 12 Chemistry:

http://l2chem2013.blogspot.co.nz

»» 2013 Year 12 Chemistry:

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»» 2014 Year 9 Science:

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content that related to their post ‘inside-out’ but they did not.

In response to the difficulties we experienced, I changed my ‘recipe’. I got the teacher-centred part of the lesson done at the very beginning of the lesson. We already had a routine of filming this, so persisted with this idea.

Then the students were set tasks of varying difficulty and often including an experiment. While they worked, so did I. The videos were uploaded to YouTube and the blog post started (by me).

While the video was uploading, I worked with my students on their set tasks. Once I was happy that they were engaged, I returned to the blog and finished that.

Now, my students do not waste time copying notes.

Now, my students can review a video of me teaching them key concepts and answering their questions. Now, students have ubiquitous access to content and key ideas, even when they miss a lesson. Blogging is not the only way that I could achieve these things, but I have found it easy and it complements what I already do for my own professional development.

Other online tools I do use other online tools to assist in my professional development. For my professional learning, I contribute via Twitter every second Thursday. A group of educators use the #edchatNZ hashtag to

discuss a predetermined topic, generally centred on 21st century learning pedagogy and initiatives.

I also read others’ blogs and websites linked to me via Twitter.

My students have even more at their disposal. We are huge fans of Khan Academy and my chemistry classes are starting to access Socratic (for which I am now a contributor). Our Olympiad Chemistry students are given access to BestChoice. Then, they also collaborate via Facebook, and find a lot of great content in YouTube, particularly Minute Physics.

Blogging is not the ‘be all and end all’ but it is something I can manage and it seems to have tangible benefits for both myself and my students. Conveniently, it does not add dramatically to my workload, which makes me even more inclined to persevere with it, even when it doesn’t always go to plan.

The most satisfying feedback regarding the filming of my teaching and the subsequent blogging came during Year 9 parent-teacher interviews last year. A parent who happened to be a qualified teacher told me that this support made the difference for her son in learning science. She marvelled that it was not already best practice with teachers. Wouldn’t that be nice?  Matt Nicoll teaches science at Saint Andrew’s College in Christchurch.

New Zealand Science Teacher >>

9

LEARNING IN SCIENCE science inquiry

Ask-A-

Scientist Interesting ideas and enquiries return in this popular feature, compiled for New Zealand Science Teacher by Dr John Campbell.

Jenny Harris, of Balclutha Primary School, asked: As four-leaf clovers have one more leaf than the standard three-leaf clovers, is there any research being done on, or advantage in, growing these for pasture?

Derek Woodfield, a clover geneticist with AgResearch Limited, responded.

No. Multifoliolate leaves (i.e. more than the normal three leaflets on trifoliolate leaves of common clovers) have been reported in many legume species, including white clover (Trifolium repens), red clover (Trifolium pratense), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), soybean (Glycine max), and lucerne (Medicago sativa).

The frequency of plants with multifoliolate leaves is normally less than one per cent among commercial cultivars, but high levels of multifoliolate leaves have been achieved through breeding.

The expression of multifoliolate leaves has been studied in white clover, and it is heritable.

However, there is evidence that this trait is maternally inherited. While four leaflets is the most common multifoliolate form, there is considerable variation in this trait with up to 13 leaflets observed on an individual white clover leaf. Several multifoliolate white clovers have been sold commercially for ornamental use, with Crimson Charm and Silver Sprite sold in New Zealand. The multifoliolate trait in white clover generally causes a yield reduction of between 10 and 20 per cent. This yield reduction means that breeding and marketing four-leaf clovers for New Zealand grazing systems is not being pursued. Several ornamental four-leaf white clovers have been bred but these are for home gardens or laminated bookmarks etc.

The situation is somewhat different in lucerne (cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries), where several multifoliolate cultivars (commonly referred to as multi-leaf) have been commercially sold – particularly in USA. In lucerne, the multi-leaf trait can increase the leaf-to-stem ratio and therefore increase forage quality.

Kingsley Owen, of Broad Bay School, asked: How far at sea have the salmon sold in New Zealand shops travelled?

Martin Unwin, a fisheries biologist with NIWA, responded.

Pacific salmon are native to the North Pacific Ocean, occurring in Japan, Russia, Canada, and the United States. Ocean migration varies widely among species and populations. Some Californian stocks stay within a few hundred kilometers of the coast, but fish from other US populations roam as far as Japan.

Salmon from California’s Sacramento River were introduced to New Zealand from 1901 to 1907. All modern-day New Zealand populations are descended from these ancestors. The main stocks are confined to Canterbury and Otago, although smaller runs also occur on the West Coast.

Our knowledge of salmon migrations in New Zealand waters relies heavily on fish taken,

10 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

as a by-catch, by commercial fishers off the South Island east coast. Most fish are caught within 100 km of the coast, in waters less than 200 m deep. This region is bounded to the east by low-nutrient sub-Antarctic water, and to the north by subtropical water too warm for salmon to thrive. As with their Californian cousins, it seems New Zealand salmon do not travel far from home.

Salmon can complete their life cycle without going to sea. New Zealand has several freshwater populations, in lakes such as Coleridge and Hawea, where hydroelectric structures block their seaward migration route.

Freshwater salmon farms, like those in the upper Waitaki canals, exploit this ability to grow fish for the market.

Most farmed salmon sold in New Zealand are grown in sea cages. These fish spend their adult lives at sea, but remain captive throughout and do not migrate. If wild salmon are like high country merinos, left to fend for themselves and forage wherever they can find feed, farmed salmon are like sheep raised in a grassy lowland paddock.

William Pelet, of Otago Boys’ High School, asked: Will a leather pouch for a cell phone prevent the possible human tissue damage caused by the radiation emitted by cell phones? If not, what can?

Martin Gledhill, a physicist offering independent measurements and advice on electromagnetic fields through EMF Services, responded.

While it is true that there is no definitive answer as to whether the radiofrequency (RF) radiation from cell phones can damage human tissues (and indeed, as in many areas of science, there will probably be lingering questions forever), there is a broad consensus amongst scientists working in this area that it probably does not do any damage.

If you, nevertheless, do wish to reduce the exposures, a leather pouch would not help as it would absorb or reflect only a negligible amount of the radiation from the phone. While there are some pouches made of RF-absorbent material available, their usefulness has been questioned as they may cause the phone to operate at higher power than it would otherwise do – effectively cancelling any reduction in exposure or affecting the transmitting efficiency of the phone – giving an increase in power and a poor quality call.

Exposures reduce rapidly with increasing distance between the cell phone and your body, so the simplest and most effective way to reduce exposure is to either use a hands-free kit or put the cell phone on speaker-phone. Cell phones using the modern UMTS technology (also referred to in New Zealand as XT or 3G)

have very effective control of their transmitting power and generally transmit at around onefiftieth of the power of the so-called ‘2G’ (GSM) phones. Hence they produce a corresponding decrease in exposures. Typically the output power of a UMTS cell phone is lower than that of a cordless phone. Don’t forget either that if you are not on a call, the phone does not transmit, except for brief, occasional communications to stay in touch with the base station network.

Nathan Hamilton, Logan Park High School, Dunedin, asked: Why do I have a dimple in my chin?

Kirk Hamilton, a physiologist at Otago University responded.

As we look at people, we notice interesting characteristics about one another. We might see a person with blonde hair, hazel eyes, or even a dimple in the chin. I would bet we have all noticed people who have a prominent chin dimple. As I think about well-known celebrities who have dimples in their chins, a number of names come to mind quickly: Adele, Sir Ian McKellan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, John Travolta, Kirk Douglas (Michael Douglas’s father) to name a few.

There is an old proverb that states that “A dimple in the chin, the devil within”. I am not sure about that, however. The dimple (chin cleft) is an indentation on the surface of the chin and it can be circular or Y-shaped, for example. The underlying form of the dimple is the result of the anatomy of the lower jaw bone, the mandible. The mandible is composed of two parts that are joined in the middle. Sometimes, the two halves of the mandible do not fuse properly at the center point in the region of the chin during embryonic development. This misalignment allows the formation of a groove in the tissues of the chin that can be deep enough to reach the mandible, resulting in the dimple.

The chin dimple is a dominant inherited trait in humans, which means if both parents have dimples then their children should also have dimples. I do say ‘should’ because even if a trait is ‘dominant’, it is not 100 per cent certain. There are situations where the gene responsible for this dimpling trait might be affected; this is

described in science as variable penetrance.

Variable penetrance means that even though the inherited trait for the chin dimple is dominant, the dimple might not be formed because of another factor such as something environmental or modifier genes that influence the development of the mandible during the development of the baby before birth.

Some people believe that dimples are beautiful. In fact, it is now fashionable to have ‘designer dimple’ plastic surgery known as ‘dimpleplasty’. There are a couple of techniques that can be used to ‘create’ a dimple and this it is considered a minor procedure that is performed by a surgeon under local anaesthesia. So for those of us who have a chin dimple, we should feel lucky! If you were wondering, yes, I was named after a famous dimpled actor, Kirk Douglas, but my dimple is almost always covered with a goatee!

Emily Pond, of Manawatu College, asked: Why do humans use smiles in a friendly, placatory, way whereas other primates use them as threats?

Rachael Stratton, an animal behaviourist at Massey University’s Institute of Veterinary, Animal, and Biomedical Sciences, responded.

Perhaps there is confusion over grimace/ snarl and smile? They can look similar – lips parted and drawn back, teeth showing.

Primates display a play face and make vocalisations that resemble laughter in humans. >>

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 11

Analysis of the noises that young apes make when being tickled has shown genetic similarity to human laughter.

However, a display such as a fear grimace (teeth bared) can be a signal of submission or placation in macaques and rhesus monkeys.

Perhaps the ‘tone’ or intent of the ‘smile’ is best inferred from the other behaviour that is being displayed. For example, if a teeth-bared display is accompanied by withdrawal, then it is probably fearful, whereas if the animal is attacking (chest puffed up and body weight forward), then it is aggressive.

The ‘smile’ is one piece of the jigsaw puzzle that requires other behaviours/expressions to see the whole picture.

Zane White, of Balclutha Primary School, asked: On Sunday May 5, near Clydevale in South Otago, we saw through a hole in the clouds something falling with white smoke-like stuff trailing behind it. It seemed to hit nearby trees. Could it have been space junk?

Duncan Steel, a space researcher, author, and broadcaster, responded.

The straightforward answer is: yes – but it’s unlikely.

First, some definitions are needed. By ‘space junk’ or ‘space debris’, we usually mean an artificial (man-made) object in space, in orbit around the Earth. Obviously we would not think of functioning satellites – things like the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope, and communications satellites – as being ‘junk’, but apart from those, there are in orbit about 3,000 tonnes of old material that no longer has any use. In fact, this space debris is a hazard to our useful satellites and to our astronauts because it moves so quickly (typical orbital speeds being about seven kilometres per second, over 20,000 kph). This ever-changing cloud of space junk is estimated to contain well over 100,000 separate pieces bigger than the size of a marble, and the larger fragments are regularly tracked using ground-based telescopes and radars.

Apart from these, spacecraft may also be hit by natural particles: meteoroids and interplanetary dust. Even an object the size of a grain of sand could put a

12 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

satellite out of action, depending on where it struck. These natural bullets are mostly in orbit around the Sun, and happen to cross the path of Earth in its annual circuit around our local star.

Typically, they slam into satellites at about 20 kilometres per second, three times faster than the satellite is orbiting our planet.

When a meteoroid enters the upper atmosphere, due to its extreme speed, friction quickly causes it to heat up and glow, and we see this as a meteor (or ‘shooting star’). Usually it evaporates away, just leaving its individual atoms in the air high above us, but occasionally a solid remnant lump may reach the ground intact, and this is termed a ‘meteorite’. Most meteorites are tiny, a fraction of a millimetre across, but a few are far larger.

From your description, it sounds like you saw a bright meteor. This might have been caused by a re-entering fragment of space debris, but it is far more likely that this was due to a natural meteoroid because most days only a few small items of space junk enter the atmosphere, whereas billions of meteoroids do so: about 100 tonnes a day! Quite often a large meteoroid – bigger, say, than a cricket or hockey ball – will leave a trail like that you described, and this might persist in the sky for up to an hour.

People often think that the shooting stars they witness are quite close by because they are used to seeing birds or high-flying aeroplanes.

Actually the meteors seen by eye are typically about 60–80 kilometres above the ground, and may be 500 kilometres distant from the viewer.

If you did see a meteor, it was likely out over the ocean, a long way away from you.

You did not say what time of day you witnessed this event. If it were after midnight, then you might have seen a piece of Halley’s Comet! The reason is that every year, in the first week of May, Earth passes through a loop of meteoroids dropped off by that famous comet along its 76-year orbit around the Sun. These cometary fragments produce a well-known meteor shower, the streaks of light all appearing to emanate from the direction of the constellation Aquarius. However, these all strike our

planet on its leading hemisphere, which is why you only see them after midnight.

Sam Melville, of Broad Bay school, asked: How does an earthquake cause a large tidal wave and why are they called ‘tidal’ waves or tsunamis if they are actually caused by tremors?

Ross Vennell, an oceanographer at the University of Otago, responded.

The tremor you feel from a distant earthquake does not cause tsunamis and not all earthquakes cause tsunamis. Tsunamis are usually caused by catastrophic vertical movements of the ocean floor, either by rapid uplift along a fault line or by underwater ‘landslides’ (avalanches) of mud and sediment.

These ‘landslides’ are often triggered by earthquakes. A large meteor striking the ocean would also cause a tsunami.

Rapid vertical movements due to earthquake uplift of the seafloor or landslides can raise or lower a several kilometer thick layer of ocean above the sea floor. The oceans raised or lowered surface spreads outwards forming the crest or trough of a tsunami – similar to the rings of waves radiating outwards from a rock tossed into a pond. Tsunamis travel fast, up to 800kmph in the deep ocean, where they are usually less than 1m high. Near the coast, tsunamis slow down and can grow to be many meters high. A tsunami may have several crests and troughs, with crests arriving around 10–20 minutes apart. Sometimes a trough arrives first, causing the sea to recede over several minutes, leaving fish and boats stranded. So if you see this, get to high ground or to the top of a large tall concrete building fast!

When they hit the coast, tsunamis don’t appear as the large towering walls of water that you might see in movies, but as rapid surges in water level which occur over several minutes.

I suspect it is this surging that caused then to originally be called tidal waves, because they were like a rapid tidal change in sea level.

Tsunamis are not caused by the tidal forces.

Their old name ‘tidal waves’ is gradually fading out as we adopt their Japanese name tsunami, which literally means ‘harbour wave’.  Do you have a burning science question that needs answering? Send it to Ask-A-Scientist, PO Box 31-035, Christchurch 8444, or email: questions@ask-a-scientist.net

The time and freedom

to be truly

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the physical world

cu riou s

ELF ELDRIDGE writes about his career path from aspiring lunar icecream retailer to junior physicist.

I

n term one of this year, the New Zealand Science Teacher website featured various Kiwi scientists as part of our ‘Careers in Science’ theme.

Physicist Elf Eldridge is now a staff member at the Victoria University School of Engineering and Computer Science in Wellington.

How would you describe what you do?

Currently, I’m a bit of a science/engineer/ teacher mishmash. I’m a PhD student with the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, which means that I’m a (very!) junior research scientist. I get about four years to work on finding out everything I can about one specific scientific question – with the idea that at the end of it I should be one of the world leaders in my tiny little field. In my case, my question is “how can we cheaply, quickly and accurately measure and detect things that are too small to see under a microscope?” Science has provided us LOTS of ways to do this already with complicated electron-microscopes and a bunch of other equipment that shines lasers at water or spins things round to detect what’s in them. My research is essentially about finding a ‘better way’ to deal with things this small. At this point most people ask “So what?! If the things you’re looking at are so small, who cares?”

The most interesting thing about this project for me is that things this small are important for everyone, because they include things like viruses and bacteria which can cause a host of nasty diseases (and also do all sorts of amazing things) and environmental pollutants, just to name a few. Yet even more intriguingly, it’s a little like a space voyage! Every time I use my machine to detect or analyse things this small I’m peering into a world that only a few scientists in the world are ever looking into at the same time and they’re all looking in slightly different ways and so we still aren’t ever really certain what we might find. Some days, I look at blood cells, and try and figure out how they might spin and twirl in your bloodstream. Sometimes I look at how viruses can change shape and size depending on the pH of the liquid they’re in, and then I have to try and prove that what I’m seeing isn’t just my fanciful imagination!

But that’s only part of what I do. The other part is going out to schools and teachers and talking about what I love and finding new ways to demonstrate it to people. I play with robots, make little devices out of jelly, and pump sound through cornflour – partially because I believe there’s a social benefit to promoting curiosity and science, but mostly because I just find it fun.

What led to your particular interest in physics?

This is one of my favourite questions! At school I didn’t want to take physics because I wanted to become a vet and I couldn’t see how it related.

I remember saying to myself “I don’t need to understand how fast the car hit the animal, I just need to know the biology and chemistry for how to fix it”. My teachers encouraged me to take physics anyway and I found that its weird concepts interested me. It was a little bit like a real-world puzzle that no-one in the world had figured out yet! Then when I got to university, two things happened: I did a laboratory session on the physics of a horse’s knee, and I sat through a lecture about a tiny protein (called ATP-synthase) that almost all life forms on earth use to survive.

In both I was absolutely fascinated by how the subjects work – I have never even thought about how intricate something like a leg was, let alone how a tiny molecular waterwheel could ultimately power something like a human being!

And from then on I was hooked on the thrill of discovery and learning something new – and the more I learnt the more I wanted to know. I ended up picking physics because it looks at the basic shared properties of everything in the universe but I always will love biology because nature has wonderful, intricate ways of using those simple rules and laws to perform the most wondrous feats.

What is the best thing about what you do?

The best thing is simply being paid to do what I love to do, and having the time and freedom to be truly curious.

Were you interested in science at school, and what was your academic path after school?

It’s actually funny, the very first thing I wanted to be, before I was about six, was to be a person that sold ice-creams on the moon! Then, because I grew up on a farm and I love helping animals, I decided I wanted to be a vet (because I told myself that ice cream sales on the moon wasn’t a great career strategy). At high school I liked science (but I wasn’t very good at it) and I HATED mathematics – but I took both of them because that’s what I needed to get into vet science at university. Then after my first trimester, my grades weren’t good enough to continue with vet science and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Luckily, I had fallen in love with physics and biology (thanks to some interesting topics and really amazing lecturers), and so I decided to keep studying them and see where it took me.

I came to Wellington, kept studying physics and biology and just enjoyed learning more and more.

That said, I also found it really hard and there were several times I almost gave up and walked

away from study altogether. I always felt like I wasn’t doing well enough, that I was stupid and falling behind everyone else in my classes. Then I happened to get a part-time job teaching some of the junior course and I found that because I only understood things simply I was quite good at explaining them simply too. I did more and more of it and that really helped my learning and understanding and eventually the MacDiarmid Institute was kind enough to offer me a PhD scholarship to do directed research after my honours year. And here I am!

How do you think your career might change over the next five or ten years?

Excellent question! The good and bad thing about studying science is that it opens so many doors for you later down the careers path. It enables you to understand and unpick problems in the real world, and studying engineering helps you create solution to those problems - whether it be creating a new medicine, or simply re-programming your smartphone to point out passing satellites to you – just because you can. I’ve found the hardest thing is knowing when to stop.

Everything is just so interesting!

However, when I do finish my PhD I will get to choose between continuing life as a research scientist, and try for a position at a university somewhere, or I could move into the industry and become a technologist. I could move into finance or banking, because of my mathematics skills or help start a technology-based company. However, I’ve always had stupidly big dreams, so my current goal/plan is to go and work with the biggest movers, shakers and dreamers in the science world: NASA or Google. These are institutions with cultures that will help define huge parts of humanity’s future and I’d love to see that (or be a part of it) if I were to ever get the chance. 

Elf is now available to come and visit science classes to talk about physics, engineering or potential careers in the science and technology sector. He is also happy to visit schools outside of the Wellington region. Email him for more information: elf@ecs.vuw.ac.nz.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 13

CURRICULUM & LITERACY planet earth & beyond

Riiser-Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Examining a changing world:

teaching climate science in New Z ealand

I

It’s a topic some science teachers shy away from, but tackling the big issues is vital, writes MELISSA WASTNEY.

n a classroom at Te Papa, groups of Year 10 students laugh as they pull themselves into bright yellow padded suits, snow boots, and goggles.

They’re learning about life at Scott Base, Antarctica, from Dr Nancy Bertler, who has been there 13 times.

Their teacher at Onslow College is Terry Burrell, LAL Science and climate science enthusiast. Terry is investigating the topic with her science class and took the opportunity to sign two groups up to the workshop day at the museum.

Why climate science?

In a recent article published on The Conversation: ‘What do young people really know about climate change?’ the authors assert that it’s one thing to say: yes, I believe in climate change, yet quite another to say: yes, I understand it and how it works. In addition, there is a lot of research which supports the idea that until a person understands the science behind climate change, they may not support political regulation or make personal decisions to help reduce greenhouse gas production.

14 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Terry agrees, when asked to explain the importance of tackling these issues in secondary school science.

“It’s a topic that teachers quite often shy away from because of the tendency for it to be all ‘doom and gloom’. But in my experience, teaching students about the science can be very enlightening and they are most certainly up to the challenge of understanding the more complex themes,” she says.

Climate change as a cross-curricular context Terry’s Year 10 students have the opportunity to study climate science in a cross-curricular manner. Terry is collaborating with the students’ social studies teacher who will look at the wider societal impacts of climate change.

“The idea is, put simply, that if you can understand the science, then you can influence the decision makers – hence the social science connection,” she says. “With the general election coming up soon, I think it’s absolutely critical that this is one of the issues the students are able to engage with their parents about.”

“Here at Onslow, we found we could cross-link our teaching quite nicely in the climate change context. In science, it involves us looking at basic chemistry: atmosphere chemistry and environmental impact and scientific models. In social science, the students are looking at why humans do the things they do. So the crossovers deal with ideas about decision making and environmental impact and politics.”

What ‘doom and gloom’ means for students It’s important, says Terry, that students are not overwhelmed by negativity when studying the concepts.

“Nobody is motivated to action if they’re feeling pessimistic,” she says. “We need to show that the hope comes from science. It’s about having the ability to make reasoned social decisions, and the science is what informs those decisions.”

“So as far as we’re concerned, here in the science department, if you’re armed with ‘thinking like a scientist’ about the evidence that you’re given, then you can make sensible decisions.”

Addressing prior knowledge Students come from all backgrounds and bring a broad range of views and levels of understanding to class. “This is always hugely diverse,” says Terry. “There’s often mis-knowledge – for example, getting the ozone layer confused with greenhouse layer, and so on.

“A lot of what students bring to class might originate from what they’ve heard in the media or from family. There are always a few who will bring up a sceptic viewpoint, and throw that out to have it argued. This is good, of course, because it allows us to go back to the science and look at what we really do know.”

Terry says it requires discussion about the structure and particle nature of the atmosphere, and the nature of radiation. Starting with what is ‘known’ helps students to access the science of climate change.

“I’ve chosen to explore this particular theme as atmosphere chemistry, and the impact of that on ecosystems, so that’s my slant for this particular topic.”

Resources and class plans Onslow College is the first school to embrace the use of the 2013 film Thin Ice in science classes.

“In class, I like to use interactive websites with New Zealand data about the climate on them. But I also had the good chance last year to run into Peter Barrett, and to view his Thin Ice film. That kick-started us looking at climate science, and how we could use it as a cross-curricular context here at Onslow.”

But before the students watch the film, they spend some weeks studying atmosphere chemistry.

“It’s a matter of working out what we don’t know, before we get started on learning more about climate change via the film,” says Terry. “I felt the students needed some work on how modelling is used in science, and learning about terms like ‘correlation’ and ‘parts per million’, for example.

“When I first showed the film to my students, they found it very accessible. We’re now using it at the Year 10 level, and as the overarching context for a Level 3 course we run in Earth and Space Science. The teacher of that course is basically putting all of his topics within the context of the film, and the idea of the earth cycle being impacted on by humans and how that’s going to play out in the longer term.”

Thin Ice film Last year, NZST published an article about the awardwinning documentary, Thin Ice: The inside story of climate science. It was produced collaboratively by Victoria University of Wellington, Oxford University, and DOX Productions, London, and sets out to expose the huge range of human activity and scientific endeavour going into understanding Earth’s changing climate.

Where Thin Ice differs from other climate films is in the way it showcases many scientists working in the field. The idea is that the audience is able not only to better understand the science

despair. “There’s a clip at the end of Thin Ice where a scientist says ‘the science here is actually very good.

We’re finding information that gives us choices about our future’.”

“It’s not a hopeless situation.

The film talks about how versatile and adaptable the human race is and expresses optimism for the future.”

Te Papa climate change day

Students try on some Antarctic gear from the Te Papa collections.

Photo: Melissa Wastney.

itself, but also to put a human face to climate research. Peter Barrett is a producer of Thin Ice and an Antarctic research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington.

He believes the film makes compelling viewing for science students.

“The wide range of scientists who are working in the field make up the content of the film. So we are proud of the collaborative nature of the work,” says Peter.

“Basically, everyone needs to become a climate scientist on some level so that when we talk to each other we have a basic understanding of the subject and a better idea about how we might face our planet’s problem.”

Discussing alternative views in class Climate science has been coming under increasing attack and students are often interested in discussing alternative theories.

Thin Ice opens with a response to this. The film follows geologist Simon Lamb as he visits his climate science colleagues to

discuss their findings. His journey takes him around the world, including local examples such as Baring Head, near Wellington, where CO2 data has been collected over time, and Paraparaumu to investigate helium balloons released into the atmosphere for over 40 years.

Terry says this is a great way to address alternative views in class.

“Students are engaged as Simon travels around the globe and looks at all the science in action around climate change.

He looks at the depth and diversity of evidence, from things like dendrochronology and ice cores, to the ocean’s pH and temperature.

“The film allows me, as a teacher, to address Nature of Science concepts, such as why scientists use ‘models’ and what the strengths and weaknesses of these are, as well as to discuss ideas like correlation, causal effects and variables.”

Because the film ends on an optimistic note, it encourages students to action, rather than

We need to show that the hope comes from science. It’s about having the ability to make reasoned social decisions, and the science is what informs those decisions.

One climate scientist featured in the film is Dr Nancy Bertler.

Along with her role as Associate Professor at the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University, Nancy is an ice core specialist working in Antarctica.

Her presentation to Terry’s class focuses on her work as Principal Investigator on the RICE project.

The students recognise her from Thin Ice as she shows them slides of a recent expedition to Antarctica.

Karyne Rogers is a geologist from GNS and currently one of the scientists-in-residence at Te Papa. With Te Papa educators and scientists from NIWA and GNS, they form a team of educators delivering this content to secondary school students.

Together, Nancy and Karyne help present the climate change workshop programme at Te Papa, aimed at students from Years 9 to 11. Part of the New Zealand Festival-affiliated SchoolFest 2014, the day at Te Papa offers secondary school students and their teachers a chance to immerse themselves in authentic climate science from the experts, from ice core research to deep-sea creatures.

Nancy tells the students about life on Scott Base: the ‘suburbs’ where the scientists sleep, the showers, the food. She explains the RICE operation and shows slides of the ice core samples she has studied.

The students are fascinated by the real-life Antarctic equipment laid out for them to examine. After a slide show about a typical trip to the ice, Nancy challenges groups of students to a race: which team can get in and out of the Antarctic clothing first and which can write a decent shopping list for such an expedition? >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 15

The dressing-up is performed with gusto: on go the padded yellow suits, the goggles and full gloves. The proposed gear lists are comprehensive: snow boots, soap, steriliser tablets, and GPS equipment, among other items.

Karyne stresses the importance of education programmes such as this one at Te Papa.

“It’s our aim to communicate the value of this science,” she says.

“My role as a science educator here at Te Papa is about supporting teachers and inspiring learning. I want them to have fun, take an interest, and see the value in it – it’s about encouraging them to really take part in the science that is happening around them.”

Nancy emphasises the wider implications for a scientificallyliterate society.

“Climate change education is so important because we all need to be aware of how we affect our environment. It’s not just about training future scientists, but also thinking about our future researchers, writers, policy makers, and teachers. Of course, everyone who votes should have an understanding of the science.”

The effects of climate change are not necessarily the same around the world, and therefore,

it’s important that students study the science as it is happening locally.

“We know that the impact of how our climate is changing is seen in different ways around Earth – it’s not an equal effect everywhere. So we need to communicate climate science as it relates specifically to New Zealand.”

At the end of Nancy’s workshop, the students can’t resist another dress up session with the polar gear.

Hamish Weir, from behind his goggles, says he finds studying climate science to be disheartening at times.

“Although it can be hard, there are some heartening things about studying climate change, too,” he says. “I’m definitely interested in studying it further.”

Madison McVie says the social impact of the science is what she is most interested in. “I’m finding this unit really interesting – especially learning about the wide range of different impacts that climate change has on the world and everything that lives in it.”

And Peter Barrett puts it succinctly: “Basically, everyone needs to become a climate scientist on some level so that

RICE headquarters.

Photo: Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington.

RICE RICE (Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution) is an international collaboration between New Zealand, USA, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Italy, China, and Sweden.

The project aims to recover a 750m deep ice core from Roosevelt Island in Antarctica. This ice core will help scientists determine the stability of the Ross Ice Shelf and West Antarctica as our climate warms by analysing the past, present, and future changes of the Ross Sea Ice Shelf, a major drainage pathway of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

The investigation, which began in 2011, aims to be completed by 2016, and the RICE core will be processed at the New Zealand Ice Core Research Facility at GNS Science, Wellington.

16 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

when we talk to each other we have a basic understanding of the subject and a better idea about how we might face our planet’s problem.”

“Young people get it” Dr James Renwick Climate scientist Dr James Renwick is associate professor at the School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.

He has just returned from an international climate change conference in Hobart – one focus of which was sea ice.

“It’s a very interesting and important area, understanding what’s going on with sea ice as a symptom of our changing climate,” he says.

“Right now, I feel at least up with the play on what questions people are asking. I may not have the corresponding answers though,” he says.

James’s professional interest focuses on the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere: how the climate system varies, its effect on our weather, and the way in which energy is transported around the globe. He’s also interested in human-induced climate change.

It’s possible, says James, that perceived complexities of climate science, and its multi-disciplinary nature, could discourage teachers to tackle the concepts in class.

“Like many subjects, once you dive in, they become more layered and complex,” he says.

“But there are some simple ideas, I think, about climate change that can be easily conveyed to students from any level within our education system.”

It could be as simple as discussing the basic concepts of the Earth’s temperature, its surface energy balance, and how greenhouse gases are affecting the atmosphere.

“Limiting future climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, and young people just ‘get’ this stuff,” he says.

“Really, they see it as their problem. The climate system hasn’t changed all that much yet.

But if the projections for the future are even fairly close to accurate, in

50 years’ time, the climate system will be pretty different.”

He points to organisations such as Generation Zero and 350.org who work to communicate these concepts and take action.

Secondary school students are especially receptive to ‘big ideas’ and future-oriented learning.

“It’s really important to put this science across to school students because in my opinion at least, this is the biggest issue in our world today. Of course, there are lots of other things going on: political unrest, issues around inequality and disease, and more, but climate change is only going to make all of those things worse.

Everything is interconnected.” 

Ideas for teachers: James says there are various educational resources published by organisations such as The Royal Society of New Zealand, The British Royal Society, CSIRO in Australia, and The National Academy of Sciences in the USA, around the basic ideas of climate change.

IPCC Working Group ‘headlines’ document – available here:

http://climatechange2013.org The idea of these, and similarly important, climate documents being easily accessible is catching on: go here for a series of 18 tweets written by leading climate scientist Piers Forster:

bit.ly/1sTk4Eq.

Other suggested resource links from Dr James Renwick for secondary school science teachers: »» The Royal Society, Climate Change: Evidence and Causes: bit.ly/1qodZcY »» National Academy of Sciences (USA): bit.ly/1pJbKEC »» Csiro Australia, Understanding climate change: bit.ly/1yY0Trx »» The Royal Society of New Zealand, climate change resources: bit.ly/1kTjQKQ »» NIWA, Climate change, global warming, and greenhouse gases: bit.ly/1obPYV8

Putaiao Maori culture & science

A career with moments of

pure magic Melanie Cheung is a neurobiologist who melds tikanga and Western science to study neurodegenerative diseases.

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s part of our Careers in Science series in the first term, we talked to Melanie Cheung, a neurobiologist working at Waikato University. Melanie has since moved to San Francisco to study with Professor Michael Merzenich, a pioneer in the field of neuroplasticity. She will be helping to develop a brain training programme that enhances neuroplasticity to treat Huntington’s Disease.

How do you describe what you do?

I am a neurobiologist. I work with clinicians, scientists, and communities to develop therapeutic solutions for people with neurodegenerative diseases. In the past, this has meant studying disease mechanisms in post-mortem human brain tissue, developing cell culture models from human brain tissue, and testing compounds in animal and cells models of disease.

I have recently started studying neuroplasticity, the brains extraordinary ability to reorganise brain structure, function and connections in response to internal and external stimuli.

What led to your particular interest in neuroscience?

The brain is such an amazing organ. Without it we would be unable to see, hear, smell, touch, taste, move, think, plan, learn, remember, create, feel, and be ourselves. I am so fascinated by the brain that for me the wonder is that there are scientists who

want to study anything else!

I am especially interested in neuroplasticity because I think it’s going to revolutionise the ways that we clinically treat brain diseases. That is, engaging neuroplasticity processes in specific brain structures (through refined brain training) has the potential to stimulate the brain to repair itself by producing the neurochemicals that are necessary to strengthen useful pathways, while simultaneous weakening dysfunctional pathways. I want to be at the forefront of that revolution!

What do you like most about being a scientist?

There are moments of pure magic that make the hard parts of the job worthwhile. These can come from simple things, such as mastering a difficult technique in the lab, writing an excellent report, giving a talk that is well received. Moments of pure magic can also come from extraordinary things: having an epiphany, getting funded, finding a significant scientific result, being told by people with brain diseases that your research gives them hope.

Were you interested in science at school, and what was your academic path after school?

I took biology, chemistry, and calculus all the way through to seventh form (Year 13). I also loved art and did three art papers in my final year of high school: printmaking, drawing, and painting. To be honest, I wasn’t very scholarly at school. I was trying my hardest to be cool

and doing well at school didn’t exactly fit my idea of ‘cool.’ In fact, I almost didn’t get university entrance because I didn’t go to calculus class for most of my final year of high school.

Luckily I had a lovely calculus teacher, Mr Cohen, who tutored me after school every day for a month before my exam. I passed calculus by the skin of my teeth and managed to get good enough grades to get accepted into an intermediate year for medicine at the University of Auckland.

My academic path hasn’t been straightforward. I partied hard and didn’t get into medical school. I eventually dropped out of university and worked for a couple of years. I finally found my way back to university at the age of 24. Alongside my studies, I got approached to tutor biology to Māori and Pasifika students for the Tuakana Programme and that’s when it all changed.

I found out that I really loved teaching biology. I didn’t want to let my students down so I started working harder. I began studying for my own papers and thoroughly learnt the material that I needed to teach. My grades went up, and I learnt

the value of hard work. Then I got the opportunity to spend a summer doing research. I loved every moment of it. That’s when I knew.

Do you think your job might change over the next five or ten years?

Definitely. I am still early in my career, so I am still learning the skills to build my career upon. Eventually I will have to find a permanent position at a university and start my own laboratory.

You can watch a video about Melanie and her work, and how her medical research intersects with tikanga, here at TOTES MAORI: bit.ly/1pyOq8C And here she is on the Māori Future Makers video collection, talking about her study and career path: bit.ly/1nV2pIR  New Zealand Science Teacher >> 17

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the physical world

Ha vi n g a bl a st:

rocketry and student engagement Constructing working rockets from scratch turns out to be an exciting way to engage young scientists, writes JOHN MARSH.

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n exciting way to engage students, especially those who find it difficult to complete written work, in science is to be part of a problem-solving project involving rockets. Over the last few years, my school has been involved in rocketry competitions and activities through the KiwiSpace Foundation. The process of designing, building and testing rockets so that they achieve the desired height as well as maintaining passenger integrity involves all of the curriculum’s Key competencies as well the science capability of Engagement with Science. The Nature of Science promotes investigating, communication and contributing about science, which is at the core of this rocketry-problem-focused activity.

Rocketry was taken as an extension programme, which was open to our school students.

This year students formed nine teams of between five to six students and participated in a

18 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

competition using modified pre-made kit-sets. The cost per student was between $18–$24, depending upon team size and what rocket they were building.

I started with 12 students in two teams for the KiwiSpace competition held at Ambury Regional Park in Manukau in 2012. The task was to build a rocket from a kit-set, using a D-sized rocket engine to send an egg 150m high and for it to return to earth without breaking. This was to be

repeated. The team closest to the 150m with an unbroken egg over the two launches won. Ten teams competed, with the winning team being Diocesan School for Girls. Their rocket was only 3m away from the target altitude. We came second, being 18m from target altitude.

The biggest challenge was not the building of the rocket but working with others who have different ideas so that we could finish with a rocket that not only flew but would protect the egg... We lost a few rockets and one rocket exploded in a ball of flames, which was really cool.

In 2013, after discussions with KiwiSpace personnel, we as a school decided to try and make rockets from scratch without kit-sets using D-sized solid fuel engines (single use only). The students and I used the website below, which included a step-by-step instruction manual: www.jamesyawn.net/ modelrocket/intro/index.html.

The building of the rockets with five teams of five students within the school, from scratch, was a big undertaking. A lot of teaching was done prior to building using internet sites

by NASA, Scaled Composites, and SpaceX. The obstacles were numerous, and basically, we moved from problem to problem, thinking of ingenious ways to solve them.

We eventually built 10 rockets, all of which were launched.

The outcomes for altitude were less than stellar. However, the process undertaken to get us

We enjoyed the rocketry competition so much we want to do it again in term four.

The excitement of checking that our egg survived the launch was high amongst us all and we were relieved that our egg was intact. to launching was amazing. All students learnt a lot about the design, building, and testing of rockets. Their enthusiasm remained high, with the focus on problem solving and ideas formation.

In 2014, due to time constraints with the competition deadline being in term one, we used kit-sets. We reached altitudes from 50m to 196m with a variety of egg survival statuses.

Many of the students who have taken part over the last three years have found rocketry to be one of the best things they had done at school. For example, Rosie Horsley (Year 7, 2014) stated: “We enjoyed the rocketry competition so much we want to do it again in term four. The excitement of checking that our egg survived the launch was high amongst us all and we were relieved that our egg was intact.”

Rosie Horsley and Patrick Sutton (Year 8, 2014) described their experience of the process: The biggest challenge was not the building of the rocket but working with others who have different ideas so that we could finish with a rocket that not only flew but would protect the egg.

It took a long time to finish the rockets and some of us were not confident that we would have success. Our initial launches only got to 40m and we brainstormed as a whole group how we could get higher altitudes. We found the teacher’s focus on the problems at hand for each group a good way to maintain our confidence and positivity. We lost a few rockets and one rocket exploded in a ball of flames, which was really cool.”

An unbroken egg, which reached a height of 190m in 2014.

Rosie and Patrick then explained why rocketry should be a part of all intermediate school programmes: Why do we think rocketry should occur in other schools?

Because it is an amazing fun thing to do. When building the rockets, we also learnt a lot about weight distribution, aerodynamics, testing for impact, resistance, weight and thrust, as well as skills of building and testing models. The process challenged us but the end result was worth it. The hardest part was building a capsule that would fit on the rocket body, hold an egg and hit the ground with the egg unbroken. At times, it would seem that we solve one problem and another would appear.

Connor Christoffersen (Year 7 in 2013 and year 8 in 2014) provides probably the best explanation of the benefits of Tauranga Intermediate School’s involvement in this competition: “In 2013, I was a Year 7 at Tauranga Intermediate School. I’m fond of science and technology-based activites and wanted to express my ideas of science, so I decided to come to rocketry. We were thrown straight into the deep end; we had to make a rocket from scratch with no prior knowledge of science, weight distribution, etc.

Our first task was to craft a body out of paper and glue. We made fins out of balsa wood and a capsule out of play dough and a cork that we made models for our plastic capsule. We learnt

so many skills from rocketry in 2013, which we would go and use in 2014. There were many problems faced in 2013, we needed a lightweight design to fit regulations of the challenge.

At the start, we would watch YouTube clips to get ideas from other peoples successes and failures. We watched a

lot from NASA, such as their early and later attempts to land the first man on the moon and add satellites up into the atmosphere.

There was a lot of terminology and language to learn over the course of the experiment. We sourced lots of gear for the rockets so they worked and we had a semi-successful flight.

Later this year we will try again but this time we will be able to have a better idea of how we will tackle the project. We will be building from scratch except the capsule that we will have from a kit-set, but apart from that, we will make everything else ourselves. In 2013/14, we had problems with the launch leg, so in 2013 our rockets were toast, but in 2014 they were too small then we changed to a larger one.

Later this year (2014), we will use large straws as our launch guide.”  John Marsh is a teacher at Tauranga Intermediate School.

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CURRICULUM & LITERACY planet earth & beyond

fo r a oo kin gneedle Lcosmic in a haystack Gravitational microlensing has produced some unique discoveries in New Zealand, writes GAVIN MILNE.

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he largest telescope in New Zealand is not a graceful beast in the traditional sense. During the day, it sits quietly and proudly, facing the stars, enclosed in a dome barely large enough for it to turn without hitting the edges. It looks like a cross between red and white scaffolding and a fantastic Lego set. It is impressively large and technologically overwhelming.

However, at night, it scans the skies, hour after hour, night after night, grunting and wheezing, as the coolant pumps keep the CCD camera at a frigid -80C to increase its sensitivity. It is looking at some of the most crowded star fields, imaging millions of stars, over and over again. It’s looking for one thing: a subtle increase in brightness of one of those stars that may indicate an extra-solar planet.

Einstein predicted, back in 1915, that gravitational fields have the ability to bend light, although this idea goes back as far as Newton. Detection of this would have been another win for his Theory of General Relativity.

In 1919, Arthur Eddington measured that during a solar eclipse, Mercury appeared displaced from its actual position because of the Sun’s gravity. This was accepted as final proof for Einstein’s famous theory.

The ability of a large stellar object to bend the light passing near it, due to gravity, coined the term ‘gravitational lens’ because it acts just like a lens, similar to a common magnifying glass. Focusing the rays of light from the Sun to burn holes in

20 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

a piece of paper is a relatively simple way of looking at it. With gravitational lensing, we have a large object with a lot of gravity (the lens) in front of another object that has a lot of light (the background source). The most useful fact about gravitational lensing is that the object doing the bending just has to have gravity – you don’t actually have to be able to see it. This is a great way of detecting black holes or dark matter – things that by definition are pretty hard to observe. So are planets … but that’s later.

Jump forward about 60 years and the advances in astronomical imaging have discovered some fascinating and beautiful cosmic objects.

Strong lensing usually involves something really huge as a lens, such as an entire galaxy or a black hole. The Einstein Cross (named in honour of, not discovered by, Einstein) is a quasar. A quasar is something very bright and very far away, and we don’t know much about them. In front of this quasar, somewhere in between, lies a galaxy. The galaxy’s gravity bends the light around it so that we don’t see a single quasar, but actually four separate images of it, hence a ‘cross’. Stranger still, if the background source and the lensing object line up perfectly with us, we don’t see multiple images of the source but a continuous ring, named an Einstein ring – he’s a popular man!

Another form of gravitational lensing is microlensing, named because the lens is much smaller than a galaxy. In this case, the gravity isn’t strong enough to

produce multiple images or a ring, but just to magnify the light coming from the background source slightly. A single star has enough gravity to act as a lens, and there are enough of those around. The only problem is that they are all moving around, and so for us to observe the lensing effect, they have to pass almost perfectly in front of a background star. Space is big – really big.

This doesn’t happen often – you need to be looking in the right direction at the right time. Or looking at a lot of stars at once.

The weakness of gravitational microlensing (that the lens and source must line up perfectly and that the effect is quite faint) are also its strengths when looking for planets. They are so rare – the chance alignment so precise, that when they do happen, they are extremely sensitive to anything that adds to the gravity of the lens star, thus changing it.

That might even be a planet. In fact, gravitational microlensing

Image MOA, photo by Gavin Milne.

Gravitational microlensing has not been the most successful search method for exoplanets, in terms of numbers found, but has produced some unique discoveries. More than that, one of the largest search teams of MOA is based in New Zealand. is especially sensitive to planets that are small (or even Earthsized) and orbiting a reasonable distance away from the star, like Earth.

Photo credit: ESA/Hubble, and NASA.

The two other most common methods of detecting these planets (termed extra-solar planets or exoplanets) is the Transit method and the Radial Velocity method. With transits, the planet passes in front of the star blocking a small portion of its light, which we can detect using electronic cameras.

With Radial Velocity, as the planet orbits the star, its gravity causes its host star to wobble slightly, which we detect as faint colour changes using spectrometers. Both these methods, while very successful, are most sensitive to large planets, similar to Jupiter or larger, that orbit very close

to their star, much closer than Mercury orbits our Sun. There is little chance that these sorts of exoplanets could produce life as we know it.

MOA – Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics – is a wide-angle search telescope. It is constantly (well, when it’s dark) searching a section of the night sky for microlensing events.

These events, that normally last a few days to weeks, are analysed by computers and observers in real-time and appear as a gradual brightening then dimming of a background star. The light-curve produced looks similar to a bellcurve. Of the millions of stars imaged, there may be one or two

events a night – there were over 600 in 2013. This may seem like a lot, but there are a lot of stars out there. At 1.8m in diameter, the MOA telescope has almost three times the photon collecting power of the next largest telescope in New Zealand (at 1m). Both are situated at Mount John University Observatory in Tekapo. If you are in the neighbourhood, or even if you’re not, it is well worth a visit.

What the observers (and computers) are looking for is a variation of the normal light curve. The smooth curve might rise a bit quicker than expected or may have a small bump or spike caused by the exoplanet.

As soon as they detect this, the excitement starts. Alerts are automatically sent out all over the world to a network of telescopes to focus on this single target and get 24-hour coverage. These follow-up telescopes, including several in New Zealand (Stardome in Auckland is one), will gather as much data throughout the following evenings to send to MOA to analyse in detail.

Gravitational microlensing has obvious disadvantages based around the perfect alignment

for the event to be observed. It relies heavily on observing the maximum number of stars at once and to be honest, a fair bit of luck. Starting in 1998, MOA has discovered 13 planets to date, including MOA-2007-BLG-192, which is only three times the mass of the Earth. Compare this with the Kepler (transit) telescope, which has detected close to a thousand exoplanets, with another 700 announced in 2014.

Gravitational microlensing has not been the most successful search method for exoplanets, in terms of numbers found, but has produced some unique discoveries. More than that, one of the largest search teams of MOA is based in New Zealand, based on research by New Zealanders, being followed up by teams of New Zealand amateur astronomers.

Wins all round, really.  Gavin Milne is HoD Science at Dilworth School. This article follows last year’s piece ‘The Continued Search for Extrasolar Planets’, written by Gavin Milne for New Zealand Science Teacher’s 2013 print edition.

Extrasolar planet detected by gravitational microlensing

Extrasolar planet detected by gravitational microlensing.

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, and K Sahu (STSci).

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 21

LEARNING IN SCIENCE authentic science education

Steaming silverbeet

and saving seed Teachers, parents, and the wider community unite to teach sustainability concepts at Epuni School, writes MELISSA WASTNEY.

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ustainability concepts and the food cycle are being taught in authentic ways at Lower Hutt’s Epuni School. An old soccer field has been transformed into a thriving orchard and vegetable garden that aims to provide lunch for the students of Epuni School and their families.

The Common Unity Project Aotearoa is based at the lowdecile public school, which has a roll of around 85 students.

Common Unity is a charitable trust that encompasses a number of projects, including Koha Kitchen, where children and community members cook and eat together; Project Sunflower, a seed-sharing programme; a Bike Library; and ‘Close Knit’ – a community knitting project that has resulted in a new generation of young knitters, not to mention some uniquely colourful blankets.

The Common Unity Project’s major focus is a one-acre

garden behind the school, laden with herbs, flowers, fruit, and vegetables. By harvesting the garden’s seasonal offerings and combining these with donated dry goods, project coordinator Julia Milne says there is enough food to feed lunch to every student, as well as their parents and other community members who want to get involved.

The project was originally ignited by a friendship between Julia and Epuni School principal Bunnie Willing. The pair had often talked about building a community project from the family-focused school base. It was this supportive environment that allowed the Common Unity idea to grow from a seedling to a fully-formed organism that continues to shift and change.

Julia says the school community is not financially wealthy but time-rich – creating the perfect environment for such a project. Parents and grandparents get involved as they can: helping to build paths

Inside the Koha Kitchen. Photo: Common Unity Project Aotearoa.

22 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Two Epuni School students, with broccoli they have grown.

Photo: Common Unity Project Aotearoa.

You can line up the students after their first year at school and they will be able to differentiate all the different kinds of seeds we use in the garden,” she says.

From the sorting of seeds to the raising of seedlings, nurturing the growing plants to harvesting, saving seed, and eventually cooking with the produce, each year level takes part in the process.

and garden structures, collect seeds in autumn, or work in the kitchen.

On the morning I visited, the Koha Kitchen was buzzing with eight young children and four parents busily chopping and stirring. On the menu: brown rice pilaf with kale and silverbeet and steamed broccoli and carrots on the side. There was also grapefruit and lemon curd to spread on toast.

It’s Julia’s hope that soon a larger Koha Kitchen will be built, to create more room for the cooking and preserving that goes on year-round at Epuni School, and to allow more room for storage and community workshops. Such facilities would be made from recycled shipping containers, says Julia, in keeping with the spirit of the entire project: using what’s available, where they are.

The Common Unity Project is integrated by each class teacher into their term plan. Julia meets with each at the beginning of the school year to tweak the programme and ensure that

Poodle fluff and carpet: using a community to teach sustainability

each student will spend at least 45 minutes each week in the garden, on top of extra, optional sessions. In the summer, the garden is an ‘open access area’, with children being able to freely play, work, or eat to their heart’s content.

Catherine Field-Dodgson works together with Julia Milne and is also the coordinator of Project Sunflower, which sees children growing flowers and saving the seeds. She says in the summer it’s pleasing to see the children play in the garden.

“They are welcome to eat their lunch from there, if they want to,” she says. “Many eat handfuls of tomatoes or strawberries.”

In addition to the edible rewards, there are many lessons to be found inside the garden borders.

The actual learning from the plants takes into account the 12-month cycle of the year, with its seasonal changes. Students from the junior classes help to count the seeds into packets (heirloom varieties are generally

used), and Julia says they learn quickly to identify the different characteristics of each one.

“You can line up the students after their first year at school and they will be able to differentiate all the different kinds of seeds we use in the garden,” she says.

From the sorting of seeds to the raising of seedlings, nurturing the growing plants to harvesting, saving seed, and eventually cooking with the produce, each year level takes part in the process.

Tending a worm farm and making compost is also an integral part of the cycle, and the students are fully involved in these, too.

“It’s really important to us that these facets are completely authentic,” says Julia. “We don’t want to be simply telling them about compost; the idea is that we actually tend to the compost every day and see its effect on the garden.”

The school garden’s impact has grown. Project volunteers have helped to build vegetable

The Lower Hutt community contributes to Epuni School’s project in the following ways: »» Untreated wood, used for garden bed edging – from Western Milling. »» Carpet pieces, used to make our garden paths – from Carpet Court (about a tonne). »» Recycled bricks from local building projects. »» Tyres, for garden wall edging – from Naenae Tyre Court. »» River stones, used for edging – from Hutt River, sourced by the Department of Corrections team. »» Seaweed, used for compost – collected from Petone Beach by the Department of Corrections team. »» Horse manure, used for compost – collected from the riding school at Mangaroa Valley. »» Pokie machine Perspex screens, used for glasshouse windows – donated. »» Coffee sacks, used around trees as weed matting – from Cafe L’affare. »» Coffee grinds, used for soil conditioner – from Alicetown Espresso. »» Poodle fluff, used as composting material – from local dog groomer Dogs-R-Us. »» Wood chipping, used as mulch – from Hutt City Council. »» Waste food for community compost – from Lower Hutt Foodbank. »» Lawn clippings, for mulch – donated. »» Cardboard boxes, for weed suppressor – local shops. »» Spent grain from brewery, used as soil conditioner – from Great Expectations.

Junior students with a summer harvest. Photo: Common Unity Project Aotearoa.

beds at parents’ homes, and workshops held at Epuni School have encouraged the sustainability ethic.

Mindful of a young generation growing up in a changing world, Julia says the Common

From pokie machine screens to miniature glasshouses When pokie machine games are updated, the thick Perspex screens are discarded. Julia has arranged for these to be delivered to the school, diverting them from landfill. A group of crafty dads has been fashioning these into triangular structures, perfect for sheltering small seedlings from the Wellington wind.

Some of these have been sold locally and others are in use at Epuni School.

Unity Project aims to equip the students with vital skills.

“Our kids are inheriting some significant environmental issues from us, and we’ve now reached a pivotal point in our society where we have to make some major changes, for their sake.

I see this project as helping to foster a strong community, and it’s empowering because it’s about using our hands and our time, not money.”

Julia says her aim is to roll the project out to other schools.

“People come here to learn.

Money is not something that this community has a lot of. But we can be rich by learning how to grow our food and use the things around us.” 

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 23

ASSESSMENT Essay writing

An antibiotics

u p ris in g

Antibiotics resistance is a battle in which we are the underdog, writes Year 11 biology student KRISTEN BLABER-HUNT.

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attleship. A game most people have played or will play in their lifetime. A game where you are clueless as to what your opponent is thinking, what they are doing, and what their plan is. You have absolutely zero sense as to what is going to happen. Will they hit you?

Or will they miss?

Infernal essays Teacher REMCO BAARS shares a student essay, written as a task for NCEA biology standard B1.2: Biological Issues.

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he idea of ‘infernal essays’ is to allow students to target their research and avoid (or at least reduce) plagiarism.

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This essay is one of the good essays handed in by our NCEA Level 1 Biology class this year.

Using an approach developed by

One small wrong move, and you are dead. Gone, sunk to the bottom of the ocean. YOU choose where to put your ships. Yet there is that chance you could die and lose to your opponent.

For you did not have a clue as to how the war was going to end. You chose your locations, and you will face the consequences of your decisions.

Luckily, it’s just a game.

But is it? What if there was a real game of Battleship going on, right now. Worldwide. What if we are treading on something so dangerous, it could wipe out our whole population? One small wrong move and a pandemic could arise. What if we as a population are clueless to the consequences we may face if we continue?

Truth is, there is no ‘what if’. This is happening. Right here, right now. We are currently in our very own battle, all seven billion of us. We are fighting against an uprising of tiny organisms so smart that they can adapt to our weapons, they

Nic Gibellini (Waimea College), our students use scrap books to collect information, paraphrase it, and then organise it into sections that answer the sub-questions developed from the refined question they need to answer for the B1.2 Biological Issues assessment.

The scrapbook is organised as follows: »» Assignment instructions »» Possible questions and refined question, with sub-questions to focus research

»» The sub-questions usually tended to be modifications of: »» Why is this an issue? »» What is the biology behind it? »» What are the differing viewpoints and why are these held? »» Possible ideas for dealing with this issue.

Two facing pages were used for each information source, with the source on the left and relevant paraphrased comments on the right. Some of our students used different coloured of highlighters

can mutate and change themselves for survival. Something we were not granted the ability to achieve. We are the underdogs in this fight; we must become aware of our choices. We must realise what is happening before it is too late.

Bacteria are developing resistance.

Antibiotic resistance is the biggest Battleship game we have yet to win.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns us: “It is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country.”

As the rate of resistance grows, fewer antibiotics remain in the battlefield to fight the common diseases. Although this situation is growing worldwide and happening everywhere, we as the population of New Zealand need to think about how we are going to contribute to the war against resistant bacteria – where we are going to place our battleships.

In 2000, an epidemic of Methicillinresistant Streptococcus aureus (MRSA) appeared in New Zealand hospitals.

Dr Rosemary Ikram, clinical microbiologist of MedLab South says this was “most likely imported from the United States by patients and staff”. This is proof of how easily an epidemic can affect other countries. The World Health Organization tracked MRSA strains in several different regions of the world. In Africa, about 80 per cent of S. aureus infections were reported to be resistant to Methicillin, and 60 per cent being resistant in the European region etc. MRSA was once only a concern for people in hospital, but now it is a problem for healthy people in the community. A 37 per cent increase of MRSA cases in New Zealand from 2010 to 2011 is the largest yearly increase there has been in 10 years. This is just one example of resistance uprising, and

– one colour for each of their subquestions. This made organising ideas much easier, and we will encourage all students to do this next year. Each information source was numbered, and where paraphrased information was organised into sections to answer sub-questions, the resource number was recorded next to the information. This was carried through to essay planning and writing. Although in-text referencing is not required for this standard, many our students

this is just the beginning of the war.

What can we do to fight this resistance?

How wisely are we using antibiotics?

Antibiotics are substances that kill bacteria without harming us. They target prokaryote cell processes, not eukaryote cell processes, which is why human eukaryote cells are not affected.

Bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics. This is called antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria are regularly exposed to an antibiotic. The resistance can happen in two different ways. One method is the bacteria genetically mutate, which can produce different types of resistance, such as producing enzymes (chemicals) that can disable the effectiveness of the antibiotic. Another example is the elimination of the cell target that the antibiotics attack and also closing up entry ports that allow the antibiotics to enter. The second way resistance can happen is by the ‘transfer of resistance’, which can be by obtaining antibioticresistant genes from other bacteria by undertaking a mating process with another bacterium, called ‘conjugating’.

This transfers genetic information from one bacterium to another or through a virus that injects the resistance into another bacterium.

Resistance allows a mutant bacterium to survive and repopulate, which causes the bacterial disease to become immune – making the antibiotic useless against that disease. This is a major problem, as infections that are usually easy to treat may become untreatable and uncontrollable. Resistance is a massive issue and it is increasingly becoming more and more of a problem.

The war between resistant bacteria and us is becoming more lethal. Our choices have left us with the resistance of bacteria, blunting the effect of our weapons, antibiotics. We all know that

developed this skill to a high standard, which will help them with future essays.

The student feedback this year showed that although they found the paraphrasing into their own words difficult, doing this before collating the information from various sources into sections meant there was much less ‘cut and paste’ directly from the sources they used. The other comment was that although the extra step of organising paraphrased words onto separate

when we use something inappropriately, it is taken away from us. So are we using antibiotics inappropriately? Is that what bacteria are doing, taking away our privileges because we are not using them wisely?

There is a debate between organisations, citizens, and governments on whether or not we are using antibiotics in an appropriate and responsible manner, and how we should be resolving the resistance.

The fact that antibiotic resistance is proven to be influenced by the exposure of antibiotics provokes us to wonder about whether or not we are using them intelligently and how we should be dealing with the issue.  The rest of Kristen’s essay is published online at New Zealand Science Teacher. Find it here: bit.ly/1rmwpiO

pages before planning their essay was more work, it did make the writing process easier, as they only needed to look at one page for relevant information.

Once the essay plan was developed, it was very easy to slot in the relevant information and acknowledge it. Since the students could easily trace the information they included in their final essay back to the source, evaluation of used sources for reliability, validity, and bias became much easier. However,

this is an aspect we will need to develop further next year, as many of the evaluations tended to be rather superficial.

We are now looking at our junior science programmes to see how we can develop this capability as part of our junior science programme.

Remco Baars is HOD Science at Darfield High School.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 25

CURRICULUM & LITERACY planet earth & beyond

Exploring wonder and mystery through space science Japanese astronauts talk space education in New Zealand.

Akihiko Hoshide.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

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hree space scientists from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) visited Auckland in early 2014 to join the SpaceUp ‘Unconference’– a collaborative, dynamic weekend for all things astronomical.

Akihiko Hoshide, Professor Takashi Kubota, and Space Education Centre director Eijiro Hirohama spoke at the event and New Zealand Science Teacher was lucky enough to chat with them too.

Space education in the Asia-Pacific region Mr Hirohama is the director of the Space Education Centre at JAXA. He says SpaceUp

26 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

is a brilliant place to be inspired about space science education, and he’s pleased to join in with a New Zealand education event.

The mission of the Japanese Space Education Centre is to share resources with science teachers, in order to inspire and encourage young people to explore what he calls “the wonders and mysteries of our solar system”.

But why is it important that space is included in science education?

It’s not so much about teaching space science, he explains, but more about bringing it into the classroom, for students to take on themselves. Although the educational resources are developed by JAXA, they are able to be used by science educators in other countries too, especially where the science curriculum is flexible.

He highlights the ‘space seeds’ programme (read about this on New Zealand Science Teacher: bit.ly/1pjwRi6) wherein JAXA astronauts grew adzuki bean plants simultaneously with school students as an interesting way to teach the process of automorphogenesis and engage students with the International Space Station.

“It is our hope that teachers can use our images, diagrams, and other information on the website in their teaching. We are happy to share the rich resources we have to inspire young people to take an interest in astronomy,” he says.

Getting inspired by the story of the Hayabusa mission Professor Takashi Kubota works in navigational research at JAXA, and in the early 2000s was instrumental in leading the renowned Hayabusa mission. A scientific and engineering marvel, Hayabusa was deeply influential in global space exploration and even

Artist’s impression of the Hayabusa spacecraft and the Minerva spacehopper. Image: NASA

inspired a Lego kit in its image, as well as a film in 2012.

The unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa travelled two billion kilometres in space to reach the asteroid Itokawa in order to collect sample material from it. These samples enabled a more detailed study of the asteroid’s features (shape, spin, density etc.) than had previously been possible. Hayabusa launched on 9 May, 2003. It arrived at Itokawa on 12 September, 2005, and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on 30 June, 2006, landing in a fireball in the South Australian outback.

Professor Kubota’s official role in the mission was head of guidance and control and he says he’s still passionate about searching for more in space.

“Now I work as an engineer, developing the robotic technology for further space explorations,” he says. “But I want to continue working to explore the mysteries of the solar system.”

He says children are naturally interested in the mystery and wonder inherent in space science.

“I want to encourage younger people to see space as an exciting and mysterious world to discover,” he says.

“For example, take the idea that there is no gravity in space: this is an interesting but strange phenomena. By learning about space, we can understand Earth better.

We have discovered a lot of information about our universe already. But there are still many questions and mysteries that need to be solved.”

Walking in space Akihiko Hoshide is an engineer and astronaut.

He’s the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space, and he says he is happy to be able to share his knowledge with educators.

Akihiko Hoshide taking a space ‘selfie’ during extravehicular activity (EVA) on 5 September, 2012, with the Sun behind him.

“This is actually the first time since I got back from space two years ago, and I hope to do a lot more of this travelling, talking, and teaching work. It’s important to me.”

His career path has been a long one. He received an International Baccalaureate diploma from the United World College of South East Asia in 1987, then graduated from university with a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, and a Master’s degree in aerospace engineering. Later, he joined the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as an engineer and launcher.

For those interested in what it takes to work as an astronaut, Akihiko says it’s a long and challenging process.

“I applied to be an astronaut and was accepted in 1999 – on my third try. It’s incredibly difficult to get to that stage. They look at your resume; you go through multiple interviews and very thorough medical examinations. You are monitored in an isolation chamber, then in another chamber with a group of other aspiring astronauts. You’re watched very carefully to see how you work in this environment, and how you cooperate within a group.

“So, if you want to be an astronaut, it’s very important that you are completely healthy in body and mind, and you can work together with others. You also need to have a good understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses and those of the people in your team.”

The famous ‘space selfie’ In late 2012, Akihiko became famous for his ‘space selfie’, which did the social media rounds and was named among the ‘world’s best selfies’ in 2012.

He laughs at the mention of this. “When I was between exercises in space, a colleague recommended I try to get a picture of myself, in addition to the mainly technical pictures I was taking while I was there. I remember I had about 30 seconds to try and get the shot. I had no idea that it would also capture the reflection of the Sun and the space equipment behind me. It was truly a coincidence that it happened like that.”

A passion for sharing knowledge Like his colleagues, Akihiko is also passionate about astronomy in science education.

“The first step is to engage young people with what’s happening in space science.

Science fiction movies inspired me when I was young, and they captured my imagination. So we need to make sure we really light the spark for young people so they want to learn more.”

The second step, he says, is to provide good educational opportunities for learning about space science.

“People like us who work at JAXA are in a position where we can provide the technical knowledge and skills. Our goal is to get people doing more science, being more curious.”

He believes that while most students will not go on to join the International Space Station, it doesn’t matter because what’s important is that they have meaningful educational experiences.

“NASA has an education programme too, and they do a lot of great research. We have the unique ability and we like to share that with everyone else, especially educators in the Asia-Pacific region.

“It’s just about sharing our love for, and knowledge of, space science.” 

25143 Itokawa 25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid of stony composition (S-type) discovered in 1999. In 2003, it was officially named after Japan’s own ‘Doctor Rocket’, Hideo Itokawa (1912–1999) who made a significant contribution to astronautical science in his country.

The Itokawa asteroid photographed by the Hayabusa probe. Credit: JAXA

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 27

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the physical world

Eve ry d a y p h y s ics: investigating a fly’s resilience

Asking relevant questions is an important element of learning science, writes DR JOHN CAMPBELL.

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oo often, physics exam questions give students the impression that physics is merely memorising formulae and a bit of simple arithmetic. In reality, it is insight into physics principles, decisions about what is important and what is secondary, determining the quantities needed and estimating those not needed, and how to self-check a result.

Reality isn’t too far from the four questions I ask students to ask themselves when faced with an exam question for which their first reaction is “I have no idea what this is about”.

Four questions to ask (1) What is the question asking for?

Be clear on the end point before embarking on a solution. There is no point wasting time working out what isn’t asked for.

(2) What core physics does the question involve?

For example, is it about conservation of momentum, electrostatics involving point charges only – low speeds, therefore, no need to use relativity?

(3) What other information is required?

What physical constants are needed? Some are so important we carry them in our memory (e.g. the approximate speed of light 28 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

in a vacuum, the approximate value of π,) some more seldom used we would need to look up (e.g. the permittivity of free space), some specific to the problem we might need to know from general knowledge (e.g. the typical mass of a human being), and some we might have to estimate.

(4) Is this reasonable?

This is the final check of one’s own work. To allow this, we should know approximately the size of an atom, the wavelength of visible light, the speed of light in vacuum, the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface, the typical mass of a human body etc.

Fly impact (an example) We commonly observe that a house fly can fly away, apparently unharmed, after crashing into a window of our house.

Estimate the deceleration a fly can withstand.

(1) We only need the deceleration of the fly.

(2) Conservation of energy covers a fly one moment happily flying along and the next moment stationary against the glass.

KE = Work done in coming to a halt. ½ x m x v2 = F x d = m x a x d where m is the mass of the fly, v its speed before impact, F the force acting on it during collision (where a is the negative acceleration) and d the distance over which the fly comes to a halt.

Rearranging a = mv2 ÷ (2md) = v2 ÷ (2d).

(3) Thus to solve the problem set, we need to know only the fly’s speed v and the impact distanced.

From our knowledge of the world around us, we can estimate the speed of a house fly at about 2m/s. (We might get a more accurate value from research literature from wind tunnel experiments via the internet but an estimate is probably sufficient here.) A house fly is about 5mm long, and it would be reasonable to assume d is 1/5th this – i.e. the distance that a fly’s

soft body can shorten by without too much damage. Hence d is about 1mm.

Putting in those numbers gives the deceleration of the fly as (2 x 2) ÷ (2 x 0.001) = 2/0.001 = 2000 ms-2.

(4) Is this reasonable?

What do we have to compare this with?

The acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface is about 10ms2, so it is some 200 times this value. The fly happily stands on a surface so we expect the limiting acceleration to be far above 10ms-2.

Hence our result seems reasonable.

Had our maths led to a result of less than the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the Earth, then we would know for sure we had made a mathematical (or other) slip and should rework our calculation looking for the mistake. In this particular case, we don’t have anything that would allow us to have a feel for a definite upper limit.

Further discussion Ask if it is possible to refine the data. This might lead to, for example, a discussion of whether or not a fly might sense the glass other than by touch and react quickly enough to have the wings in reverse before hitting, thus lowering the speed before contact, increasing the contact time and distance, and lowering the deceleration.

What is the reaction time of a fly? We know it is very fast from experience but how fast? How far would it travel in that reaction time?

Students like a bit of blood and guts.

Now, having their attention, ask them (possibly working in groups) to estimate the height from which a human body could fall flat on its chest with a reasonable chance of not sustaining a fatal injury (hint: knowledge of first aid, i.e. chest compression for someone whose heart has stopped, could be an advantage.

Otherwise use common sense.) And don’t give them an answer. Train them to ask themselves, “Is this reasonable?”. 

ASSESSMENT Online competition

Using online competition to engage students in science NZASE president STEVEN SEXTON reports on the recent Science World Series, which saw over 200 New Zealand schools compete online with hundreds of other schools around the world.

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he inaugural Education Perfect Science World Series began on the evening of 18 August, with over 500 students from half a dozen countries online and ready to go. Students worked their way through nearly 500,000 questions in the first 12 hours of the competition in a range of topics, including: elements, general sciences, biology, chemistry, and physics.

Students were encouraged to answer as many questions as possible.

By the end of the championships (26 August), more than seven million questions were answered, covering everything from ecology to chemical changes.

A total of 209 schools from around New Zealand competed against 578 schools from other countries, including Australia, United States of America, England, and Hong Kong.

Congratulations to St Cuthbert's College, the top New Zealand school in the ASTA/NZASE Education Perfect Science Championships 2014. The students spent 1,638 hours online and answered 189,674 questions to earn 107,429 points to place first out of 209 schools competing in New Zealand. They also came third overall globally.

Granted, the top-ranked school scored twice as many questions as St Cuthbert’s did, but it is also more than twice as big. In fact, when ranked by average scores, Aorere College was the top school.

The win for St Cuthbert's College has earned them a complimentary entry ticket for one science teacher at the school to attend the Education Perfect World Series Opening Ceremony on 18 April, 2015, where their achievements will be officially recognised as a top school in the competition and they will be part of the proceedings for the evening.

New Zealand schools did contribute five students to the top 10 students for the championship: Epsom Girls’ Grammar had the second ranked student, Diocesan School for Girls the fifth, St Cuthbert’s the sixth, Lynfield College the eighth and South Otago High School the ninth-ranked student.

As part of the championship, participants were able to send in ‘shoutouts’ to Education Perfect. These offered encouragement or updates on how students and schools were performing, as well as a chance for students to thank teachers who have helped them.

World Series In 2014, the Language Perfect World Series Competition offered 13 languages: Arabic, Greek, Indonesian, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Malay, French, Japanese, Māori, German, Latin, and Russian. Building upon its success as Language Perfect, Education Perfect was launched.

Education Perfect offers science, maths, English, and social science students the same advantages it has offered language students for the past decade.

The inaugural Maths Championships finished on 7 August and 4,983,846 questions were answered during the competition. A total of 1221 schools from 14 countries participated, with Saint Kentigern College the third top school overall in the competition. Participating schools in New Zealand ranged from one student at

Aorere College, 67 from South Otago High School, to 2,128 at Pakuranga College.

More than 4.2 million questions were answered in English during the English Championships, which also finished on 7 August. What an effort by all the students involved! New Zealand’s Carmel College was the top school overall and Sancta Maria College was third. Diocesan School for Girls had the second-ranked student overall, with a Saint Kentigern College student third, and an Epsom Girls' Grammar School student fourth.  Steven Sexton is the current NZASE president, and senior lecturer at the University of Otago. This article was written with help from Marc Matsas (Education Perfect Science brand manager) and Simon Wang (Education Perfect head of science).

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 29

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the living world

A ch at wit h

New Zealand’s ‘Batman’

Did you know the male short-tailed bats sing to attract female bats? We find out more about these special little creatures.

Photo: Kerry Borkin.

‘Batman’ a.k.a. Ben Paris 30 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Hi Ben, you are New Zealand’s ‘Batman’. Can you tell me how you discovered your passion for these little creatures?

I first started working with long-tailed bats down in Hamilton, where bats are found in suburban parks and gullies.

We started a group called Project Echo and started guided night walks to see the bats, and we distributed bat detectors to community groups who wanted to see if they could find bats. This programme was very successful and still continues in Hamilton and its surrounds.

When I moved up to Auckland to become a senior biodiversity advisor at Auckland City Council, there had been no bat work done outside the Waitakere Ranges for the past ten years. I started raising awareness first within council, then with community groups. We managed to get funding to do some bat monitoring in 2012, and found long-tailed bats in new places around Auckland, including suburbs in West Auckland.

Now, every year, we find new locations across Auckland, and this shows us there is still very

little we know about the habitat of these bats.

I feel passionate about bats as I believe they are the unsung heroes of our New Zealand ecosystems.

Many people don’t think we even have bats! Yet they perform important roles like insect control and pollination of our native plants.

As they are small and nocturnal, they are hardly ever seen, so they just don’t have the same public awareness profile as our other native fauna. I hope to raise that profile in the work that I do.

Some people don’t realise we have bats in New Zealand. Where are they hiding and how common are they?

We have two native species of bats found nowhere else in the world. They are special as they are the only native land mammals that New Zealand had before humans arrived. The short-tailed bat is one of the few species that spends its time walking along the ground. It is essentially the mouse of New Zealand, scuttling along the forest floor eating fruit, seeds, and insects. The short-tailed bat can still fly, and recent studies on Little Barrier Island have shown

‘Batman’ giving a talk about native bats at a primary school.

them to be a key pollinator of native plants – even better than birds and insects! However, due to its ground feeding habits and roosting in large numbers, the short-tailed bat is very vulnerable to predation. They are the most endangered of our bats and are only found on off-shore islands and deep forest patches.

The long-tailed bat is the more common of our bats but is still threatened. It is an aerial insectivore, meaning it spends all its time flying in the air catching hundreds of tiny insects like moths, midges, and mosquitos each night. These bats are much smaller than the short-tailed bats, being only about the body size of your thumb and with a wingspan of your hand! This means they can get into tight places to roost, such as under loose bits of bark in trees like pine, gum, kauri, or kahikatea.

However, a lot of the big old trees they use to roost, especially the exotic trees, are being cut down around our urban edges, threatening the safety of many small populations that are only just hanging on.

You visit schools and community groups to tell them about our native bats and other conservation issues. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

My mission is to inspire students and the community to take action to help save our bats.

I take them on a journey to dispel the myths around bats and show them the diversity of bats around the world. Once people see that these tiny bats are critical components of our environment and can provide beneficial ecosystem services, the fear and uncertainty is replaced with awe and wonder.

Auckland City Council has a collection of bat detectors – small handheld devices that convert the inaudible echolocation call of bats into something we can hear.

Members of the public can borrow these to go look for bats in a school ground, park, or backyard. Even if people don’t find bats, they really seem to enjoy the experience. There are lot of other biodiversity jewels out there in the night to see and hear, like ruru in the trees or eels in the stream. I think this nocturnal biodiversity experience connects people back to nature.

our native bats.

Going out with a bat detector to see if bats are in your local area could help contribute to the bat map of areas where bats are found. You could build a bat roost box for an alternative home for bats in your area. Overseas bat roost boxes work really well, but there has been limited success in New Zealand so far, so the more boxes we have, the higher the chances are bats will use them.

Stream restoration is also very important for our long-tailed bats. They use streams as a feeding highway, scooping up insects along the water. Having a healthy stream with plenty of native plants along the edges will provide habitat for freshwater insects and hopefully encourage bats to feed up and down streams.

Pest control is vital for protecting both species of bats. Introduced mammalian predators like possums, ship rats and feral cats threaten our bats with extinction.

Controlling pests in your backyard or within your local community is a great step in helping protect bats as well as all of our other endangered species.

Are there any other wild and wonderful things about our native bats we need to know?

Did you know that native wingless batflies live in close association with short-tailed bats? Did you know the male short-tailed bats sing to attract female bats? Did you know that these small native bats could live up to 30 years?

There are still plenty of other things about the way our native bats live that we do not know yet. This is why research is vitally important. The more we learn about them, the more we can learn about how to save them.  Ben Paris is a senior biodiversity advisor for Auckland City Council, as well as being New Zealand’s very own ‘Batman’, educating the country about, and raising the profile of, our native bats.

A bat detector.

Both the New Zealand short-tailed and long-tailed bats Want to are listed as investigate ‘vulnerable’ native bats in the creatures.

What can we classroom? do to protect Ben recommends them? this long-tailed bat There are factsheet: plenty of things bit.ly/1zxwZfX you can do to help New Zealand Science Teacher >> 31

LEARNING IN SCIENCE e-learning

Using 3D printers to teach biology The world of 3D printing is wide open with possibility for teaching biology, writes MICHAEL WILSON.

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s 3D printing became mainstream, and armed with an idea of being able to print scientific models using plastic, at the start of the year I began researching how to build a personal 3D printer that I could easily use to make models for my teaching.

My initial plan was to print sets of hominin skulls as they were expensive to purchase, and I wanted to have class sets of a smaller scale. But my ideas rapidly grew as I started my journey into 3D printing.

This article will go through the basics of what 3D printing is and how I am using it to help my teaching of both science and biology.

3D printing in its most basic sense is printing a 3D object at very thin (0.1mm) layers at a time called ‘slices.’ An object is built up slowly as layers are printed on top of each other. The X and Y axis, which is the flat axis, is printed on by an extruder that melts a fine bead of plastic in the shape of that slice.

A stepper motor usually connected to belts moves the extruder sideways and back and forth. At the completion of the layer, a small stepper motor lifts the extruder up a height of 0.1mm and the next layer is printed. After a couple of hours, you can have a half-size skull printed that is instantly usable. Most slicer software hollows out the model and fills it in with a structure honeycomb that makes the models strong and super light.

The most common plastics used are PLA and ABS. PLA, or polylactide, is biodegradable and melts with a sugary smell, and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), which is a form of styrene, melts with a burning plastic smell.

The plastic enters the machine in the form of a solid tube called filament and another motor with a gear attached pushes it towards the heated part that melts it. I choose to use PLA as it is both safer and easier to use and does not warp as easily.

There are lots of scientific 3D models already made and a quick search on a website such as www.thingiverse.com shows many that are ready just to print without modification. The format you are looking for is .stl – most of the 3D printers (especially open source) use this format.

Before you can print a 3D model, you need to use a software program to slice the .stl file into layers and save it into your printer’s gcode language, which is the instructions for it to move and extrude plastic in a particular way. What powers the printer is an Arduino board, which is a low-powered computer that drives the motors and what is called the ‘hot end’ (the part that melts the plastic.)

Now, 3D printing can be as easy as buying a printer online. These ready-made printers can range in value from two to ten thousand dollars and often rely on the purchasing of plastic in cartridges, much like a paper printer. By going this way, you are limited in what you print with and it is expensive. The pluses are that you do not need to understand how to build a printer or really how it works. As 3D printing technology gets simpler, these turnkey options will be more accessible to schools.

At the opposite end of these are open source printers that the online community has been developing for a number of years and come under the name of RepRap. This is the method I chose to use because of the low cost, and as a science teacher, I wanted to be able to explain to my students how they worked. RepRap is the first general-purpose self-replicating manufacturing machine in that some of the actual machine is 3D printed itself. RepRap 3D printers come in two main styles: the Prusa box style with a rectangular print bed, and what is called the Rostock style, which has three arms and prints on a triangle-shaped bed. I chose the Prusa style as it gave me the most flexibility in model shapes.

I will not go into the actual steps of building the printer. However, the RepRap Wiki is a great place to start and many designs are now able to be purchased in kitset form with excellent instructions. I would recommend the Czar Prusa I3 as a good first printer and the whole package comes in at around NZ$600, including shipping.

Printing hominin designs Top: A T. Rex skull. Photo: Michael Wilson.

Middle: My RepRap printer in action.

Photo: Michael Wilson.

Bottom: Hominin skulls printed at 50% scale.

Photo: Michael Wilson.

3D printing can be as easy as buying a printer online. These ready-made printers can range in value from two to ten thousand dollars and often rely on the purchasing of plastic in cartridges, much like a paper printer.

As a biology teacher, investigating human evolution with my students requires them to identify trends in bones of our early ancestors. These trends involve skulls and bones that are often hard to find in model form. The African Fossils virtual laboratory website is a digital archaeology project that seeks to increase public knowledge about prehistory by harnessing Autodesk 3D scanning technology.

Dr Louise Leakey has taken it upon herself to find a way to make them globally accessible for educators and this is where I find the bulk of my models. If you visit www.africanfossils.org you can download the printable 3D models under each skull page.

Human fossils such as the Taung child skull are available on www.thingiverse.com  Michael Wilson is head of faculty science at Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Hamilton.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 33

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the nature of science

g n o l a y a l P

if you feel like science is your truth

A Nature of Science investigation began with a song and a dance, writes EMMA MCFADYEN.

A

s a relieving teacher, I invade another teacher’s space, take over their role, and mess with the dynamics of the team/class. I need to be mindful that some students are not going to be impressed with the sudden change, and I have an array of positive behaviour strategies to use in each situation.

One of my strategies is singing and dancing, and I began one day with a Year 6 class by singing Pharrell Williams’ song Happy. I mentioned to the students how this song has become a symbol of finding the happy moments in possibly unhappy times.

Here in New Zealand, we are fortunate to have the freedom to think, question, and learn. Today would be a great opportunity to do that as scientists.

Hoping everyone was in a good mood, I began an investigation on air resistance: a lesson I observed from Te Toi Tupu science facilitators. Lessons like this can be found on the Virtual Learning Network.

After the students set up their books with the input/output model and learning intentions, I started the lesson like the beginning of a magic trick, “I have two pieces of A4 paper. Are they exactly the same?

Why do you agree/disagree?”. The students concluded it was because they were the same length, width, weight, and came from the same ream of paper. I got one of the pieces of paper and screwed it up (something that goes against my grain as a teacher of EfS: Education for Sustainability). I asked what direction the paper would mostly likely fall from at a certain height and got the students to record their predictions.

A volunteer then conducted the experiment from on top of a chair. Some of the students, who were working hard to be disengaged, started taking notice, but they still stayed down the back of the classroom. After repeating this part of the experiment a few times, the students at the front of the class established the trend of the screwed up ball of paper to be a drop with a few bounces followed by a roll.

Next, we got the flat (unharmed) piece of paper and repeated the experiment. I introduced the importance of fair testing but only as a conversation. I didn’t want to detract from the experience and lose momentum. The students recorded their predictions/hypotheses after a ‘think, pair,

34 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

share’ session and we got the same volunteer to repeat the experiment again.

Some of the students who were paying attention at the back of the classroom decided to move to the front, where the action was. I commented on their work and asked if it was okay to take a photo of their recording to tweet and inspire other students, teachers, and scientists. The students were proud to have their work tweeted about, and it became a huge buzz when someone on Twitter responded to it, making the class more focused on the task. Social media is a powerful tool.

As a class, the students stated the trend of the flat piece of paper began with a slow movement down, which then went from side to side.

This is when I started questioning students’ perceptions: ”Why does the ball of paper drop straight down and the piece of flat paper glide?”.

I got students to ‘think, pair, share’ their answers to consolidate their reasoning before discussing in a class. Some students were stuck on the concept of weight, even though we continued to go back to the original two pieces of paper (this is a common misconception and I recommend having measuring scales to help overcome it). Some students discussed gravity, and others played with the idea of air resistance. Through my question-probing, students were able to figure out the cause of the two trends, and I was able to observe processes related to the Science Capabilities and Nature of Science taking place.

After this part of the lesson, I’d normally move onto making spinning blimps and play with concepts of air resistance through modifying the blimp design. However, I still had a couple of students at the back of the classroom who were not engaging, and I knew they were not going to if I were to remain the authority of the lesson. Instead, I decided to hand ownership of the lesson to the students.

I explained to them that they needed to go through a process of design thinking (see more here: stanford.io/1rKUPQy ) to create an object that used air resistance to move and the accountability lay in recording their process. I showed them how to make blimps as a beginning concept and how to research on the Science Learning Hub. At certain

stages, I stopped the students to see how they were getting on, record their ideas to share with each other, and offer inspiration through YouTube clips.

The students loved it, and the whole class were on board. I observed ideas based on students’ prior knowledge being swapped freely, and research was being conducted in collaboration with one another, just like scientists.

At the end of the day, we had a presentation where students shared the process they went through. During this time, some of the students identified their failures, and if they had more time, how they would improve their designs.

At the time I handed over the lesson to the students, I questioned whether the science concepts were going to be taught well or if I should continue the lesson like I intended, with the potential for conflict.

While reflecting on this, a friend shared a TED Talk with me called Science is for everyone, kids included (see it here: bit.ly/1rhoTHV ). It was great consolidation around my thoughts on the importance of play. Beau Lotto mentioned that for us to learn anything new we have to ask the ‘why’, and in doing so, we step into uncertainty, but the best way to learn about the uncertainty is through play. Lotto explained play as: »» celebrating uncertainty »» adapting to change »» being open to possibility »» cooperating »» being intrinsically motivated.

Comparing the points of play with those of the Nature of Science and the Science Capabilities, they are consistent with each other and tell us that science and play are entwined, and really, are just a way of being.

Upon this discovery of thought, I’ve realised I need to action more ‘freedom to think, question, and learn’ with students and offer them more ownership and leadership of the lessons to develop aspects of innovation and creativity so we can all be happy!  This article was originally published on Emma McFadyen’s blog: missmcfadyen.blogspot.co.nz

CURRICULUM & LITERACY the nature of science

Party poppers make for

a pa rty of scie n ce What does it mean to be a scientist? EMMA MCFADYEN investigates with her primary students and a pack of party poppers.

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ast year, I had the opportunity to gain professional development in primary science through Te Toi Tupu science facilitators.

The focus was developing teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science and the facilitators showed us a variety of science lessons to develop teacher confidence and enthusiasm. Since then, I have started my own teacher inquiry to better understand what it means to develop citizens (students) who are scientifically literate for the 21st century.

One lesson the science facilitators showed us was with party poppers. The focus was to investigate how a party popper worked.

I have taught this lesson to a number of classes and each time get something different from the lesson, based on each individual student’s curiosity.

I begin the lesson by sharing the learning intentions. The class and I have a discussion around what it means to be a scientist.

It’s interesting to find out students’ perceptions of a scientist and it is a great feeling to see students’ eyes light up when you give them ownership by explaining they are scientists too.

This is the time when we set up our books with Input and Output pages. ”When the teacher puts information into your brain, it goes on the Input page. The information coming out of your brain goes on the Output page.” (Helpful hints from Te Toi Tupu facilitators.) We have a class discussion around the importance of recording our thoughts as scientists to refer back to later.

Now the fun really begins.

Students are given a party popper each and asked to follow the success criteria and observe/record

what they notice. There is a lot of conversation and this is when I identify and link the students’ vocabulary back to other learning areas of the curriculum. ”Wow! I noticed you have used words like ‘shape’ and ‘design’ to describe ... Can you see how you are incorporating your understanding of mathematics into your inquiry?”

After about 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the age of the students), I have a class discussion around our ‘noticings’, and if an interactive board is available, I’ll use this to record.

Otherwise, pen and paper is great as there is a chance you may go back and look at the recorded information at a later date with the class. A class science book is a great idea.

When the students and I are recording the ideas being shared, I stress the importance of being a ‘safe and sensible’ scientist. We have conversations around the caution and instructions label and I pose the question: “What is the definition of an adult and young child?” Students apply their understanding, experience, and knowledge to answer the question, and together, we come up with a collective definition. We also look at language like ‘a foot’ and ‘hold by neck’ to clarify any confusion.

From here we go on to dissect the party popper using scissors.

Again, I stress the importance of being a ‘safe’ scientist. I have had party poppers accidentally (and not accidentally) pop. The shock has led to tears in some cases, and we talk about mistakes leading to opportunities. It’s here that I get students to compare popped and un-popped party poppers with their ‘fellow scientists’.

Students record their discoveries and we discuss concepts around hypotheses and if anyone has an

idea about how a party popper works.

It’s important to note The New Zealand Curriculum Science Capabilities and by asking students to ‘compare and contrast’ or use ‘trial and error’ etc., students are exploring ways science knowledge is created and being used in the world.

Finally, students are able to experience popping a party popper. Popping them inside the classroom creates a great atmosphere, and students are able to use their five senses better, but if the noise is going to frighten the less willing, I’ll take the experience outside. I’d rather promote risktaking and participation by all.

It’s during this recording and discussion that great language is used, including words like pressure, force, triggers, and friction etc. – if the words haven’t already been used in the lesson.

It is a surprise to the students that they have a lot of scientific vocabulary and knowledge when they are made aware of it.

After more discussion about what we have observed, we make our final hypothesis, and if there is time, we will further our investigation by researching information about party poppers on the internet. Once we are confident we have an answer, we use one last party popper to check (I provide the ratio of three party

poppers to one child for each lesson). Often, students have their own questions that they want to investigate, or using the party popper remains, draw and develop their own party popper prototypes.

If there is time, I dedicate the rest of the day to this exploration. I even had one student question what research the company had done to design and create the party popper.

Seeing students engaged and pushing the boundaries of their thinking is exciting, and it is on days like these that you think “this is what teaching is about”. The photo is of a thought from a Year 5 student’s Output page and says, “My original theory was about gunpowder mixing with air. Now I know that is not the case because when it was exposed to air nothing happened”.  Nature of Science on TKI: bit.ly/1w6DWWS

Emma McFadyen is a primary teacher on the East Coast of New Zealand. She is passionate about ‘teacherpreneurship’, leadership, Education for Sustainability, and 21st Century Learning. This article first appeared on her blog www.missmcfadyen.blogspot.co.nz

Learning intentions I am learning to be a scientist.

Success Criteria I know I have achieved this when I have: »» used my five senses »» asked questions and talked with my scientist friends »» recorded ideas and questions I have.

Investigation

Investigate and find out how party poppers work.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 35

Putaiao Maori culture & science

It’s in the stars:

Matariki gives us reason to look up in winter A new website will weave together strands of science and culture that comprise the Matariki celebration in New Zealand.

Matariki: seven sisters in the sky New Year’s resolutions, sleeping under the stars, and midwinter feasts: these are some ways to mark Matariki with your wha-nau. Matariki is the celebration of the Ma-ori New Year, and is a time of fresh beginnings for everyone.

Matariki is both the Ma-ori name for the Pleiades star cluster and the name of its first rising in the Southern Hemisphere’s midwinter. The open star cluster is nestled in the constellation of Aries, and is visible as seven small blue jewels in the sky.

Sometimes these stars are known as the Seven Sisters: Waiti , Waita-, Tupu-a-nuku,Tupu-a-rangi, Waipunaa-rangi, Ururangi, and Matariki, and a rich mythological tradition surrounds them. The appearance of the stars was important, in pre-European times, for navigation, agriculture and timing the seasons. Matariki was also a time to remember and mourn those who had died.

Matariki is associated with the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The Seven Sisters appear when the sun reaches the northeastern end of the horizon, on the shortest day. After that, days stretch a little longer as the sun begins its journey southwards.

36 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Matariki’s online hub: community, science and education There’s a new online home base for all things Matariki: ‘Matariki Events’, found at www.matarikievents.com .

Initially put together six years ago in order to promote Matariki events around the country, Matariki Events was instigated and is now managed by Ma-ori Tourism. This year, in response to the celebration’s growing popularity, the site has undergone a major revamp.

Butch Bradley is the director of regions and operations for Ma-ori Tourism and has had an active role in putting together the wide-ranging website. He says the site was first developed as a resource for those wanting to publicise local events.

“It was really put in place when Matariki first starting hitting the calendar, and people were really looking for ways to celebrate midwinter in a very ‘Aotearoa’ manner,” says Butch. “Obviously, Ma-ori had always celebrated Matariki, but in less-public circumstances. In the early 2000s, we saw a resurgence of some Ma-ori traditions in popular New Zealand culture, such as Matariki being widely celebrated by schools and organisations. It’s a sign of our nation developing.”

Butch says interest in the winter solstice and its traditions has also been growing in other countries. “If you look at the popularity of the winter solstice overseas, you can get a feeling for why Matariki grew in popularity here.

After all, Matariki is known by lots of other names around the world, and it’s a constellation viewed all around the Pacific region.

“Even in the movie Prometheus, the Pleiades are the stars that pointed to supposedly where human beings originated. These are the Matariki stars, but upside down on the other side of the world.”

Butch says that through his work with the Matariki Events website, Ma-ori Tourism has sensed an increasing interest in the science and myths of the celebration. In addition, he says a wealth of information and knowledge has been shared with his organisation.

“So this year we made the decision to look at the website, and ask ourselves the question: How can we extend its life across the year, rather than just the two months either side of Matariki?”.

He says the website’s primary focus is still on local events and activities, whether it be a kapa haka concert, or Carter Observatory talk. It’s free to list an event, and acts as the celebration’s

The stories around Matariki and Puanga are so rich, and we’re not afraid to teach our indigenous history and culture anymore.

I think it’s a really positive shift.

Matariki has now become a time to celebrate the resurgence and importance of Te Reo and traditional Ma-ori knowledge in our society.

‘central hub’. But another, important strand woven into the project is to create a home for educational and scientific information about Matariki.

Butch says he’s excited about the direction of the new site. “The whole thing has had a total makeover, and it looks really different now. We’ve done a lot of research and gone back over our own information, and taken note of the feedback, such as what schools like or think could be improved.”

Later, more information will be added, in the hope that teachers and organisations will have easy access to legends, myths, astronomical and cultural knowledge. There will also be a ‘night sky blog’ to help people track the stars in the wintry sky.

“It’s an exciting project – we’re pleased to be able to share this stuff and get it out there to Aotearoa. We hope to continually grow the site and make it attractive and useful to visit,” says Butch.

Starry collaboration

A new dawn for Matariki

Ma-ori Tourism worked with the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand to write the scientific content for the site. This, in turn, opened up a whole new universe of information and even led to connections with NASA. “Through the Society, we’ve also had input from some astronomy experts and access to high-level research. The New Zealand astronomical community has been really generous with their time and knowledge, and sharing their connections, from NASA to the Mt John Observatory,” says Butch.

The Bank of New Zealand lent financial help (in keeping with their starry logo), and some scientific content will be available as downloadable resources.

Ongoing development Butch describes the website project as having several stages, the first being addressing this year’s events and activities around the country.

I can’t remember hearing about the Ma-ori New Year when I was growing up in a Pakeha family in the 1980s and ‘90s. But my own kids, born in the early 2000s, have celebrated this uniquely Antipodean midwinter celebration every year of their lives.

So what has brought about Matariki’s renaissance in popular New Zealand culture?

“There are a whole bunch of drivers,” says Butch. “In the early 2000s, it was almost an organic maturity of the country – Aotearoa looking to have an image or an identity that was truly South Pacific, as opposed to that colonial outpost thing. Of course, the stories around Matariki and Puanga are so rich, and we’re not afraid to teach our indigenous history and culture anymore. I think it’s a really positive shift.

“I don’t think enough credit has been given to our public school system – who just really wanted to start teaching New Zealand

content, and creating a renaissance for our tamariki.”

Matariki has now become a time to celebrate the resurgence and importance of te Reo and traditional Ma-ori knowledge in our society. 

Books to get young students reading about Matariki Many of these titles have cross-curricular links.

»» Matariki, by Melanie Drewery »» Celebrating Matariki,

by Libby Hakaraia »» Te huihui o Matariki,

by Toni Rolleston-Cummins »» Puanga: Star of the Ma-ori New Year,

by Sam Rerekura »» Scoop and Scribe search for the seven stars of Matariki,

by Tommy Wilson

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 37

Putaiao Maori culture & science

Supporting achievement -

in physics for Maori students

T

he article Finding a better way to facilitate the improved achievement of Māori students in science: some arguments and evidence first published in 2003 in New Zealand Science Teacher: »» explored strategies that apply matauranga Māori in the science classroom as they relate to science »» discussed the differences between the two knowledge systems and the implications of these for science teachers »» summarised the existing research articles to determine the effective strategies to improve achievement by Māori students in science.

The findings provided teachers with the challenge to: »» re-consider Māori values and fundamental principles so that teaching and learning provided best experience learning contexts and integration of cultural perspectives »» translate these values and principles into practice to make the learning inclusive of these cultural values »» enable students to compare indigenous knowledge and Western (empirical) science »» resist simple assimilation of matauranga Māori into our science teaching, but advocate for it as a part of the culture of Aotearoa New Zealand and recognise it as a valid and legitimate knowledge system »» implement quality, teaching excellent pedagogy through scaffolding student learning styles, and provide valuable feedback rather than the teacher’s preferred teaching style »» very clearly and continuously express that they will not accept mediocrity from any student, no matter what their ethnic origin might be.

38 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

This article, by GRAHAM foster of Avondale College, follows another about - ori supporting Ma achievement, which you can find here: bit.ly/1on5g9d.

Conclusions for science education and assessment The article advocated that: »» teachers needed to provide strong advocacy for matauranga Māori as a legitimate knowledge system »» the broad, culturally inclusive science programme should use a variety of teaching strategies and included a wide range of learning and assessment procedures »» teachers needed to put aside their preferred teaching strategy to recognise student needs and learning styles; they need to implement strategies that provide attention to and recognition of individual students; strategies of feed forward are practiced; there is a greater emphasis on co-construction, metacognitive strategies and formative assessment »» there needed to be more emphasis on formative assessment and feed-forward, resulting in a gain of time for more effective teaching and learning, leading to improved achievement »» teachers should use a variety of assessment modes rather than only external examination mode Achievement Standards. NCEA should have provided greater opportunity to develop, implement and apply strategies that lead to engagement providing teachers and school policies limit the amount of assessment required and allow for the development and use of several forms of assessment.

Finally, it challenged the Ministry of Education and NZQA to provide more assessment modes in science. The article called for professional development programmes, similar to those provided for NCEA, as these were needed to address issues of metacognition, effectiveness and responsive teaching and assessment.

The National Education Priority to “improve attainment of Māori students” identified the importance of effective teaching, learning and assessment that all science teachers needed to work through.

Unfortunately there have not been sufficient and satisfactory professional development opportunities provided by the Ministry of Education for teachers to process the issues and scaffold the implementation of this priority.

The 2003 article was endorsed by the Minister of Education and sent to all teacher training organisations at his request. Since then the author has continued to implement teaching strategies.

From 2009 to 2012, I participated as the Physics Department Tuakana leader at the University of Auckland. In that role I discovered great support and fellowship, together with further modes of improving Tuakana student success in physics at the entry level and above.

In 2013, at Avondale College we were challenged to improve the achievement of Māori students in physics and increase the number of Māori contexts used in physics.

This article attempts to provide: »» the perspective that it is insufficient to use contexts alone to engage Māori (and Pasifika) students since the underlying importance of te Reo (Māori language), hanaungatanga (relationships) and tūrangawaewae (a place to stand) exert very significant influences on our students

Wha-ia te iti kahurangi ki te tu-ohu koe me he maunga teitei. Aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it, you will hit a lofty mountain. »» acknowledgement and utilisation of the significance of cultural perspectives such as mana (prestige or authority), utu (balanced exchange). The advantages offered by using whakataukī (proverbs) and understanding of the implications of brain theory as vocabulary and memory support »» reinforcement of the importance of individual acknowledgement of students as part of the learning and teaching experience »» the suitable integration of taha Māori into physics.

Sharing and promoting each other’s cultures not only promotes peace and goodwill within the communities, but it also creates greater opportunities for meaningful relationships to be established. Sharples, P. (2006)

1. Te Reo and Whanaungatanga As Physics Tuakana leader I was drawn to the important ideas provided by Professor Mason Durie in Te Whare Tapa Whā. This advocated the need to explore the learners’ journeys with them as shown in Figure 1: Te Whare Tapu Whā.

This implies the essential need to know the learner and, as much as practicable, to attend to all four domains. The need is particularly difficult since we must not become emotionally involved with the learners.

Perhaps the best strategies are those from the perspectives of mentoring. My research experience shows mentoring is extremely successful.

In 2012, I supervised a mentoring project in physics using six physics tutors as mentors.

They met with their assigned Tuakana student once per week for one hour and emailed them once per week, over six weeks.

All Tuakana students studied the higher level physics courses and all were successful in their examinations.

The Māori conceptual frameworks in which mentoring takes place include Kaupapa Māori theory and the Māori potential approach.

Kaupapa Māori theory is the philosophy and practice of being Māori, and generally refers to the provision of services by and for Māori that are culturally appropriate and relevant.

Kaupapa Māori theory is closely related to self-determination and is anchored in Māori values, knowledge, and cultural practices.

The Māori potential approach affirms Māori as “key catalysts for achieving exceptional life quality for themselves, their whanau and their communities”, in ways that reflect Māori people and culture as assets, and acknowledging Māori as indigenous people with accompanying rights and responsibilities (Te Puni Kōkiri, 2009).

Both the Kaupapa Māori theory and Māori Potential Approach support the practice of using Māori epistemological and pedagogical traditions in mentoring for Māori students.

Additional Māori concepts that support Kaupapa Māori theory and the Māori potential approach include: »» whānau (principles of family, including whānau values, structures and practices) »» manaakitanga (mutually beneficial and reciprocal nurturing relationships) »» rangatiratanga (self-determination, authority and responsibility) »» aroha (care and respect) »» kotahitanga (sharing a unified purpose); and kaitiakitanga (guardianship responsibility and accountability), and »» Tuakana/teina (senior person working alongside the learner).

I maintain that to “know the learner” includes: »» the sharing of personal information from the student to the teacher »» involvement of whanau through direct contact with family to seek positive support and feed-forward »» acknowledgement and ensuring that the group situation provides knowledge that stays within the group »» acknowledgement that they may already have knowledge and we are facilitating further understanding »» our willingness to ‘give it a go’ and find out how to do things in a worthwhile and patient way »» the importance of being prepared and allowing others to help us »» making the effort so that we might find out we enjoy the effort.

2. Mana and Utu In last year’s New Zealand Science Teacher

print journal, Edition 132, Jo Tito explored the outcomes of the Pounamu science communication game and the interesting conversations that were sparked by the game. He provided an extended challenge by asking, “What if science embraced curiosity and questions as a way to the answers?

What if science embraced the conceptual Māori language as a science itself?”

Perhaps this leads us towards a way of challenging and engaging Māori students.

As teachers we are all sensitive to the need to preserve and develop the selfconfidence, pride and risk-taking ability of our students. This is particularly difficult at senior secondary levels where the learners’ comprehension, analytic and evaluative abilities are challenged, and their ability to show their proficiency in using development of the Key Competencies strongly influence their success. This suggests that we need to support students to develop these Key Competencies, particularly ‘Thinking’, ‘Participating and Contributing’ and ‘Managing Self’ and that we should explicitly teach the Key Competencies as part of the learning and teaching process. The students’ willingness to engage in learning activities (rather than be ‘spoon fed’) such as active reading of their texts, completion of problem solving and other homework to tight deadlines, active and effective study, positive participation in discussions, and finally becoming independent learners and achievers are real challenges for both teachers and students. >>

Figure 1

-: Te Whare Tapu Wha The teacher’s journey should be able to attend to all four domains from Knowing your Ma-ori Learner video.

Wairua

Tinana

Spiritual wellbeing

Start here

Hinengaro Cognitive situation

Physical wellbeing

Do I believe I can do this course?

Do I have the resources?

Can I cope with the work?

Do I have the support required?

Te Taha Whanau Family/social situation

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 39

Throughout this learning process, both teachers and students need to preserve those confidences and scaffold the development of the Māori learners. Several strategies useful for this purpose include targeted flash cards, supported and unsupported problem solving, use of structured explanation strategies such as DELA (Figure 2: Define, Explain, Link, Answer the question), starter questions, demonstrations-with-questions, student-led problem solving after homework, etc. Although teachers have their own resource bank of strategies, it is necessary to identify which strategies identify the individual learner. I have also provided more strategies in my 2003 article.

In physics, it is recommended that students are encouraged to ko-rero in te Reo, to share explanations of topic theory and applications, together with written explanations and calculation assignments. The verbal exchange reinforces mutual support between students, while the written aspects develop more formal language and symbols used frequently in physics.

The student must not imagine physics as a process of ‘finding the correct formula to use’, rather they must experience the need to understand physics.

3. Physics whakataukī and memory Whakataukī plays a large role within Māori culture. They are used as a reference point in speeches and also as guidelines spoken to others day by day. It is a poetic form of the Māori language often merging historical events, or holistic perspectives with underlying messages which are extremely influential in Māori society.

Proverbs are fun to learn and have benefits for language learning. They can be interpreted as required.

A Māori example is: Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.

Aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it, you will hit a lofty mountain.

In my experience one of the main issues students complain about is their difficulty remembering ideas.

Students might be encouraged to develop some physics Whakataukī to support them to remember topics of importance in physics. Simple examples include: ‘He who gains speed most quickly will have the greatest acceleration.’

‘He will only have elastic collisions if he conserves both momentum and kinetic energy.’

‘Power is only possible if both the speed of the current and the energy per unit charge are involved.’

‘Opposing currents are induced when a magnet moves in a coil.’

To add to the reason for effectiveness and significance of whakataukī, it is strongly recommended that the physics teacher spends time explaining to students about the two types of memory: »» short-term memory used for immediate recognition of topics »» long-term memory needed for retention and recall.

Frequent recall ‘starter tests’ can be useful for establishing short-term memory, as could the use of flash cards.

It is very worthwhile to discuss the nature of the brain and the rapid development of the frontal lobe. During adolescence the frontal lobe, the main area for memory and synthesis, is developing by increasing the links

DELA strategy

Figure 2

Developing accurate and adequate explanations D: E: L: A:

Identify and Define the physics topic in the question.

Explain the topic using your physics understanding.

Use Link words.

Look back to what you were asked and answer the question.

40 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

In physics, it is recommended that students are encouraged to ko-rero in te Reo, to share explanations of topic theory and applications, together with written explanations and calculation assignments.

The verbal exchange reinforces mutual support between students, while the written aspects develop more formal language and symbols used frequently in physics.

between neurons. Astrocytes are cells in our brain that carry out automated functions. They are produced to enable us to form new conceptual frameworks and sequences. They are covered with hormone sensors that enable us to sense emotions. To ‘think’ we must wake up neurons by dumping adrenalin into the synapses. Strong memories are related to emotions and passionate experiences. It follows that passionate teachers can elicit hormonal responses causing patterns in our memory (Treadwell, 2008).

Students are still transferring new ideas and processes from their temporary to their permanent memory.

Teachers need to develop the sense of how we think and what we can do to cause others to form patterns and develop long-term memory.

It is very important that the student practises active revision so that as many ‘links’ are formed as possible to maximise the ‘thinking’ (analysis and evaluation) competency. Hopefully this will provide some encouragement to participate in problem solving.

Given what we know about brain development and the other changes taking place in the young adolescent, teachers can improve student learning by doing the following things: »» Present limited amounts of new information, to accommodate the short-term memory. »» Provide opportunities for students to process and reinforce the new information and to connect the new information with previous learning.

(Encourage students to talk with their classmates about the new information; have them debate or write about it; create small group discussions.) »» Provide lessons that are varied, with lots of involvement and handson activities. Brain stimulus and pathways are created and made stronger and with less resistance if they are reinforced with a variety of stimuli. (Create flow charts, use music, and visual resources.) »» Provide lessons and activities that require problem solving and critical thinking. Brain growth is enhanced and strengthened through practice and exercise. »» Teach students how to study. There are many resources for teachers to structure these experiences. »» Establish, teach, and practice consistent expectations and routines. Don’t expect to tell students once and have them remember and follow the ‘rules’.

»» Use process charts to detail steps on a long-term project and revisit these steps periodically. »» Use graphic organisers to assist in visualising problem solving. »» Distribute assignment sheets that clearly articulate benchmarks, and timelines.

4. Individual acknowledgement of students as part of the learning and teaching experience.

Without any doubt, the most important strategy to improve the achievement of all students is the recognition and support provided to individual students. Jan Hill and Kay Hawk identified that both “positive relationships with teachers are critical”, and “positive relationships between the students in the class are also very important. Positive relationships provide a safer learning climate that encourages contribution, risk-taking and better learning”. These relationships were formed from the “very beginning of the year and helped create group dynamics that lead to improved student motivation and attitudes toward learning”. The positive learning classroom created a sense of “busyness, focused activity at a high pace, a relaxed atmosphere and an ethos of mutual respect and enjoyment”.

John Hattie’s research (2008 Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses

relating to achievement) provides two very important considerations. He maintains that visible learning means an enhanced role for teachers as they become evaluators of their own teaching and occurs when teachers see learning through the eyes of students and help them become their own teachers. This is being promoted through the ‘Teaching as Inquiry’ that is now part of appraisal.

Hattie also explains that feedback is among the major influences, but that the type of feedback and the way it is given can be differentially effective (2008). Feedback is most effective when it is linked to the goals of the learning, and related to the positive accomplishments of the learning. When the learners are inefficient it is better for the teacher to reinforce expected learning through clear explanations than to provide feedback on poorly understood topics.

Teaching implications This article emphasises that we should be looking past contextual examples when teaching physics. It is very important to recognise that tūranagawaewae, te Reo, and whanaungatanga are all relevant to guiding our Māori (and other) students towards success.

We should advocate that we legitimise and facilitate the inclusion of matauranga Māori into physics through whakataukī and

mentoring strategies that relate to Kaupapa Māori theory since they reinforce the learning and teaching process through their concepts.

The explicit teaching of the Key Competencies is reinforced by the need to support students to find ways of improving their memory and their commitment to the learning and teaching process.

The use of physics whakataukī, the DELA strategy, and targeted flash cards are strategies that could support the improvement of learning and teaching that lead to development of students as independent learners.

These all sit under the umbrella of Effective Teaching Practice which emphasises effective relationships, with a sense of motivation and purpose. Teachers need to be engaged in active review of their teaching and need to use feedback related only to learning accomplishments and using reinforcement explanations when students are less efficient in their learning.

Ko te kete aronui – knowledge to help mankind is given significance in our teaching of physics when we encourage more students to join the journey of striving for knowledge, education and enlightenment, to become better people so that they might enter successfully into Te Whare Wananga, the house of learning. 

Acknowledgements My thanks to Kay Hawk, @ Learning Network, for supporting me with comments and suggestions during this project.

References

Bibliography

»» Foster, G.F. ‘Finding a better way to facilitate the improved achievement of Ma-ori students in Science. Some arguments and evidence – a qualitative research study’, New Zealand Science Teacher, 2004.

»» Foster, G.F. ‘Finding a better way to facilitate the improved achievement of Ma-ori students in Science. Some arguments and evidence – a qualitative research study’, New Zealand Science Teacher, 2004.

»» Foster, G.F. ‘Tuakana Mentoring Programme’, document written while Physics Tuakana Leader, University of Auckland, 2012.

»» Foster, G.F. ‘Tuakana Mentoring Programme’, document written while Physics Tuakana Leader, University of Auckland, 2012.

»» Ford, T. ‘Contributing to a new education story for Maori’, Culturally Responsive Methodologies, edited by Mere Berryman, Suzanne SooHoo, Ann Nevin, Emerald Publishing.

»» Ford, T. ‘Contributing to a new education story for Maori’, Culturally Responsive Methodologies, edited by Mere Berryman, Suzanne SooHoo, Ann Nevin, Emerald Publishing.

»» Hattie, J. and Timperley, H ‘The Power of Feedback’, Review of Educational Research 2007 77:81.

»» Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. ‘The Power of Feedback’, Review of Educational Research 2007 77:81.

»» Hill, J and Hawk, K ‘Making a Difference in the Classroom: Effective Teaching Practice in Low Decile, Multicultural Schools.’, March 2000.

»» Hill, J. and Hawk, K. ‘Making a Difference in the Classroom: Effective Teaching Practice in Low Decile, Multicultural Schools’, March 2000.

»» Lorain, P. ‘Brain Development in Young Adolescents’, www.teachingwithpurpose.com/index.php.

»» Lorain, P. ‘Brain Development in Young Adolescents’, www.teachingwithpurpose.com/index.php.

»» Sharples, P. ‘Boys in Education Conference’, New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, Volume 3, Issue 1, 3-11, 2006.

»» Sharples, P. ‘Boys in Education Conference’, New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, Volume 3, Issue 1, 3-11, 2006.

»» Tito, J. ‘Pounamu proves to be a science communication treasure’, New Zealand Science Teacher, Edition 132, 2013.

»» Tito, J. ‘Pounamu proves to be a science communication treasure’, New Zealand Science Teacher, Edition 132, 2013.

»» Treadwell, M. ‘The New Zealand Curriculum – Whatever!’, Presentation by Mark Treadwell at Epsom Girls Grammar, 21st July 2008. ‘Knowing Your Maori Learner, Engaging the Maori Learner’, Video available from Ako Aotearoa, National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

»» Treadwell, M. ‘The New Zealand Curriculum – Whatever!’, Presentation by Mark Treadwell at Epsom Girls Grammar, 21 July 2008. “ Knowing Your Ma- ori Learner, Engaging the Ma-ori Learner” Video available from Ako Aotearoa, National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 41

LEARNING IN SCIENCE Innovative science education

Nanogirl shares the

science love

2014 has been a busy year for nanoscientist Michelle Dickinson. The rock-climbing, kite-boarding engineering lecturer also moonlights as Nanogirl, meeting aspiring scientists all over the country.

W

hy do we get dizzy when we spin around in circles? How would you go about shattering a jelly worm with a hammer?

And exactly how does Coca-Cola blow up a balloon?

Ask Nanogirl, the instigator of the Star Science Project, which involves 100 days of science experiments designed to appeal to young (and not-so-young) people. The ‘100 Days of Science’ project is documented on Facebook and has a website where each experiment is explained in more detail.

You would be forgiven for wondering where Michelle finds time to complete this project, because she is also a senior lecturer in engineering at The University of Auckland who runs a nanomechanics lab, appears on popular media (Newstalk ZB and the Paul Henry Show) as a science communicator and is passionate about kiteboarding and rock-climbing.

Auckland University’s Nano-Mechanical Research Laboratory is now changing lives with breakthroughs as varied as bone disease detection devices and the possible effect of acidification on the teeth of ocean creatures.

Another such breakthrough made by the lab, in collaboration with Callaghan Innovation, is ‘gecko-feet’ technology. This discovery is inspired by the way in which real gecko feet cling to surfaces. It utilises 3D printing to make tiny polymer hairs that act as a dry adhesive. In the future, gecko-feet technology could transform the way robots hold and carry objects.

42 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Not everyone is summoned by Sir Richard Branson for an impromptu brainstorming session on a tropical island, but this is just what happened to Michelle in June this year. She was one of eight leading thinkers invited to the British billionaire’s Necker Island to talk about sustainability and technology. As well as enjoying the best kite-boarding the Caribbean had to offer, Michelle discussed nanotechnology, fuel efficiency, and water purification. She says they talked about the New Zealand environment and the science that takes place here. “It was the most amazing trip; the opportunity of a lifetime,” she says.

Your work in science is wide-ranging!

Please tell us a bit about what you do at Auckland University.

My speciality is breaking tiny things; in academia, we call it nanomechanical testing. Basically, I make nano materials and then I break them. If you remove the nano part, it would be like a person casting pieces of steel, then breaking them to see how strong they are based on things like how fast they were cooled or how much carbon was put in the steel. I basically do the same thing, just with materials that are smaller than the width of your hair. It’s a fascinating place as nano materials behave very differently from materials that are big enough for us to hold and feel in our hands, and because the technology is so new, I seem to learn a new thing every day.

Your 100 Days of Science project has been gaining momentum and spreading the joy of science to young people. How did it all begin?

I was with Sir Richard Branson on his island recently, and I took a bunch of science experiments with me to see if Richard was interested. Well not only was he excited about the experiments, but he also kept all of the materials I took out there so he could share the science with his other friends and family.

It got me thinking about science and how most of us, no matter what our age are actually really excited about carrying out science experiments. I wanted to share that excitement, and so when I came back, I saw that my friend Emma Rogan was about to start her 100 Days project, so I decided to take part, creating a project called 100 Days of Science, to try and recreate that excitement 100 days in a row with 100 different people. I have to admit it’s been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done and is guaranteed to raise a smile every day.

What’s your favourite thing about this project, and do you think New Zealand teachers could adapt the experiments you do in their classes?

My favourite thing is that children as young as four years old are teaching me science experiments that I’ve never seen before.

I’ve now learned how to pop a boiled egg through a bottle neck using a lit candle, and how to blow up a balloon using cola

and salt. The enthusiasm of the children involved is contagious and my whole goal of the project was that each experiment needed to be made from items which are easy to find around the house, so that teachers and parents could take part.

You are a senior lecturer in engineering, and work to encourage more girls to study in the field. How do you go about that and why is it important to you?

I do a lot of outreach where I go into schools, or schools come to me at the university and we carry out experiments with the girls and talk about their future career choices.

It’s really important to show girls that engineering is a viable career for them if they wanted to choose it, and many have said that they always thought it was a male subject that was full of hard hats and muddy boots that they just couldn’t see themselves doing.

My goal is to show that engineering comes in many shapes and sizes, including biomedical engineering where you design replacement body parts and mechatronics engineering where you can design caregiver robots to help to look after people. We still have a huge gender imbalance in engineering, and as 80 per cent of purchasing decisions are made by women, we really need to have more women designing, building, and creating things for the world. I also feel that empowering a young girl to follow her dreams, even if it doesn’t fit the traditional stereotype is an important lesson to teach, to help to give girls confidence and self-belief at what can be a very stressful time in their lives.

Your TEDx talk is inspiring and makes me want to join the field of nanotechnology immediately. Why do you think it’s so important that practicing scientists and academics communicate their work to a wide audience?

It’s important for two reasons: the first being that most academics are publicly funded by the taxpayer, and I feel that it is our responsibility to talk about what we are doing and what we are spending taxpayer’s money on. There can be a big disconnect between scientists and members of the public, as we tend to use long, complex, jargon-filled sentences which can alienate most people from understanding a topic.

Learning the skill of communicating to a more general audience is important not only to help the public understand our research and how it may affect them in their daily lives, but also to allow us to understand some of the public concerns about certain science topics and be able to reassure them as experts in our field. The second reason is that I believe that there are very few female role models for our young girls to aspire to be like who are not famous for singing, or shopping, but are actually famous for using their brains and creating incredible things due to their intelligence. I have seen through the huge amounts of fan mail that I get from young girls who are desperate for a positive role model who is approachable to aspire to be like and that we as communicating scientists can be and can create those smart, successful role models.  Watch Michelle’s TEDx talk: bit.ly/1osmMsT Find the Star Science Project: 100 Days of Science here: bit.ly/1sy0T0n

What is nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology is the engineering of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale.

The term ‘nanotechnology’ was first popularised in the 1980s by scientist K. Eric Drexler.

It can be difficult to imagine how small nanotechnology really is. One nanometer is a billionth of a meter. One sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

Scientists working to understand the fundamentals of properties at the nanoscale call their discipline nanoscience. Those manipulating the properties call their work nanoengineering.

Nanotechnology in its traditional sense, means ‘building things from the bottom up’. The initial concept was first envisioned by the Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, who in 1959 said: “I want to build a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which are manufacturing simultaneously... The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of manoeuvring things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big.”

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 43

TEACHER EDUCATION Secondary

Coolest experience yet for science teacher Biology teacher SARAH JOHNS travelled to Antarctica as part of an Royal Society Endeavour Teacher Fellowship.

S

arah Johns has worked as a secondary school science and biology teacher for the past 14 years. She is currently teaching at Nelson College for Girls and, as a recent Endeavour Fellow, was hosted

by Dr Jonathan Banks, a senior scientist at Cawthron Institute.

The objectives of the Royal Society Endeavour Teacher Fellowship are: 1. For teachers to gain new and up-to-date knowledge which will enhance teaching and learning.

2. To develop leadership capacity in early and mid-career teachers.

3. To give teachers the opportunity to experience how science, mathematics and technology are used outside teaching.

Here, Sarah writes about her experience working as a scientist in Antarctica: I travelled to Scott Base for the 2013/14 field season. Participating in the project has given me not only a rare insight into Antarctic research, but also the opportunity to acquire new skills such as riding a snowmobile, checking remote monitoring equipment, the collection of faecal samples from Weddell seals and assisting with and drilling holes through three-metre thick ice for fishing.

Scott Base is the centre from which large numbers of scientific events are organised.

Logistics of coordinating personnel, travel, food, shelter, training, communication and safety in a harsh environment is huge. In the 2013/14 summer, for example, a variety of research events on fish, glaciers, microbes, lichens and mosses, marine invertebrates, penguins, the dry valleys, climate, Antarctic soils, seals, ice, geomagnetism, algae and historic sites took place. The field training 44 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

taught me to assemble tents and build toilet blocks; about mountain and ice travel, first aid, field cooking, and radio protocol; how to use survival bags and how to keep warm and safe. This gave me the confidence to trust in my training and equipment to work and live in this extreme environment. I now have an appreciation for how everyday jobs in preparation for living and working in the field can be quite time-consuming and labourintensive.

Getting the nano-tweezers into the DNA mixture I have used a range of molecular techniques while working at the Cawthron Institute to identify the seals’ and penguins’ prey. Using DNA isolation techniques I extracted about five millilitres of prey DNA from the faeces of approximately 30 separate animals. This material will be used for next generation sequencing, a relatively new technique that is analogous to using millions of ‘nanotweezers’ to separate and identify individual DNA molecules from the DNA mixture. The resulting collection of DNA reads will be compared with a reference DNA database to determine what the seals and penguins were eating over Christmas and the New Year. I can confidently say that I now have an in-depth understanding of molecular technologies such as DNA extraction, PCR and gel electrophoresis. The DNA isolation from faeces used a combination of precise physical and chemical methods. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is another biochemical technology that I used to amplify the purified DNA to generate millions of copies of a prey DNA contained in the faeces.

This first-hand experience has also given me a much greater understanding of the principles and procedures used

in PCR. The alternate heating and cooling of the PCR sample through a defined series of temperature steps achieved the desired outcome. DNA concentration was determined in a spectrophotometer by measuring the intensity of absorbance of a dye that binds to DNA and comparing the reading with a standard curve generated from known DNA concentrations that also used several bioinformatics strategies; ie, downloading DNA sequences from international databases such as GenBank, manipulation and annotation of the sequences using software such as Genius SIS, BioEdit and Clustal X. While I had a background in all of these techniques, being hands-on has given me a greater understanding of the links between these applications. Access to modern biotechnologies is often expensive and largely inaccessible from the classroom.

To teach content about a subject such as genetic manipulation without ever having participated means that demonstrating key points in the classroom is very limited. Extracting DNA, carrying out PCR, and using Next Generation Sequencing, a relatively new technique, to determine what the seals and penguins have been eating, is invaluable.

While working at the Cawthron Institute, I have had the opportunity to attend lectures, and work alongside scientists in the lab

and out in the field. I’ve had many opportunities to contribute in a range of scientific field activities other than what was directly linked to my original Antarctic-related objectives outlined in my proposal. I have assisted with the collection of data during research associated with the bio-control of pontoon fouling at the Nelson marina, recoded water quality readings along the Maitai river, participated in a field research party investigating cyanobacteria blooms found on a lake near Kaikoura, contributed to a literature review on the effects of green-lipped mussels on alleviating symptoms of arthritis in animals, spawned mussels, toured the taxonomy and microbiology labs, and much more.

This has given me an opportunity to see and think about the active use of science in real-life contexts and gain important insights into how science serves societal needs. These will serve as excellent contexts for my return to the classroom.

I intend to foster my relationship with the Cawthron Institute. On my return to the classroom, I am responsible for the pedagogical format and content of my science classes, but by maintaining links between Nelson College for Girls and Cawthron, we can further develop and provide students’ access to up-to-date science knowledge, expertise, resources and help my learners see science in authentic contexts. They will also be supported to form positive relationships with people in the science community and provide role models that inspire them to ‘see themselves’ in science.

Although this would be beneficial to my students, there are a variety of other drivers, including recruitment of future scientists, raising the profile of the Cawthron Institute and improving community engagement.

I have had the time of my life and I can’t wait to get back into the classroom to share it.

Sarah Johns, 2014

Jonathan Banks Dr Jonathan Banks is a marine scientist at Nelson’s Cawthron Institute. He and Sarah worked together through the Royal Society Endeavour Fellowship

– an experience he says was mutually beneficial.

“I know Sarah learned a lot through the work, but what was surprising about hosting the Fellowship, was how much I learned too,” he says. “It’s certainly been a two-way experience.”

He says Sarah brought with her many things that were useful to Cawthron itself: “Particularly the social media side of things. I don’t use that in my everyday work. But it amazed me how she gathered together such a large network of interested people, following what we were doing.”

Jonathan’s day-to-day work at the Institute is to monitor water quality, in particular faecal contamination in marine environments and fresh water.

He employs genetic data to investigate contamination sources, in order to help mitigate them.

He had been approached by a former colleague to help with the genetic component of a research project in Antarctica, which had funding from the New Zealand Antarctic Institute.

Shortly after that, Sarah sent an expression of interest to Cawthron and Jonathan realised she would be an ideal candidate for helping to undertake the research.

and how different processes fit together throughout a project.

“Also, the bigger picture of what is generally involved in a large science research project- the trials and tribulations, and the pitfalls that can happen along the way. Sometimes it’s almost as though the planets have to come into alignment for a research project to go smoothly,” he says.

“That in itself is an authentic experience to take into the classroom.” 

Sarah kept a Facebook page relating to her Endeavour Fellowship experience. Check it out by going to on.fb.me/VK3wR5 for more photos, links and thoughts from Sarah.

Taking the work back into the classroom The Fellowship equipped Sarah with new skills to take back into the classroom, says Jonathan.

“I think she can take a lot of practical experience back with her to school, such as practical genetics techniques,

Sometimes it’s almost as though the planets have to come into alignment for a research project to go smoothly. That in itself is an authentic experience to take into the classroom.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 45

EDUCATION & SOCIETY Science education & the environment

Ripping yarns:

science education and the environment Environment-science storytelling has much to offer in the teaching of Nature of Science ideas, writes MILES BARKER, in this, the last instalment of his ‘Ripping Yarns’ series.

E

lizabeth Kolbert, in her book with the sinister title Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change, tells of talking with Robert Socolow, professor of engineering at Princeton University, a trim man with wirerimmed glasses and gray, vaguely Einsteinian hair. He had some penetrating things to say about science and the environment: “I’ve been involved in a number of fields where there’s a lay opinion and a scientific opinion … and in most of the cases, it’s the lay community that’s the more exercised, more anxious. If you take an extreme example, it would be nuclear power, where most of the people who work in nuclear science are relatively relaxed about low levels of radiation. But in the climate case, the experts – the people who work with the climate models every day, the people who do the ice cores – they are more concerned. They’re going out of their way to say, ‘Wake up! This is not a good thing to be doing’.1 Stories about science and the environment frequently have this flavour of simmering human tensions and unsettling inconclusiveness – they are underpinned by a heady mix of values-driven cross-currents, and occasionally, downright vitriol. From the point of view of school science education in Aotearoa, what they reveal about the complex, society-grounded aspects of the Nature of Science is properly and inevitably enmeshed in the wider issues of Vision and Values proposed in the front sections of The New Zealand Curriculum.2 By adding to my 20 earlier ‘Ripping Yarns’ in five prior issues of New Zealand Science Teacher,3 the three stories offered here conclude a six-part series. As with the earlier 20 stories, they are aligned (see Table 1) with 14 underpinning ideas about the Nature of Science that flow from the Science Essence Statement in The New Zealand Curriculum.4

Rachel Carson: Hidden connections There were some mixed messages in Dr Robert White-Stevens’s contribution to the CBS Reports’ pre-recorded hour-long documentary The Silent Spring of Rachel Carson5 on American television on the evening of 3 April, 1963. The laboratory coat and the spectrophotometers behind him loudly signalled ‘Assistant Director, Agricultural Research Division, American Cyanamid’ (a major chemical producer), but if viewers expected only dispassionate authority, they were in for a shock.

The tall, moustached White-Stevens, wild-eyed behind his thick-rimmed spectacles, bristled with intensity. When he began speaking, they were in for another surprise: although he had been introduced as representing the American chemical industry, his accent was patrician and very English. “The major claims of Miss Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring”, he gravely pronounced, “are gross distortions of the actual facts, completely unsupported by scientific evidence and general practical experience in 46 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

the field… If man were to faithfully follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the Earth.”

Next, reminiscent of the then-current Cold War frenzy in America, television screens cut to hordes of insatiable locusts descending on cornfields in the American Midwest.

Carson’s segment in the documentary came later in the hour, when she was seen speaking in the wood-panelled study of her cottage on the Maine coastline. The days leading up to the broadcast had been anxious ones for her.

She had been annoyed by rumours that “the show is weighted against me.”6 Then there had been a major last-minute commercial hiccup: three of the five sponsors, nervous about the controversial content, had withdrawn two days before the broadcast. Added to this, the screening itself was bound to be interrupted by updates from Washington DC about the simultaneous manned earth-orbiting flight of the space capsule Faith 7. Finally, she was gravely concerned about how she had done in the actual interview two weeks earlier – she was worried that exhaustion and a tendency to huskiness in high-stakes situations might make her “look and sound like an utter idiot” on national television.7 Carson needn’t have worried. In the broadcast, her voice came across as unhurried and distinct.

Sitting in her office chair, wearing her sage-green suit and gold necklace, she appeared entirely natural, even smiling occasionally as she spoke: “We’ve heard the benefits of pesticides. We have heard a great deal about their safety, but very little about the hazards, very little about the failures, the inefficiencies, and yet the public was being asked to accept these chemicals, was being asked to acquiesce in their use, and did not have the whole picture, so I set about to remedy the balance there.”

Calmly, deliberately, she then read from six chapters of her book Silent Spring, first available six months previously. As Carson’s biographer Linda Lear observes: “She came across as a dignified, polite, concerned scientist with no motive other than to alert the public to a significant problem.”8 Carson finished by responding to the compere’s invitation to examine the fundamental conflict in attitude over the proper role of humankind in the environment. She said, “We still talk in terms of conquest.

We still haven’t become mature enough to think of ourselves as part of a vast and incredible universe … we in this generation must come to terms with nature … (and) to prove our mastery not of nature but of ourselves.”9 The middle section of the documentary was a series of on-camera interviews with government witnesses, made over the previous

DDT molecule. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

eight months: the US Agriculture Secretary, the Surgeon General, the Public Health Service toxicologist, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, and so on.

Generally, these ‘experts’ gave the impression that no-one in authority knew very much about the wide-ranging effects of chemicals like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), nor were they particularly concerned about their longterm effects.

These unsettling revelations tended to give credence to Carson’s argument, but the choice between White-Stevens’s scenario and Carson’s was stark. White-Stevens’s argument was linear, encompassed by certainty, and even had a humanitarian gloss: pesticides destroy harmful insects, hence promote crop growth, and can be the key to overcoming global food shortages. Carson’s argument presupposed a global interconnected ecological network and the possibilities, as yet little understood, of human-manipulated contaminants causing a persistent and continuous poisoning of the whole environment.

The audience that night was challenged to choose. Indeed, it is this element of an imperative for choice and action that so interests me in Carson’s story – the way it exemplifies the notion that often, for scientists and private citizens alike,

participating in informed decision-making about socio-scientific issues is a civic responsibility. How and why did Rachel Carson – basically a private and gentle person – find herself at the brutal public centre of the issue of environmental poisoning? As a scientist, why did she not see the whole science enterprise as confined to data-gathering and reporting, simply as required by job specifications?

The answers can perhaps be traced back to her childhood. Born in 1907 and raised on a farm 15 miles north-east of Pittsburgh, Carson, even in her childhood, had identified the twin passions that would define her career: a love of nature and science and an ambition to be a writer. By the time she had emerged from John Hopkins University Graduate School with a master’s degree in embryology and had spent time at the Marine Biology Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, a strong personal trait had emerged – although outwardly conventional in manner and appearance, she was inwardly something of a subversive.10 Later, while employed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to translate jargon-filled government science reports into English, her fascination with marine biology and with creative writing itself was blooming. The result was prize-winning books like The Sea Around Us (1951) that exulted in the poetry of nature.

Then, as sinister insistent data about environmental poisoning began to come to her attention, and now able to exist as a fulltime science writer driven by what she saw as her civic responsibility, she began writing Silent Spring in 1958. Private person though she was, Carson was no isolate; her guiding understanding of ecological connectedness was mirrored by a huge network of warm and informative personal connections.

Professional scientific advice and mentoring was indispensible as she struggled with sulfurous attacks from angry scientists, business executives, and government bureaucrats who had heard about her intended book. Essential, too, was constant contact with family and friends, but even some of those were doubtful about “the poison book”, as one of them called the emerging Silent Spring.11 Carson’s achievement on CBS Reports that night in 1963 becomes even clearer when we remind ourselves that the whole ecological basis of her argument – the existence of interconnected ecological levels of organisation (populations, communities, ecosystems) – was in 1963 simply not yet part of public consciousness anywhere. True, in 1952 Americans Eugene and Howard Odum had produced what was basically the first-ever widelypromulgated textbook, Fundamentals of Ecology.12 However, only by the mid-1960s was the Biological Science >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 47

Table 1 Fourteen contemporary ideas about the Nature of Science

Stories from science (and sources in New Zealand Science Teacher)

Science knowledge 1. The world is understandable.

All knowledge is my province – Francis Bacon’s big claim (#113)

2. Science ideas are evolving.

The spirals of life (#106) A plant is an animal standing on its head (#113) Joseph Needham’s great labour of love (#124)

3. Science cannot provide complete answers to all questions.

Harold Wellman – honest to a fault (#113)

4. Many science explanations require specialist language and symbols and are in the form of ‘models’.

Scientific inquiry 5. Science demands evidence.

The case of the midwife toad (#113) Old fourlegs – a fish caught in time (#130)

6. Science is a blend of curiosity, imagination, creativity, logic and serendipity.

Why the Kaingaroa forest isn’t grassland (#101) What transpires in ‘heartless vegetables’? (#106) Radio waves and brain waves (#124)

7. Science aims to explain and predict.

The shameful case of sex in plants (#106)

8. Scientists try to identify and avoid bias.

Knowing ourselves – bias in anthropology (#113)

9. Scientists work together.

Joan Wiffen, dinosaur woman (#101) ‘Facial eczema’ day at Ruakura (#106) Maize, mysticism and jumping genes (#113) Kamoya Kimeu and the hominid gang (#130)

10. Scientists’ observations are influenced by their existing ideas.

Herbert Guthrie-Smith – backcountry seer (2014)

11. Scientists often study complex interrelated systems.

Charles Fleming – ripples in a rock pool (2014)

Science and society 12. Issues of ethics, values, economics and politics operate between science and the rest of society.

Andreas Reischek – the collector (#101) Romanov DNA – from Siberia to sainthood (#106) Rhododendrons, yak butter and brigands (#124) Wangari Maathai – the tree lady of Africa (#130)

13. Informed citizenship entails applying rational argument and scepticism to science text.

14. Participating in informed decisionmaking about socio-scientific issues is a civic responsibility.

Rachel Carson – hidden connections (2014)

Fourteen contemporary ideas about the nature of science, and 23 stories from science that illuminate the ideas. Three stories are in the present article; the other 20 are in five earlier editions of New Zealand Science Teacher viz. #101, #106, #113, #124, #130.

48 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Curriculum Studies Project, based in Colorado, making its way into schooling in America and beyond. In New Zealand secondary schools we made do with the BSCS ‘Green Book’, but it was not until 1969 that our own textbook, Biological Science,13 introduced in its first seven chapters the still-novel beauties of ecological theory, lavishly enlivened by New Zealand examples.

However, there had also been a parallel environmental dark side emerging. In America since the mid-1950s, widespread public concern had begun to focus on the brown acrid smog over Los Angeles, and on phosphate-fed algal blooms choking Lake Erie. New Zealand in the late 1960s, of course, had its own environmental concerns, most notably the intention to raise the level of forest-girded Lake Manapouri.

Biological Science, just as it began with ecology, also ended there: the final, sombre 46th chapter, ‘Man and his environment’, innovatively prefigured what we now call socio-scientific issues. Scientist Rachel Carson’s challenge to human decision-making on the issue of environmental poisoning was there for all to see, highlighted by the classic data from Scientific American on how DDT was inexorably accumulating in the top carnivores of food chains. But Carson, by this time, had passed the civic responsibility on to others; she died, after a long period of declining health, in April 1964.

Herbert Guthrie-Smith: Backcountry seer There it was, right in front of him on the dusty road between the woolshed and the homestead, hovering rather forlornly near its nest that had apparently been blown down in yesterday’s spring gales. Remembering back to his Scottish boyhood just north of the River Clyde, Herbert Guthrie-Smith knew it had to be a hen chaffinch: the little bird’s body was that characteristic dull reddish-brown; the black wings had the prominent white wing bar and white shoulder patch. This first sighting of the intruder species on his Tutira block was remarkable, although it didn’t take him completely by surprise.14 Ten days earlier, on an adjacent sheep run, he had noticed his first chaffinch in the Esk district of northern Hawke’s Bay. Today, after pausing long, he finally tugged gently on the reins, and the lanky, spare, moustached Scotsman, in his customary battered suit, tie and waistcoat, his slouch hat hiding his sandy hair, steered homeward, horse and mount both seemingly lost in thought.

This was 1902. Chaffinches had been imported to Auckland in 1868. What route were they taking to get to Tutira? Had they followed the same course as blackbirds and thrushes, hugging the coast all the way down from Auckland. But then he remembered back in 1898 seeing chaffinches way inland up in Poverty Bay in the headwaters of the Mangatu Stream.

Later, in the dark-panelled study of his gracious homestead, Guthrie-Smith would record this

singular observation and ponder his chaffinch migration theories.

Over fifty years, from the 1890s, Guthrie-Smith became a matchless observer, recorder, and interpreter of every aspect of the interlocking ecosystems that comprised his Tutira block. The successive publications from 1921 of his classic book Tutira – The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station go far beyond the documentation of every aspect of the biology and geology of Tutira.

Tutira falls into the genre of natural history, and ultimately, GuthrieSmith set himself the task of telling a story with the proportions of a national mythology.15 Apart from their prophetic quality, Guthrie-Smith’s writings reveal to us much about how in science observations and thinking are intimately linked. All competent farmers are, of necessity, astute observers of their land, but how and why did Guthrie-Smith go far beyond the obvious and come to be seen as an indispensable contributor to the science of New Zealand’s rural environment?

Guthrie-Smith first rode up on to his newly-purchased 20,000 acre Tutira block when he was a 20-year-old.

Having emigrated to New Zealand in 1880 at age 18, he and his partner Arthur Cunningham, a distant cousin, now surveyed, with mounting dismay, their enormous property, including its forlorn flock of scruffy merino ewes fossicking amidst the pervasive bracken. Only the sight of glittering Lake Tutira, fringed with silky willows, flax, kowhai, and peach trees countered their initial sense of ‘fatuous folly’. But this block of initially unproductive hill country, often wet and cold, on the fringe of the agricultural badlands,16 overlain with fine silty clay and worthless pumice, and riven by gullies and ravines, was to become the focus of his life, the very core of his identity, right up until his death in 1940.

One strand of the story of GuthrieSmith’s successive decades at Tutira has become a familiar New Zealand narrative: years of hard work (draining swamps, hewing tracks, fencing, sowing grass seed) breaking in the land, fortified by astute observation of the indicators of agricultural economy (how the Lincoln breed of sheep fared relative to the merino; how best to manage autumn burn-offs). All this enabled the property to ultimately become prosperous and productive, even in the face of slumps in wool

prices, floods, constant stock deaths, and the ever-invasive bracken.

Another strand of the story, explains why, as well as being described as “farmer, philosopher, gifted writer, and pre-eminent naturalist”,17 Guthrie-Smith also deserves to take his place in a book about ‘68 Great New Zealand Scientists’,18 alongside the likes of science polymath Charles Fleming (see below) and geologist Harold Wellman (see Barker, 2006).

Observation, drenched in prior knowledge and suffused into subsequent reflection, grounded Guthrie-Smith’s science. As Alex Calder points out,19 and as the chaffinch anecdote suggests, he noted small things but saw through to the patterns that underlay them.

He had a need to convey what he considered to be novel insights about things familiar to us – weeds, sheep, sparrows, hillsides. To wrench his subjects free from the blanket of habitual perception he often used startling analogies: underground hillside streams are ‘subcutaneous’; the subsequent slumping and erosion is like the dissolution of a dead sheep on a hillside. There is systematic observation over time: he fenced off and completely set aside the ‘Hanger’ – an unused 10-hectare hill at his back door – and recorded the changes over 40 years.20 And there is geographically wide-ranging observation: in later life, he travelled throughout New Zealand, including its outlying islands.

What Guthrie-Smith chose to observe at Tutira was no doubt influenced by some special personal factors: his attachment to wildlife had begun even back in Dunbartonshire under the tutelage of his father;21 at Tutira, his early love of gardening developed into a passion for natural history”;22 initially at Tutira, he wrote poetry and fiction.23 All this gradually set him on a distinctive pathway of reflexive thinking and observing.

Ultimately, he came to doubt his own impact as a farmer, his earlier follies and naiveties: “Have I then for 60 years desecrated God’s earth and dubbed it improvement?”24 More generally, he was to deliver a scathing assessment of “the ruin of a fauna and flora unique in the world – a sad, bad, incomprehensible business”.25 Guthrie-Smith never engaged in heated environmental controversy himself – his

The implications for our science classrooms are clear.

We all know that having students discover plant cells by inviting them to “just draw what you see” can so often result in beautifully shaded, perfectly spherical depictions of air bubbles.

courteous, charming style, with its occasional quirky humour26 worked against that – but over the years, the prophetic nature of his writings caused him to be regarded as a unique and hugely significant backcountry seer.

Guthrie-Smith’s story very much exemplifies the way that scientists’ observations are influenced by their existing ideas. Louis Pasteur famously put it most succinctly: “In the fields of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind.”27 The implications for our science classrooms are clear. We all know that having students discover plant cells by inviting them to “just draw what you see” can so often result in beautifully shaded, perfectly spherical depictions of air bubbles.

A magisterial quote28 from British science educator David Layton on this whole matter has resonated with me down over the years: “To claim, for example, that when a child looks down a spinthariscope,29 he is seeing what Rutherford saw and stands in the same relation to the experimental evidence as Rutherford did, is to assume that perception is unaffected by previous experience, knowledge, and expectations. This is clearly not so.”

Charles Fleming: Ripples in a rock pool There were so many questions the boy had wanted to ask the redoubtable shell expert A. W. B. (Baden) Powell, but he had always been too shy. Now, however, on a school field club trip to a fossil bed at Onetangi Beach, on Hauraki Gulf’s Waiheke Island, the two suddenly found themselves deep in conversation. That day, 15 March 1930, the 13-year-old boy had been standing near the water’s edge holding a jar containing his wonderful find: a black, slimy, floppy sea slug.

He told his interested teacher,30 “I’ve got a black Nudibranch I haven’t seen before, but I’ll find its name when I get home.” The boy recalls31 what happened next: “A big man in shorts, standing in the shallow water near the dinghy, spun around on his heel to see this odd child … when he saw the black Dorid, however, he had to admit that he, too, had never seen one like it. So he spent the next ten minutes persuading me that it would be best if I let him take it for the museum collections >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 49

and make a watercolour sketch before it died. It proved to be the second New Zealand recording of Dendrodoris nigra32 … but far more important, it led me to 50 years of friendship and inspiration from Baden Powell.” Powell, himself quite a shy man and rather diffident and formal with strangers, was the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s resident conchologist and paleontologist and a nationally and internationally-renowned naturalist.33 He had been invited on the field trip that day as a guest leader. The boy, too, had been especially invited on the trip (all the other boys were much older) because of his already outstanding expertise in natural history. His name was Charles Fleming.

In some ways, the outdoor excursions of Fleming’s childhood were typical of so many fortunate young New Zealanders over the years.

On family holidays at Takapuna Beach,34 he had learned to swim, made sandcastles, ate pipi, and fished for piper and patiki. Out on the Takapuna Reef, he had seen the rimmed cylindrical holes in the rocks created, he was told, when, 200,000 years ago, a lava flow from the nearby Pupuke eruption surged through a seaside forest, had solidified around the tree trunks, and then incinerated them. He had clambered on rocks under the massive grey Waitemata sandstone cliffs, and he had dawdled past the (now fallen) twin rock pinnacles called the King and Queen.35 Ranging more widely down to an uncle’s farm in the Waikato, he had learned to ride a pony, shoot and skin rabbits, pluck poultry, and catch eels.

There, too, he had begun to collect thrush and blackbird eggs. Near Rotorua he once heard the song of the kokako.

But Fleming’s childhood explorations of the natural world were also being subtly channelled in unique and pivotal ways. When, as a 5-year-old, he arrived

home with fish, crabs, shrimps, and shellfish in buckets of water, the family encouraged him to start a shell collection – soon they found him an 18-drawer rimu cabinet to house it. Later, his mother, Winifred, helped him to write neat labels (Fleming’s handwriting, like his spelling, remained poor throughout his life) and this led him on a quest to be more thorough and systematic in his collecting. Fleming’s father, George, had a book collection that intrigued young Charles: there was Frenchman George Cuvier’s The Animal Kingdom from the early 19th century, and Buller’s History of the Birds of New Zealand from the early 1870s, both monumental and lavishly illustrated and enticing.

Charles was soon armed with Bucknill’s Sea Shells of New Zealand (1924); and when he was 11, his father gave him the longed-for Suter’s Manual of the New Zealand Mollusca (1927) for Christmas.

But it wasn’t only shells and molluscs. As side issues, Fleming was becoming fascinated by birds and fossils, too. The family dentist gave him spare copies of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, where he read about the romantic history of the Chatham Islands and its extinct birds.

Like the surface ripples speeding away from a pebble dropped in a placid rock pool, Fleming’s initial enthusiasm for shells as a 5-year-old was radiating outward. What was to follow was a life notable for its hard-won expertise, expansive conjectures (often brilliant), resolute service, and high honours, ranging over an extraordinary number of overlapping and interconnected fields of science. The mature pattern was as if not one but a handful of pebbles had been tossed into the rock pool.

The radiations from the multiple centres – ornithology,

geology, biogeography, paleontology, entomology – commingled, overlapped, and mutually resonated. Fleming was to become a science multi-tasker supreme.

At The University of Auckland, his master’s thesis studying whale birds had traditional Victorian ornithology at its heart36 – the anatomy of six prion species – but in his consideration of the events that could have given rise to their speciation, he had crossed right over from zoology to geology. In November 1940, he commenced work at the Geological Survey Branch of the DSIR. An early assignment was his attachment to a wartime project setting up coast-watching stations on New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands. In his 12-month stint there, his work in geology and natural history spilled over into biogeography. Returning, and now designated as a paleontologist, his copious publications in the 1950s focused on living and fossil molluscs; he also studied oceans floors and the origins of New Zealand’s flora and fauna. In the 1960s, the sound-recording techniques applied in his ongoing interest in bird calls were applied in entomology, and a cascade of entomological papers on cicadas resulted. The 1970s and 1980s saw all these interests coalesce in Fleming’s heavy involvement in the conservation movement: he supported the Manapouri campaign, was deeply involved in the Native Forest Action Council, and his articulate voice was added to a host of other authorities, trusts, boards, and societies. Fleming retired from the Geological Survey in 1977, and he died in September 1987.

True, there is something of the bygone Darwinian naturalist in Fleming,37 but generally, the way contemporary scientists often study complex inter-related systems so fruitfully is, in fact, very common. We only need to think of how research in deep-ocean magnetism spilled over its physics borders into the plate tectonic basis of today’s geology; or of how X-ray crystallography, injected into biochemistry, cracked the structure of DNA and penetrated the heartland of biology.

As Fleming himself put it, “We must cease being technologists and economists and become philosophers, not afraid to look at the total picture.”38

Some final thoughts This series of ripping yarns has explored how stories about science might explain and clarify aspects of the Nature of Science. Exploring the borderlands between science and environment, as this cluster of stories has done, has challenged what Australian environmental educator Noel Gough sees as a limiting view of science education – namely that it has an automatic mandate (or excuse) to privilege ‘scientific’ knowledge and methods. Thought about in this limiting way, science education simply refuses to look at the complexity of decision-making in real-world events.39 But how can our science teaching and learning better reflect the fact that real-world decision-making 50 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

is an integral part of the Nature of Science?40 I have argued that storytelling is one way to blow the doors wide open because, if done well, storytelling can, in Derek Hodson’s words “… juxtapose different opinions, voices and perspectives, encouraging the reader (or listener) to deliberate, evaluate, and decide on where they stand or to adopt a different stance”.41 This can be challenging territory for science education, but it is clear that an adequately broad view of the Nature of Science demands it. Armed with the best of resources, both materially and pedagogically,42 it is our job to encourage learners, consciously or unconsciously, to focus on fundamental life choices: What kind of person do I want to be? What kind of world do I want to live in?43 That is exactly the territory where the umbrella Nature of Science strand in our curriculum becomes one with The New Zealand Curriculum front end notions of Vision and Values. The brief of science education, at its

most enlightened, is as complex, wide-ranging, spine-tingling and lifechanging as that.

Conceiving of the Nature of Science as an enduring life-style, a habit of being, something at our very core, has been put with great poignancy

by French biologist and Nobelist Francois Jacob, in his book The Statue Within: An Autobiography “Thus, I carry within a kind of inner statue, a statue sculptured since childhood, that gives my life a continuity and is the most intimate part of me, the hardest kernel of my character. I have been shaping this statue all my life. I have been constantly retouching, polishing, refining it.”44

Dedication This article is dedicated to those Kiwi professional scientists who, like Charles Fleming, have helped us to see the wider environmental

References 1.

Kolbert, E. (2006). Field notes from a catastrophe: Man, nature and climate change. New York: Bloomsbury, pp.133-4.

19.

Calder (2011), p.144.

20.

Staying at the Guthrie-Smith Outdoor Education Centre, 45 km north of Napier” ph (06)839-7485, you and your students can explore the ‘Hanger’, kayak on beautiful Lake Tutira, and much more.

implications in our classroom science teaching. I think especially of John Morton, Alan Mark, Charlotte Wallace, and Bruce Clarkson, and you no doubt would want to name many others.  Miles Barker, now an honorary lecturer, was formerly an associate professor of science education and environmental Education at the University of Waikato.

34.

See McEwan (2005). Fleming’s family lived in Remuera but they also owned a house in Hurstmere Road, Takapuna.

35.

See the introduction to Bruce Mason’s nostalgic 1962 play, The End of the Golden Weather. Wellington: Price Milburn, p.11. The play is set just two years after Fleming’s Dendrodoris discovery.

2.

Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media, pp.8,10.

3.

Barker, M. (2002). Ripping yarns – science stories with a point,101, 31-36; Barker, M. (2004). Spirals, shame and sainthood – more ripping yarns from science, 106, 6-14; Barker, M. (2006). Ripping yarns – a pedagogy for learning about the nature of science, 113, 27-37; Barker, M. (2010). Ripping yarns – science in Asia, 124, 32-38; Barker, M. (2012). Ripping yarns – science in Africa, 130, 29-33.

21.

Yarwood & Garsteiger (1995), p.54, and see Hutchinson, D. (1998). Growing up green: Education for ecological renewal. New York: Teachers College Press.

36.

See Dell (2013), p.1.

22.

Meduna & Priestly (2008), p.38.

37.

See McEwen (2005), p. 9.

23.

Meduna & Priestly (2008), p.38.

38.

24.

Guthrie-Smith (1999), p.xxiii, i.e. Preface to the Third Edition.

Editorial, New Zealand Listener, 14 November 1969, quoted Priestly (2008).

39.

4.

Barker, M. (2011). Nature of science and The New Zealand Curriculum: fourteen underpinning ideas. New Zealand Science Teacher, 126, 33-37.

25.

5.

See BBC Education & Training videotape (1996): ‘People’s Century 1900-1999’, episode 17 – ‘Endangered Planet’. See also: www.cbsnews.com/ videos/the-price-of-progress/

See Gough, N. (1999, p.39) in Rethinking the subject: (De)constructing human agency in environmental education research. Environmental Education Research, 5 (1), 35-48. See also Hart, P. (2007).

Environmental education In S. Abell & N. Lederman (Eds.) Handbook of research on science education.

Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp.689-726.

40.

6.

Lear (1997), p.447.

7.

Lear (1997), p.447.

Cooper (2013) quoting from Guthrie-Smith’s 1936 book, Sorrows and Joys of a New Zealand Naturalist.

Prescient, and resonant with Guthrie-Smith’s conclusions, had been the close of William Pember Reeves’s (1898) wistful poem, The Passing of the Forest in New Zealand and Other Poems (London: Grant Richards), p.8: “Bitter the thought: ‘Is this the price we pay – The price for progress – beauty swept away?

We may substitute ‘biodiversity’ for ‘beauty.”

8.

Lear (1997) p.447.

26.

Yarwood and Garsteiger (1995), p.54.

9.

Lear (1997), p.450.

27.

Lecture, University of Lille, 1854.

10.

Lytle (2007), p.31.

28.

11.

Lytle (2007), p.2.

Layton, D. (1973). Science for the people. London: Allen & Unwin, p.218.

This, of course, is not a radical or novel quest; socio-scientific issues are an anchoring component of the ‘Participating and Contributing’ strand of our school science curriculum. And, looking outwards, this quest successfully pursued leads us to the heart of environmental education – see: Barker, M. (2003).

Science education and environmental education: What is their relationship? STERpapers, pp.53-67.

Odum, E., & Odum, H. (1952). Fundamentals of ecology.

New York: W. B. Saunders.

29.

Hodson, D. (2011). Looking to the future: Building a curriculum for social activism. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, p.175.

13.

New Zealand Curriculum Development Unit (1969).

Biological science: Processes and patterns of life.

Wellington: Government Printer. Famously weighing 1.6kg and measuring 6.5cm across the spine, this wonderfully illustrated textbook, with its luminous Joan Miro painting on the white cover, marked a huge turning point in the direction of New Zealand science education.

It doesn’t matter what a spinthariscope actually is – the point is made. In fact, it is a radium, florescent screen and a magnifier used for a time by Rutherford to show particles ejected from decaying atoms. Layton recalls a period in the mid 20th century when spinthariscopes had a modest revival as instructional novelties.

41.

12.

42.

See Hipkins, R. (2012). Building a science curriculum with an effective nature of science component.

Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research; Hipkins, R., & Hodgen, E. (2012). Curriculum support in science: Patterns in teachers’ use of resources. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research; Hipkins, R. (2012). A model for making NoS more explicit. New Zealand Science Teacher, 130, 26-28.

43.

See Barker, M. (2008, p.12). The New Zealand Curriculum and preservice teacher education: Public document, private perceptions. Curriculum Matters, 4, 7-19.

44.

See Jacob, Francois (1988). The statue within: An autobiography. London: Unwin Hyman, p.17.

14.

Guthrie-Smith (1999), p.366-7.

15.

Wells (1979), Abstract.

16.

Refer Barker (2002), ‘Why the Kaingaroa forest isn’t grassland’.

17.

Yarwood & Garsteiger (1995), p.52.

18.

Meduna & Priestly (2008).

30.

The teacher was Mr William (Bill) Delph; the school was King’s College, Auckland.

31.

See Fleming (1981).

32.

A shell-less gastropod mollusc up to 7cm long, it was then known as Doriopsilla australis.

33.

A. W. B. Powell (1901–1987) was best known in Kiwi homes and schools as the author of the Museum’s trail-blazing 1947 handbook of zoology, Native Animals of New Zealand. Within its yellow, soft covers were descriptions and clear black-and-white figures of 411 land, marine and freshwater animals.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 51

LEARNING IN SCIENCE literacy

Falling for science: puzzles make for great starting points in fiction Bernard Beckett integrates big scientific concepts into his young adult novels.

B

ernard Beckett has fallen for science.

The author of a wide range of novels, plays, and film scripts was born into a large family in rural Wairarapa. He started his career as a secondary teacher in the 1990s, and with any slivers of time he found, he started writing: plays, novels, and non-fiction. The young adult novel Genesis is his best known and introduced him to an international market.

Bernard says Genesis was conceived after taking part in a Royal Society Teaching Fellowship in 2005. He spent a year at the Allan Wilson Centre, an international leader in the field of molecular biology. The result: a ‘teen sci-fi metaphysical thriller’ book now translated into more than 20 languages.

The non-fiction work Falling for Science was published in 2007, and in 2011, August, which centres on the theme of free will, was published. New Zealand Science Teacher talked to Bernard about writing and how this intersects with his work as an educator.

Hi, Bernard. You’re a writer and a secondary school teacher. How do you think your teaching work influences your novel writing?

There are two lines of influence here. In the first case, a great deal of my writing involves teen characters, and in terms of where my sense of what they’re like, how they behave etc. comes from, those conceptions undoubtedly spring from my contact with teens in my job.

The second aspect is to do with the fact that teachers, inevitably, have things we want to say to the young. Hopefully that doesn’t stoop to the didactic, but equally, if one doesn’t have a set of ideas, interests, and behaviours one wishes to pass on, then teaching is surely the wrong profession to have chosen.

Genesis is the best-known of your novels.

What inspired the key concepts, and had you always been interested in reading and writing science fiction?

Two key ideas inspired me when it came to writing Genesis. One was the sheer grandeur, to use Darwin’s word, of the evolutionary perspective. It drives me slightly nuts that the single most interesting idea humanity has stumbled upon does not sit front and centre of the educational curriculum. The majority 52 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Do you think there is a place for science fiction literature in teaching key science concepts to secondary students (or adults, for that matter?)

I think it can serve as a good starting point.

I remember, some decades back now, in my teacher training year, being solemnly told that a lesson consists of ‘catch ‘em, teach ‘em, test ‘em’. Not terrible advice, as it happens, and the catch ‘em phase remains as important as ever. Before we instruct, we must find a way of engaging interest. Fiction’s very good at that.

The trick, however, is not to stall at the level of entertainment. It’s not enough to amuse.

The hard work of engagement with ideas, and indeed instruction, has to follow. of our students will leave their 12 or so years of state-funded education without ever really having been exposed to the notion of natural selection – certainly not in any detail.

The other notion sitting at the centre of the novel comes to us via philosophy (another area of knowledge that schools could well consider sharing with the young). What on earth is this thing called consciousness, and how are we to line up what appears to be a mechanistic brain, with the irreducibly first person experience of being alive in the world? We’ve not yet answered that question, and puzzles make for great starting points in fiction, and indeed, in classrooms.

There is a dystopian element in Genesis. In your experience, do young readers bring fresh perspectives to the ‘big ideas’ in science fiction?

The freshness the young reader brings is to do with the fact that very often, ideas that for the adult have become tired cliches, are for them new and exciting. Very often, particularly with problems and puzzles, we move on not by solving them, but by becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the lack of a solution.

Many adults, for example, don’t want to consider philosophy because it inevitably challenges their certainties. The young, at least sometimes, bring a naive optimism to the table, a belief that the problem can be solved, and so you get that privileged flourishing of curiosity.

How was your interest in science first kindled?

There were various points of contact. I remember at primary school being encouraged by a teacher to try to find out how siphoning worked.

This meant playing around with hoses and buckets (the joy of living in a time before the internet, when ‘find out how’ morphs too quickly into ‘search for on...’). Not surprisingly, I didn’t make it all the way to the correct answer – pressure gradients were a little beyond me – but the first few steps were nevertheless exhilarating. At secondary school, science slid into various rituals involving memorising and calculating, and some of the joy leaked out of that particular balloon. Popular science writing brought me back into the fold, and subsequently, a year at The Allan Wilson Centre bedded in my love for the subject.

Can you recommend other authors and/ or books to teachers who are interested in reading more science fiction?

There are so many fantastic books in the popular science world now. If you’re lucky you’ll have a quality independent book shop nearby, with whole shelves of the stuff to choose from. A particular favourite for me is the Best American Science Writing series, an annual anthology of top quality science journalism. It’s a great way of whetting the appetite. 

The inspiration

EDUCATION & SOCIETY science education & culture

of the Doctor

We can thank the Third Doctor (Who) for Simon Granville’s career choices.

Simon always thought that he’d like to be a diplomat or a scientist – but watching Jon Pertwee play about with interesting gadgets and technology on Doctor Who swung his decision in science’s favour, writes KATE HANNAH.

T

he exhaustive Wikipedia entry for the Third Doctor describes him as a ‘suave, dapper, technologically oriented, and authoritative man of action … a keen scientist’ – obviously highly compelling stuff to a kid weighing up career choices!

Simon’s career has been significantly shaped by a number of forces: the compelling image of the dapper Doctor, with his yellow roadster Bessie, shouting at his companion to ‘reverse the polarityof the neutron flow’; the intervention, at several critical points, of Emeritus Professor Joe Trodahl; the MacDiarmid Institute itself; the links and ties and networks Simon has made since that third year solid state physics class in 2000.

So Simon’s story is one that revolves around both the individual impact of Joe Trodahl, and the collective impact of the then new Centre of Research Excellence, the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

Simon’s ability to return to the Institute as an associate investigator is in no large part influenced by the people there, who remained connected to him during his post-doctorate and subsequent international job hunt.

He recalls first engaging with Joe in that third-year solid state physics class: “I asked a lot of questions, none of which I thought were very clever, and I was offered a summer scholarship.”

This took place out at the old IRL campus (Industrial Research Limited) in Lower Hutt – meaning that the undergrad Simon came into contact with the likes of Bob Buckley and Jeff Tallon.

At this stage, however, Simon was only really doing physics because he was good at it – he’d not yet had that eureka moment in which the transformative way in which physics shapes one’s worldview becomes a critical motivating force. Physics as the main way of seeing snuck up on Simon – a pool game that became a set of forces and angles and geometry, being involved in research projects that were entirely experimental, then working with thin film materials and being intrigued that these unassuming surface materials held so much scope and potential.

“We were probing the mysteries, thinking on levels I’d never thought of before.”

Simon did another summer project with Joe and John Kennedy in the summer of 2001– 2002, and then on to a PhD supervised by Joe and Ben Ruck, who were by this stage principal investigators with the MacDiarmid Institute, which had been established in the initial CoRE funding round in 2002. Simon was thus one of the inaugural MacDiarmid PhD students – investigating thin films of magnetic nitrides.

He was playing round with semiconducting nitrides: “while the materials themselves were not particularly exciting, the experimental techniques were diverse.”

A landmark theoretical paper came out while he was in the middle of his PhD, and at that point he became involved in the unusual nitrides work that Joe Trodahl was doing with Ben Ruck. “I was still involved with the same materials, but the theoretical framework had changed.”

By the end of 2006, PhD completed, Simon headed to Lausanne on a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He was keen to put to use the languages (French and Spanish) that he’d taken throughout his undergraduate degree.

Having done his PhD at the same university he’d done undergrad at, Simon was increasingly aware that he needed exposure to other labs, other techniques, different equipment.

Working in the Laboratory of the Physics of Nanostructured Materials, under the supervision of Professor Jean-Philippe Ansermet, he was working with magnetism – creating nanowires of magnetic materials – and in spintronics. Since it was a universityfunded postdoctoral position, he was able to stay for four years, and was critically involved in looking after the equipment in the laboratory, including the SQUID magnetometer.

But after four years in the lab, one of those spent simultaneously looking for a job in the post-Global Financial-Crisis market, Bob Buckley emailed him about an upcoming position in the Superconductivity and Energy team at what was then still IRL. This contact didn’t come out of the blue — Simon’s PhD supervisor, Joe Trodahl, had been in regular contact with him during his postdoc.

Simon describes this as being back within his ‘academic family’—his research in magnetic materials and sensors, which seeks to develop thin film magnetic sensors with a variety of applications, has

critical links to the work that Joe and Ben Ruck do on rare-earth nitride thin films, linking him back to the techniques and materials he utilised in his PhD research.

Given the importance of the people of the MacDiarmid Institute to Simon’s development as a scholar and experimentalist, it seems entirely appropriate that he credits Joe Trodahl with encouraging him to apply for associate investigator status at his alma mater — and as Simon puts it, he was ‘really quite chuffed’ to be invited into the academic family that has had so much impact on his scientific career.

Joe Trodahl and Doctor Who – those are some good role models.

Kate Hannah is the incoming centre manager of Te Pa-naha Matatini – the Centre for Complex Systems and Networks. 

This article originally appeared in the MacDiarmid Institute’s Interface magazine. www.macdiarmid.ac.nz New Zealand Science Teacher >> 53

EDUCATION & SOCIETY science education & values

life as a science

mentor richly rewarded Melissa Wastney talks to awardwinning science mentor Dr Judith O’Brien about studying, juggling, and her own mentors.

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he Miriam Dell Award recognises an outstanding contribution to women in science.

This year’s inaugural winner was Dr Judith O’Brien, awarded the prize for her work mentoring female students and scientists.

The award, administered by the Association for Women in the Sciences (AWIS), is in its inaugural year. Nominations were received from across the science sector, including school science teachers, and science leaders in both tertiary and commercial organisations.

About Dr Judith O’Brien Judy O’Brien earned degrees in biology and a Diploma in Teaching and taught science to high school students. In the 1980s, she worked as a part-time researcher and lecturer at The University of Auckland whilst also being a full-time mother to four sons.

In 2001, she was appointed deputy director (academic) of the School of Biological Sciences (SBS), and is now deputy director (development).

Her current role focuses on recruitment and career support for staff and postgraduate students, but she still lectures a first-year biology class and works in science outreach organisations.

Hi Judy, congratulations on your award. What led you into the field of science and science teaching?

As a teenager, I worked part-time as a maths tutor. I found maths challenging as I got older, but I did have a good understanding of junior maths, so I understood students who were struggling.

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At school, I was really inspired in science by my chemistry teacher, a nun who had also trained in medical science. She was an amazing teacher.

I found it hard to decide whether I would go on at tertiary level in science or the arts.

I chose science because I felt it would give me more choices later on. I went to Otago University and studied biochemistry and microbiology. I returned to Auckland for my MSc as cell biology seemed like the perfect subject for me – I found it fascinating.

After I finished my master’s degree, I was awarded a scholarship to do a PhD, but at the same time, my fiancé got a job in Tokoroa.

I decided to train as a teacher and ended up teaching secondary science at a new high school that had recently been set up to accommodate the comparative boom times associated with the forestry industry. I taught there for about three and a half years, from 1975.

I think my time teaching in Tokoroa was very important to my career and certainly consolidated my teaching skills. I learned so much.

Eventually we moved back to Auckland, and that’s when I got back into science research, albeit briefly. Shortly after our move I found out we were having twins, so motherhood became my new career. I loved being a Mum – it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

When my children were small, I was offered a job by Dick Bellamy who had supervised my MSc research. The position involved working at Auckland University teaching a large Stage 1 biology class. There were about 500 students enrolled in the course and a tutor was required for a month each year to run the laboratory classes associated with Dick’s lectures. I took the job, having enlisted my mother’s help with the boys, but had to quickly find a nanny when Mum broke her leg shortly before I was about to start!

I ended up teaching in the Stage 1 labs for a number of years, and looking back it was very helpful for me: it was part-time work while my children were young, and it kept up my connection with the university and lab work.

Eventually, I went back to work half-time in Dick’s lab at the School of Biological Sciences and completed my PhD in 1997 with the support of my family and colleagues. I really enjoyed postgraduate study and by then I was doing some lecturing at the university as well.

Over those years, I took part-time pay, and made it clear to my colleagues that my family was my first priority. I managed to organise my working life around my home life with the support of Dick and other colleagues.

You have been awarded the Miriam Dell prize for your science mentoring work. Did you have any mentors yourself, when you started in your career?

Looking back, I would say my mother was a fantastic mentor for me. She believed

I think a good mentor can make the difference between success and failure.

What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

Ideally, I think everyone should have a mentor regardless of what they are doing. Early in your career you need someone whose judgement you trust, and then later you can pass on that experience and knowledge.

strongly in education and in giving people the opportunity to fulfil their potential in whichever way they could.

As described above, Dick Bellamy was an amazing mentor to me. He oversaw much of my early career. So much of what I do now is modelled on the way he mentored me.

In 2001, he became dean of science here at The University of Auckland. After that, I was appointed deputy director (academic) in SBS, which I did for 10 years full-time. I think that job played to my strengths and the fact I had secondary school teaching experience.

Dick has now retired, but I still go to him for professional advice so he’s still my mentor! I feel very fortunate to have had such a wonderful career guide in my life.

How important are good mentors for educators and scientists?

Ideally, I think everyone should have a mentor regardless of what they are doing. Early in your career you need someone whose judgement you trust, and then later on you can pass that experience and knowledge on to a younger person. It’s not so much about mentors doing things for others, but more about listening and suggesting options based on the facts at hand. Also, their role is to bring things to your attention that might not have otherwise been considered – it’s about expanding horizons and empowering you to make good decisions.

The night I put the finishing touches to my PhD (which happened to be the night before my 45th birthday) was a definite highlight for me. That was a wonderful feeling. Getting the Miriam Dell award is another major milestone.

Overall though, the biggest thing for me is all the individual triumphs – students getting back on track or finding out what they really love, an offer of place in a programme they really wanted, scholarships and prizes and later on publications and research grants and ultimately satisfying jobs in academia or the real world!

Quite often, I get feedback that I’ve made a difference for someone and that is what really gets me up in the morning; what has really driven the later stages of my career. I love that I get the chance to help people on their different paths.

How do you think the future of New Zealand science is looking?

Science is a fascinating field – it’s just so interesting. I love to find out new things, and while I don’t get to do my own research so much these days, I’m certainly exposed to some really interesting science work.

We have incredibly talented people working in science. I think we’re producing them in the same numbers as we were before the different school qualification systems were introduced.

That hasn’t made any difference- we’re still getting wonderful, bright students coming through the school system and on to university.

We’re turning out students who can foot it at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, wherever they want to go. And on the whole, New Zealanders are very resourceful, which works in our favour, too.

Like many other countries, we do face some challenges when it comes to resources. It would be wrong to say that those challenges don’t exist – we have to work hard to retain our best people and secure adequate research funding.

I think students going into science need to think about where they might want to sit on the spectrum of the kind of work they want to do. There’s a significant element of serendipity when it comes to the pure science ‘blue skies’ research. Work that is intellectually challenging can turn out to be commercially or environmentally valuable also. The other option is the translational end of the spectrum where we have great potential, a good example being the biotechnology field. I definitely think science is a very good choice for our students. 

The award The Miriam Dell Award is a biennial prize awarded to someone who mentors women in STEM subjects. The award is named for AWIS patron Dame Miriam Dell – botanist, secondary school teacher and advocate for women’s advancement.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 55

EDUCATION & SOCIETY science education & culture

Individually-designed physics lessons get

remarkable results

The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes recognise outstanding work and raise the prestige of science in New Zealand.

Melissa Wastney talks to prizewinner Fenella Colyer, a Manurewa physics teacher who says she’s just warming up.

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he science behind waka design and traditional Pacific navigation is inspiring young physicists in South Auckland, thanks to their innovative teacher. Fenella Colyer was awarded the Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize at a ceremony last November. The prize is one of five science awards offered each year to raise the profile of the sector in New Zealand.

Fenella’s work at Manurewa High School has resulted in a surge of success in its science department, which has included a 30 per cent increase in the number of Māori and Pasifika students taking up the subject in the past two years, and pass rates rising to 81 per cent, which is better than the national average.

Thirteen students have won major science awards and many others have attended science events (symposiums, summer schools, etc.) around the country.

Fenella has been teaching science at Manurewa High School for 17 years. The head of physics at the multicultural South Auckland school says her work there marked the beginning of a different approach to teaching.

“I don’t think I would have had that success if I hadn’t come to this school, if I’m honest. It’s where I’ve had to change my entire educational outlook,” she says.

Previously, she had taught at a wealthy girls’ school in South Africa, and her arrival at Manurewa High came with the realisation that her approach to teaching physics would have to change to suit the multicultural nature of South Auckland. “I thought to myself: ‘I’ll have to sink or swim.’ I learned a lot from the students – just listening and observing them to see what worked and what didn’t.”

Finding new ways to engage A key focus for her was demystifying science exams and giving students the confidence to explore complicated scientific concepts.

“I used to think that making physics accessible meant making it the same for everyone – treating everyone in the same way.

But then I realised that doesn’t work because everyone is different, and people have different ways of learning,” she says. “I needed to modify 56 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Fenella and her students.

Photo: Dean Carruthers, Auckland.

the course content I taught. It had to be linked to culture, if possible, and it had to be relevant and interesting to students.”

Fenella teaches from individually-tailored physics units. Those she has designed for her students include the physics of sport, waka design, and the navigational skills used by early Polynesians. All of these units are individually designed to work within The New Zealand Curriculum.

The way in which this content was delivered proved another key concern when Fenella first arrived at Manurewa High School, and continues to be a challenge today. “The students learn better if they’re allowed to talk and communicate with each other and me. I grouped the desks and changed my seat to be amongst the groups of desks. This new classroom environment works better for all of us,” she says. “My Māori and Pasifika students respond well to being taught in a cooperative situation. They need to be sitting in groups where they can share their ideas, and so I am the facilitator rather than lecturer.”

Fenella is interested in bringing knowledgeable community members into her science classes for variety, relevance and interest. “I had a woman from Manurewa marae come in and teach us flax weaving.

From there, we did experiments with flax rope and testing elasticity,” she says. “There were great opportunities for the learning of science concepts, but really, it’s just the beginning. There’s much more to be done.”

She also attended night classes in computer studies so she could use ICT in her teaching and helped Manurewa High introduce Sparklabs, which use touch screen technology for collecting real-time data in science. She is now modifying the Sparklab files to reflect New Zealand content.

The opportunities of her students are at the forefront of Fenella’s mind. Earlier this year, she received a 2013 Rotary Award for significant and meritorious service to the community, recognising her fundraising and sponsorship activities to help struggling students to attend science events. She also says she is open to sharing her specialised physics units with teachers from other schools, if they are interested.

The Prime Minister’s Science Teacher Prize is worth $150,000. Manurewa High School principal Salvatore Gargiulo says some of the school’s $100,000 share of the prize money will be used to establish a science academy, to further boost the subject’s profile at the school.

“Mrs Colyer’s success breaks the low decile stereotype that such schools struggle to achieve top grades in what are considered difficult subjects,” he says. “Dropping science, often for the wrong reasons, such as it being perceived as a tough subject, cuts out a raft of career opportunities.”

But Fenella stresses her work has just begun.

“I never feel bored in my job. It’s just starting to evolve and there’s so much more to do,” she says.

“I feel as though I’m just putting my toe in the water at the moment. I just want to keep trying new things and improving my teaching.” 

Outside the physics classroom Regular professional learning opportunities have helped Fenella stay inspired. “My school has always sent me on any PD I wanted – and I’ve made full use of that. I’m lucky to have had a very supportive school management behind me,” she says.

The Prime Minister’s Science Prizes are awarded at the end of each school year, and 2014 marks their sixth year. In total, the five prizes award $1 million. To read more about the prizes, visit www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz.

EDUCATION & SOCIETY science education & culture

Mushroom power a winner for Tom

Tom Morgan won the Prime Minister’s Future Scientist Prize for his work with vitamin D and fungi.

Photo: Jacqui Leslie, Blenheim.

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aking a school chemistry experiment to another level led to a prestigious prize for 18-year-old Thomas (Tom) Morgan in 2013. The Marlborough Boys’ College student was awarded the Prime Minister’s Future Scientist Prize for his innovative work growing mushrooms for vitamin D. Tom grew oyster mushrooms in the dark and then exposed them to ultraviolet (UV) light for varying periods of time before testing their concentration of ergocalciferol or vitamin D. His results showed a strong correlation between length of exposure to UV light and the concentration of vitamin D in oyster mushrooms.

The work illustrates the potential for others to investigate ways to improve vitamin D concentrations in food, with the goal of addressing Vitamin D deficiency. A lack of vitamin D is linked to osteoporosis and is a major cause of suffering and disability around the world. Bone health supplements have the potential to help many in our ageing population.

Lighting a spark Tom’s experiments were inspired by his school chemistry classwork. “It all started with a Level 3 chemistry standard where we needed to do a practical investigation into something of our choice. Many students chose to measure vitamin C using a titration.

I thought, ‘what about vitamin D?’, and it followed on from there. “I didn’t find anything new in regards to vitamin D. However, I found a new, inexpensive way of testing for it that had not been done before by adding my own original thought to existing research.”

His desire to test vitamin D levels in the mushrooms encountered hurdles at the beginning.

Sally Withers, head of chemistry at Marlborough Boys’ College, knew the school

didn’t have the right equipment to carry out the work. She worked with the school’s science technician to source and make up the special chemicals required. Tom bought a mushroom growing kit from Mitre 10 and set to work.

“I started the tests at school, and that’s where I did most of the trials. But the mushrooms ended up maturing over the holidays, so my parents helped me set up a small lab at home.”

The oyster mushrooms took six weeks to mature, and then Tom tested for the vitamin D levels from the home lab, but not without some important help. “My mum helped me out as my assistant. She was passing me chemicals and helping to record the results, which was helpful”, he says. “I also outsourced help with the spectrophotometer, because we didn’t have one of those at school.”

Tom researched methods of measuring vitamin D in the mushrooms grown with UV light. A spectrophotometer measures either the amount of light reflected from a sample solution or the amount of light that is absorbed by the sample solution.

He also did background reading on the health benefits of vitamin D. “I learned about the growing worldwide problem with osteoporosis, something that will become more and more of an issue as the number of elderly people increases.

“Through my work, I came to understand that there are not a lot of easily available foods that contain high levels of vitamin D for people who aren’t getting it through sunlight.”

Mushrooms don’t have vitamin D in them naturally, but once they’re exposed to UV light, their vitamin D content increases. Tom says his process could be used instead of the expensive standard HPLC testing method.

Increasing a food’s vitamin D content could be used to treat osteoporosis, and supplement bone health generally. “I wasn’t even sure I would have a trend, right up until I processed the results, so it was an amazing feeling when I realised I had found a pattern.”

Tom’s teacher Sally Withers says he overcame several challenges in completing the science. His resilience was an especially noted characteristic. “When he first came to me with the idea I said straightaway ‘we don’t have the right equipment here’ but Tom went away and found an alternative method of doing the testing,” she says.

Since winning the award last year, Tom has kept busy with his studies at the University of Canterbury. He is currently in his intermediate year of engineering, with plans to go into mechanical engineering next year. He is also attending the European Union Competition for Young Scientists in Warsaw, Poland. 

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 57

Putaiao Maori culture & science

h e Se edli n g: perceptions Tstudents’ of science education DR SIMON TAYLOR writes about close encounters with student learning in Year 9 and 10 science classrooms.

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hat is learning like in Years 9 and 10 science from a student’s viewpoint? What is really going on? Let’s take the opportunity to get up close to their learning world.

My current research examines the perceptions of secondary students – how they see learning in their science lessons. This article centres on what we as teachers can learn from student voice, how personally relevant learning contexts used in lessons

were particularly significant for Māori and Pacifica students, and how established collaborative practices influenced student engagement.

A key feature of The New Zealand Curriculum places emphasis on teacher actions promoting student learning in the ‘Effective Pedagogy’ section (Ministry of Education, 2007). It’s been in the spotlight in the professional learning and development initiatives over recent years where there

Year 9 students at Te Waha o Rerekohu Area School.

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is importance on creating a supportive learning environment, encouraging reflective thought, and enhancing the relevance of new learning for students.

However, what kind of learning do we want to promote for our students in our science classes (as well as for ourselves as science teachers)? How should we go about making changes to the way we teach science that embrace effective pedagogy described in the curriculum? One major factor that emerged from an extensive study in New Zealand directed by Graham Nuthall was that the power of peer relationships and teacher interactions directly shaped student learning experiences (Nuthall, 2007). Furthermore, Science Capabilities (Ministry of Education, 2014) have been identified from the Nature of Science strand in the The New Zealand Curriculum to promote the concept of science citizenship. Students are urged to bring a scientific perspective to decisions and actions.

They are encouraged to: »» work collaboratively both with their peers and their teacher »» reflect on why they are learning about a topic »» challenge views using evidence »» ponder the validity of experiments »» share their developing ideas with their classmates »» use their scientific understandings to make decisions »» take actions in social and cultural contexts.

These are challenging propositions for science teachers of 21st century teenagers. Importantly, these descriptions imply that learning is inextricably linked with the social

encounters of science activities in the classroom. For example, if students are required to share their developing ideas with their peers, then what matters is how they do that and what the students extract from the experience. Their experience of the activity shapes their learning (Nuthall, 2007), and if they have the opportunity to evaluate and reflect, these can be helpful levers to go on and ask further questions. To find out how students experience science in the immediate learning environment and measure what actually happens in science classrooms through their eyes could help teachers further unpack the Nature of Science strand. Perhaps there is a danger to rush to list strategies and construct methods with these specific capabilities in mind, so let’s take a breath to ponder the world of the teenager in science lessons.

The research This research predominantly focused on gathering student voice at the junior years of secondary school, collecting descriptions from a wide range of classes and using a quantitative student survey, learning drawings and student interviews to measure this. About 950 Year 9 and 10 secondary students in 41 science classes attending schools situated in the central North Island were invited over a period of three years to share their perceptions of what science learning was like in their lessons. The following comments are a brief and introductory interpretation of four themes (student perceptions) that were highlighted: Shared Control titled as ‘Learning to learn’. This is the extent to which students are being invited to share with the teacher;

take control of the learning environment, including the articulation of learning goals; and design and manage learning activities – this included practical experiments, and the determination and application of assessment criteria.

As teachers we can empathise with the metaphor ‘learners in the driving seat’ highlighting the significance of students taking control of the learning, but how does this happen in Year 9 and 10 science classes? Sharing control with students is a practice by teachers that could be considered challenging (Watkins, Carnell & Lodge, 2007) because of time and curriculum content coverage constraints, particularly in secondary schools where tight timetables can reduce science to three hours per week.

Using both actual and preferred student forms of a learning environment survey, results show students preferred a far greater collaborative and participatory classroom than what was measured of the actual environment. The shared control theme revealed the lowest score (44 per cent) compared with the other three themes. See the table below for comparisons.

From results of the survey with respect to an individual item “I help the teacher to plan what I’m going to learn”, on average, 39 per cent of the participants signalled that they almost never did this with their science teacher and 68 per cent of the students indicated that they either never did this or they seldom did. Thus we see an emerging pattern about attitudes in sharing control with the teacher with a large percentage of students perceiving a limited capacity in co-constructing their learning with the teacher.

Preferred data also indicated a yearning from the students to work more closely with the teacher in decision-making in science lessons.

‘learning’ is not like the words ‘boat’ or ‘water’, or ‘rocket’, which have visible, concrete meaning.

In making these pictures, students do not merely represent what they see, but they do consider Lesley’s drawing of learning in science at Year 9. aspects, like for example, their position, size and image of the teacher, the physical nature of the classroom including what is written on the board, the cultural images, scientific contexts, social interactions and sometimes they include speech bubbles with written words describing their thinking. It is understood that drawing is much more than a simple representation of what one sees. The act of drawing and the production of a visual summary of experience can be a powerful mechanism in Learning about the world making sense of the experience “What students see in classrooms Personal Relevance, or ‘Learning where Milne (2008) assures us has an influence on the way about the world’ was the that children use drawing to they understand learning and second theme describing the grapple with the meaning and especially learning in school” extent to which school science purpose of their lives.

(Watkins, Carnell & Lodge, 2007, and students’ out-of-school The following question was p. 27) and one way to examine experiences are connected, posed: “What does learning look these comprehensions is to and how students make use of like in your science class?”. invite students to draw learning. their everyday experiences as Students were invited to However, learning is not an object a meaningful context for the compose their drawings of the but a process and this can pose development of their scientific science lesson on an A4-sized a challenge to students when knowledge. With this in mind, piece of white paper. All the asked to draw the learning in their students’ views of learning as drawings were unique – there classroom. The test in drawing a drawings were collected to no drawing was identical to process such as learning involves help the research take on more another, and the majority (97 thinking about abstract concepts. of a qualitative measure, with per cent) of all the students Sarason (2004) notes the term emphasis on personal relevance. portrayed classmates in their pictures. This suggests that most students perceived their Student learning environment survey learning in conjunction with “What happens in my science other classmates and most (74 classroom?” per cent) had specific details of A summary of mean values across themes over three years, N=689. classmates and/or teacher (e.g. facial features, hairstyle, clothes).

Student perceptions Theme Most (71 per cent) of the drawings Actual means % depicted a teacher somewhere in Shared Control 44 the picture and 14 per cent of the drawings presented the teacher Personal Relevance 63 as the central figure in the room.

Critical Voice 66 What was surprising was that only 37 per cent of the drawings had Student Negotiation 69 specific details indicating science Key: 41-60% Sometimes happens was taught there (scientific 0-20% Almost never happens 61-80% Often happens apparatus, science terms on 21-40% Seldom happens 81-100% Almost always happens the whiteboard) and in terms of >>

What is learning like in Years 9 and 10 science from a student’s viewpoint?

What is really going on? Let’s take the opportunity to get up close to their learning world.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 59

Year 10 students at Mount Maunganui College.

personal relevance, there were very few (7 per cent) drawings depicting learning about science outside of school, such as current events or personal interests that were linked with science. In addition to the learning drawings, there was high statistical significance in the quantitative results with respect to personal relevance and ethnicity. In comparisons, the New Zealand European students showed higher perceptions of personal relevance in science lessons with a mean of 64 per cent, compared with New Zealand Māori (60 per cent) and Pacifika (55 per cent) students. One of the items in the survey, “My new learning starts with problems about the world outside of school”, revealed a high proportion of Māori and Pacifika students signalling that rarely this happened. In the interviews that followed, some Māori students spoke candidly about the importance of personal relevance in their lessons, so that they could link their world outside of school to what was happening in their science lessons.

Personal relevance in science classroom activities has been seen as a significant link to positive student engagement (Bolstad & Hipkins, 2009) where students can begin to sense that their learning about science is inseparably connected with their real world and this happens not just at school, but at home, when they are at the skate park, playing netball, having dinner, etc.

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However, what is not sometimes observable to students is that these connections between the science activity going on in the classroom and the real world context are not clearly demonstrated or deliberately emphasised. Authentic contexts such as these may be implied in science teaching but can often be lost in the everyday business of laboratory activities. Time for reflection and discussion on the purpose of the topic can also be easily forgotten because of time constraints. However, it is this very process of reflection with peers that could make the difference in drawing students further into their learning, so that they could feel greater personal involvement and commitment.

In the student interviews, a question was asked: What kind of topics would you like to study?

Students spoke of a desire for outof-school relevance in their lessons and with particular interest in their family and in sport. Here are some short excerpts from different Year 9 student responses.

“I’d really like to learn about Egypt, pyramids and mummies.

I like the science mysteries. Me and Mum have this scrap book and we’ve collected cuttings and information about mysteries, lost civilisations, ghosts...”

“Rugby and sports, touch rugby.

I like to know about fitness, how to keep fit. My dad has a fitness coach that tells him all about the body, diet and how he can keep strong.”

Some students were keen to debate ideas with their peers and take the opportunity to look at both sides of current environmental issues, such as, for example, oil drilling, sand mining and protection of natural resources. Some female students spoke passionately about their delight in debating ideas with their peers and had strong opinions about animal ethics.

Here is an excerpt from an interview that highlights this: “We speak our minds. I like this.

I’m not embarrassed if I don’t know the exact answer. I like teachers who ask us questions and want to find out our opinions.”

Some Māori students spoke about being frustrated in their science lessons; not engaging with them at all because they saw little chance in being able to talk about things that they were personally interested in as the topic at the time did not fit with their interests. They felt that, at most, science lessons were pre-determined and they did not want to embarrass themselves or others by attempting to make changes to the programme.

Critical Voice titled as ‘Learning to speak out’ was the third theme. This focused on the extent to which a social climate had been established in which students feel that it is legitimate and beneficial to debate ideas and voice their opinion in class.

In the 67 interviews that took place, a pattern that prevailed in most was that students spoke

of the general freedom and autonomy they had in speaking out in class. It was encouraging to hear most (but not all) of the students interviewed, responding positively to the way their teacher encouraged them to speak out in lessons. Apart from a few exceptions, overall their voice was valued and they felt comfortable asking questions of the teacher and calling the teacher for their attention. However, some students remained uncomfortable about challenging the teacher about the way they were taught.

Some felt okay talking about operational tasks but in terms of explaining science ideas openly to others they were much more hesitant. Many students spoke enthusiastically about when their teachers used a range of learning strategies, because they were engaged for longer.

They said that there was more opportunity to enjoy science and speak up in class if there was a mix of different tasks in a single lesson. Some students spoke of wanting a greater choice in when they would do the activities in the lessons. Some students said they were hesitant to discuss their personal scientific queries because they thought they were not associated with the topic they were studying at the time.

Student Negotiation titled ‘Learning to communicate’, examined the extent to which students have opportunities to explain and justify their ideas and to test the viability of their own and other students’ ideas. This theme had the highest actual mean score (69 per cent) in the student survey, out of all four themes.

This theme was identified as being the most preferred and valued across all classes over the three years. Nevertheless, negotiating discussion with classmates can be a challenging task for teenagers, particularly when the conversations depend on their own confidence to speak up and negotiate the next

steps in an activity. As teachers, we are well aware that there can be much activity going on in science lessons in terms of practical manipulation, methods to follow and classmates in close proximity to one another. Hence there are demands for students to negotiate conversations and keep focused on the task. We asked the question in the student interviews: Tell us about the opportunities you get explaining ideas in a science lesson? Many of the responses described how students initiated discussions by actively seeking and forming a group where they could have more opportunities to talk about ideas than if they were on their own. Some students felt overwhelmed with a science lesson in terms of completing the written work if there were minimal co-operative strategies in place. Here is an excerpt from an interview that highlights this: “Most of my answers I write down from my head. Sometimes the teacher talks too fast and I don’t understand. So I ask my friend about how to do it. She breaks it down for me.”

Many discussed how, if there were no groups set up by the teacher, they would purposely develop a collaborative structure with other classmates to help each other. Another feature of the student responses was that forming a group or being in a pair meant students could have the ability to shield distractions from other groups. Nearly all students in the interviews appreciated working on science activities in groups, saying they could share the load, bounce ideas around and that they had greater confidence in speaking within the group than in a whole class discussion.

The following excerpt highlights this: “When we are in groups working on something, we have more power over what we can do.

I know the teacher thinks he’s the boss but really we do what we want. We talk about it together

student images. These pictures portrayed the teacher situated at a distance from the students.

Conclusion

Year 9 students at Morrinsville College.

Sharons’s drawing of learning in science at Year 9.

and we do it a lot quicker. We kind of plan out the different things to do, while talking. We share the load.”

Many valued some time to talk about things other than science that were concerning them and this was the way they liked to work most of the time. Some (13 per cent) of the learning drawings portrayed the student directly interacting with the teacher.

Half of the drawings portrayed student discussion, movement in the classroom or there was a sense of social negotiation

going on in the picture. As stated, 97 per cent of all the students portrayed classmates in their pictures, indicating the importance of classmates in their science learning. There was little evidence from the pictures of the act of planning the learning between students or of the students operating together with the teacher in working/planning together. Fourteen per cent of the drawings presented the teacher as the central figure in the room and in larger proportions compared with the size of the

The world of the 13–15-yearold students in this research is dynamic and particularly responsive to social presence, personal relevance and sharing control with the teacher.

The students preferred less dependence on their teacher and much greater shared control in the lesson. Activities where the students themselves could manage the work and make decisions about problems were considered fun and engaging.

Much of what these students do in science was determined by their social relationships and the drawings highlighted the importance of social negotiations.

There may be increasingly more emphasis for students to learn about real-world issues but these students were signalling that this rarely happened. How the choice of topics where personal interests were used as contexts did matter to these students. Collaboration in the groups transpired when the classmates had the opportunity to form groups, share ideas, and reflect on the reasons why they are studying a particular topic.  Dr Simon Taylor is the Central North Island secondary science facilitator for The University of Auckland. You can email him at: sp.taylor@auckland.ac.nz.

References: »» Bolstad, R., & Hipkins, R. (2009). Seeing Yourself in Science. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research. »» Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum for English-Medium Teaching and Learning in Years 1-13. Wellington: Learning Media. »» Ministry of Education. (2014). Science capabilities for citizenship. http://scienceonline.tki.org.nz/Science-Capabilities-for-citizenship »» Nuthall, G. (2007). The Hidden lives of learners. Wellington: NZCER Press. »» Sarason, S.B. (2004). Big Change question: What is needed to resolve the social and critical issues affecting large scale reform? Macro change demands micro involvement. Journal of Educational Change, 5, 289-302. »» Watkins, C., Carnell, E. & Lodge, C. (2007). Effective learning in classrooms. London, England: Sage.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 61

LEARNING IN SCIENCE innovative science education

e ed ucat io n: no vativ InMore of the same or time

for something different?

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We need to set our students new kinds of challenges in order to explore highly complex and wicked problems, writes CHRIS CLAY.

magine you own a restaurant. While your tables were once always full, over the past few years bookings have dwindled and things are getting a little too quiet.

You decide it’s time to spruce the place up a little. Some fancy new interior design and perhaps some trendy new uniforms for your staff. You also launch a marketing campaign to encourage people to make a booking and enjoy your amazing menu that has been enjoyed for generations.

Despite all these efforts, business doesn’t improve. It doesn’t matter how you present your offering or how loud you shout about it, people don’t seem to get the message.

I often feel that the education system is rather like this restaurant – particularly the area responsible for meeting the demands of our apparently increasingly STEM-focused economy. While we find interesting ways to try to coerce people into STEM subjects in high school, nothing seems to be satisfying this increasing need.

Maybe it’s time to get back in the kitchen and redesign the menu? Rather than try to persuade people to accept what we have always had to offer, perhaps we need to make it more suitable to our current needs and more attractive to today’s learners?

Time for a change?

I wouldn’t question the effectiveness of our current science education system if it was clearly a successful way to prepare our kids for their futures. However, it quite obviously is not. While the report commissioned by Sir Peter Gluckman in 2011 (Looking Ahead: Science Education in the Twenty-First Century) made note of some positive data in relation to the number of our students capable of heading into STEM careers, it also reported that only 39 per cent of our top-performing students were actually keen to pursue a career in advanced science. The report also acknowledged New Zealand’s achievement in science having one of the greatest spreads in the OECD. It would seem from this data that our current system is doing little to cater for the needs of an increasingly STEM-based economy or ensuring all students learn enough science for citizenship.

At present, successful science learning is determined by performance in focused assessments featuring a relatively small 62 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

range of concepts. This has created a situation where educators specialise in developing the most efficient ways to deliver conceptual knowledge into the heads of their students. It should be acknowledged that this is by no means an easy task and this work illustrates the hardworking, creative, and caring nature of the teachers within our education system.

However, while these efforts may help to ensure students do well in assessments and become knowledgeable enough about the discoveries of the past, are we doing enough to ensure they are able to make the discoveries of the future?

The challenges are designed to allow us to vary the degree of complexity by increasing or decreasing the number of variables students can experiment with.

Shifting the focus My current role in a non-traditional learning centre is to lead a team of educators that provide experiences to support the development of the next generation of innovators. Initially, I felt relatively experienced in this field, but my team is comprised of people from STEM industries such as 3D designers and software engineers and the chasm between typical school practices and their ideas soon became apparent.

When we discussed potential learning experiences in science, it became clear that many of the experiments typically used in schools involve students investigating simple relationships between two variables. When experiments like this are suggested in our meetings, it is common for a member of the team to ask a question like: “But where can the students go with that?”.

To support the development of innovation, we decided to work hard to help our students experience the work that innovative people engage in. Rather than structured experiments focused on investigating simple situations featuring just two variables, we

set students up with challenges such as to build the loudest possible speaker, launch the highest pop-rocket, or create a virtual model of an ecosystem within the simple programming environment Scratch.

The challenges are designed to allow us to vary the degree of complexity by increasing or decreasing the number of variables students can experiment with.

For example, when making speakers with disposable cups, we may provide just one type of cup along with different types of wires of different lengths and a variety of different magnets. Or we may seek to reduce the complexity of the task by providing just one type of magnet.

Because there are many effective approaches to a challenge (e.g. a number of ways you can increase the volume of a speaker), we often bring students together for short, five-minute mini-conferences. Here we ask groups to share their ideas on the effects of different variables by asking questions like “Who has made discoveries about the type of cups used to make the speakers?” or “How might the cup affect the amplitude of the sound?”. As you might expect, different students present different ideas and they are often eager to contradict one another and criticise each other’s methods (just like professional scientists). This ensures that our students experience science as a dynamic process of discovery where people disagree but also continue to seek out new information to support or refute their ideas. While students investigating a simple relationship between two variables may be more likely to find a ‘correct’ answer, what will they learn about discovery in an age of highly complex and wicked problems?

While this approach is not presented as the perfect solution to the problems I have outlined, it does serve as an alternative to a model where only one answer or approach is deemed to be correct. While our current system might allow us to know what our students have or have not learned, it most certainly will not allow learners to move beyond its boundaries. It is in these places that the discoverers of tomorrow will need to live.  Chris Clay is education director at Mind Lab. chrisclaynz@gmail.com

LEARNING IN SCIENCE authentic science education

Clarifying a future direction Nayland College student Mitchell Chandler tells Melissa Wastney about his voyage to the Sub-Antarctic Islands.

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n 2013, New Zealand Science Teacher spoke to Mitchell Chandler before he left on his adventure as one of 12 ‘student voyagers’ on the Sir Peter Blake Trust (SBPT) expedition.

Welcome home, Mitchell, can you tell us about your journey to the Antarctic?

Our expedition truly began on February 9, when the 12 ‘student voyagers’ (along with the rest of the Young Blake Expedition Crew) met in Auckland to board the HMNZS Wellington. The ship would be our home for the next two weeks.

We departed the next day and were farewelled by family and friends. TV One’s Breakfast programme was also there and Sam did his weather report on the HMNZS Wellington as well as interviews with some of the crew and SPBT staff.

We spent the next four days travelling down the coast of New Zealand, where we attempted to make the most of the North Island sunshine before we reached what we believed would be the cold, wet and windy Sub-Antarctic.

During this time, we took part in

some onboard activities and also had group talks with some of the SPBT crew who were travelling with us. While travelling down we saw some amazing wildlife including dolphins, seals and seabirds such as mollymawks, petrels, and albatrosses.

On 14 February we arrived in Bluff and then travelled on to Invercargill where the DOC centre was, so that our gear could go through quarantine. We were all extremely nervous about this experience, as noone wanted to be told they couldn’t go because their gear wasn’t up to standard, or have to hold everyone else up while they went and recleaned certain items of clothing.

Fortunately, I passed without a hitch, and while there was some recleaning and seed picking that had to be done by some people, we were all given the go-ahead to travel onwards to the Auckland Islands.

We departed Bluff the next afternoon and travelled through the Southern Ocean, rather uneventfully, that night. We were all very pleased with this smooth passage, as horror stories about this stretch of ocean abound!

The other student voyagers and I want to work to get the whole of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone recognised on maps, because it’s disappointing that most people don’t know that the Sub-Antarctic Islands and the Kermadecs are part of our territory.

We arrived at the Auckland Islands on 16 February and spent the next five days there participating in scientific research (see below for more details on this).

On our way back to Bluff we stopped for a day on Stewart Island, specifically, Ulva Island. We got to explore this pest-free island and see some of the birdlife there. We also participated in an impromptu swim from the Ulva Island jetty while waiting for the Navy RHIBs to come and collect us to take us back to the ship.

Our expedition ended in Dunedin, where we arrived on 22 February.

Professor Gary Wilson, who was the person leading the expedition to build a research station, gave us a debrief talk and explained the significance of the proposed (now confirmed) research station and the importance of the Auckland Islands and Sub-Antarctic for monitoring changes to our planet’s climate.

What were the conditions like on the boat and did you feel seasick?

Our bunk rooms (‘pits’, as the Navy calls them) were very ‘cosy’ with six students to a room. We each >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 63

had a locker for our gear, as well as smaller lockers underneath the bottom bed for easier access to specific items (mine was used for cameras, books, pens and medication, though toiletries was also another popular item to put in there).

There were two sets of bunks, three-high, with very little head space (no room to sit up in) and in the evenings it was not uncommon to hear body parts (heads and arms most often) being whacked on the bunk above. I was fortunate enough to get a bottom bunk – much easier to get in and out of! Trying to get gear sorted in the mornings was interesting with five other roommates all trying to do the same thing in such a small space. I developed the habit of organising my next day’s gear the night before, which saved a hassle.

Our meals were eaten in the Junior Rates Mess along with the junior ranking Navy personnel, and meals were served outside the mess. You had to collect a plate and move along to where the food was served, getting what you wanted (we could only take one of

Further reading:

g website the followin gallery and has a media ort a dozen sh about half ea e videos giv s e h T . s o e vid nts’ f the stude o w ie rv e v yI great o bit.ly/UClV expedition: he lso blogs. T a re a re e h T patch ost is a dis following p nd Island: from Auckla 5j bit.ly/1rJ8V

64 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

the two meat choices though) and there was also dessert every night.

Each day one of the student voyagers had to do ‘slushie’ duty with one of the junior Navy personnel. This involved arriving half an hour before meal times (including being there at 6:30 in the morning) to set up both the Junior and Senior Rates Mess and eating early. During the meal, the slushie had to clean everyone’s dishes and rotate the clean dishes and cutlery back through, ensuring there was enough for everyone. After the meal, the slushie would clean out both the eating areas and refill all the condiments. If the bins were full, the slushie had to ‘ditch the gash’ (empty the bins in the appropriate place).

Our favourite place to hang out as a group, particularly during the first few sunny days (when most of the voyagers were suffering from sea sickness), was out on the flight deck near the back of the ship. Once we got further south, we relocated about 15m to the hangar, which was indoors and offered shelter from the elements. We didn’t have a specified area where we could just hang out as a group,

and so the hangar/flight deck was where we hoped to be of as little annoyance to the Navy crew as possible. The front deck was also really fun to go out on and have the wind in your face and, when lucky, spot dolphins swimming alongside. But in rough weather, the front deck became off limits due to the risk of being swept overboard. Our antics on the decks – i.e. dancing, jump rope and other crazy activities – became a daily source of amusement for the Navy.

We were also allowed to visit the bridge of the ship almost anytime; we just had to ask for permission before we entered. It was quite interesting being up on the bridge and seeing the ship being operated and commanded, especially during big swells. We were really lucky with the weather as we had relatively calm seas for the whole trip, although we did lose the ship’s stabilisers a couple of times, which caused the ship to start rolling.

As far as seasickness goes, I was one of the lucky two student voyagers to avoid it.

Whether or not it had anything to do with the sea-Legs tablet I took every morning until

Mitchell with Mark Orams, about to helicopter to Lake Speight to get samples.

We saw nesting albatrosses, megaherbs, twisted rata forests in flower, Yelloweyed penguins and waterfalls being blown back onto land by the force of the wind.

we arrived in Bluff, I don’t know, as after we left Bluff I didn’t take another tablet and still felt fine. Most of the students who did get sick suffered from it on the second day of our voyage as we left the Hauraki Gulf and entered the open ocean (although an unfortunate few suffered for a bit longer, and then again when we left Bluff and started going through the Southern Ocean). I think many of those who got sick didn’t take seasickness medication, wanting to see how they would go. But by the third day, a large number of the students wore seasickness patches behind their ears and were coincidentally fine.

What did you do once you arrived at your destination?

Once we arrived at the Auckland Islands we were involved in a number of amazing activities.

On our first day we went for a walk around Enderby Island. This walk is limited to 300 people per year so the fact that our group of about 30 was allowed to do it was pretty special. On this walk (and I say walk but it took us the whole day really) we saw so many amazing things, including nesting albatross, megaherbs such as Anisotome (they look like giant broccoli and are related to celery and carrots), twisted rata forests in flower, yellow-eyed penguins, waterfalls being blown back onto land due to the strength of the wind, and best of all, heaps of New Zealand sea lions lying about.

The sub-adult male sea lions would charge at us as a means of practising their dominant behaviour and we were advised to stand our ground (harder to do than it sounds) but put something (e.g. a drink bottle, camera case, or pack, or another person) between us and the sea lion in case it got overly curious and wanted to nibble on something. Around 90 per cent of the New Zealand sea lion breeding population is found in the Sub-Antarctic and 73 per cent of it is in the Auckland Islands. Sandy Bay, on Enderby Island, is their main breeding site.

The next day, four of us spent the day on the University of Otago research vessel Polaris II. We carried out various studies, with the main three being sediment coring, collecting water samples with a rosette (that also measured conductivity, depth, and temperature), and mapping the ocean floor with a boomer, chirper, and side scanner.

Day three in the Auckland Islands was spent in Smith Harbour, fixing the weather station, participating

in stream gauging, and carrying out topographic surveying. In the morning, we worked with Pete, a scientist from NIWA. He showed us the weather station they set up the previous day and we ran some tests trying to get it to work correctly (eventually it did). We then ‘walked’ (bush-bashed) beside Smith Stream and carried out some gauging of the stream’s water discharge to determine the feasibility of putting a mini hydro power station there to help provide power to the research station. In the afternoon, we did some topographic surveying with Greg to help map the area.

That evening we also went swimming in the Southern Ocean, which was a pretty amazing and (as expected) cold experience.

Our next day was again spent in Smith Harbour, although in the morning we helicoptered to Lake Speight to carry out sediment coring in the lake. That night we were also fortunate enough to see the Aurora Australias (Southern Lights), which was amazing and unexpected.

On our last day in the Auckland Islands, we anchored in Carnley Harbour and went ashore at Tagua Bay to see one of the old WWII coastwatch sites. We found a sundew plant, which is native and carnivorous. We also saw sea lions in the rata forest, which is quite common on Auckland Island due to its proximity to the ocean.

In the afternoon, we went on a RHIB boat tour seeing where some of the famous shipwrecks, such as the Grafton, occurred. As part of this trip, we went around Figure of Eight Island, another of the three New Zealand sea lion breeding sites in the Auckland Islands.

You were involved in some important scientific research. Can you tell us about that?

Ultimately, the purpose of the research we carried out there was to survey the area and look at the feasibility of building a research station on Auckland Island, in Smith Harbour. This research station has since been confirmed by the Government and will be named Blake Station, after Sir Peter Blake.

Such a station on Auckland Island will enable scientists to monitor changes in climate year round, which will give us more accurate data so that we can see the whole picture, rather than piece together information taken from single data sets. The research station will also allow multiple studies to be undertaken at the same time so that correlations can be drawn. It is more cost-effective having a semi-permanent research station (that can be removed with little or no trace when/if research is finished) than sailing down for short periods of time to carry out research.

The Sub-Antarctic and Auckland Islands were chosen for this research station as they are one of the world’s best vantage points for picking up the early indicators of climate change. This is because they sit between the cold water of the Antarctic circumpolar current to the south and the warm water flowing from the north. They are also on the edge of the boundary between the polar easterly winds and the westerly winds. By being on these boundaries the changes in climate are easier to pick up and record.

What are your lasting impressions from the trip, and how might it inspire you this year?

This trip was an awesome experience (I’m deliberately not calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience as I am hopeful that my potential career in science will allow >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 65

At the Auckland Islands on the Polarius II, the University of Otago’s research vessel.

The Sir Peter Blake Trust expeditions

S me to travel back down there to conduct research one day) and one that I hope I will never forget. It has allowed me to make new friends and learn from some amazing scientists, and build important networks throughout New Zealand.

I have already done a presentation to my school (Nayland College) and have been asked to give presentations to other local schools and community groups, which I will definitely do to spread the message of the SPBT and to tell people about these special places that need protection.

I have approached a scientist that my family knows about opportunities working with or for her, either paid or voluntarily, as I realised how much I enjoyed doing reallife science while we were conducting our research down in Smith Harbour and want to continue with this.

The other student voyagers and I want to work to get the whole of New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone recognised on maps, because it’s disappointing that most people don’t know that the Sub-Antarctic Islands and the Kermadecs are part of our territory. Although this is not unexpected, as I didn’t know either until I was told.

The trip has also helped me with future decisions about study, and made clear my passion for the natural sciences. I think this is something I would like to pursue, maybe in the form of geophysics, although I need to think about it more.

It has inspired me to follow through with things I enjoy, and make the most of opportunities that relate to these passions.

It has also provided me with opportunities to learn about different leadership styles and how best to implement what I have learnt in my community so that I am able to become a better leader and in doing so, help others to become better leaders as well.  66 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

ir Peter Blake Trust aims to inspire and celebrate environmental awareness, adventure and leadership in action through programmes that honour Sir Peter’s legacy. The programmes aim to by inspire his visionary leadership qualities in all New Zealanders, and keep his spirit and values alive for future generations.

Young Blake expeditions were created to provide life-changing experiences that challenge, grow self-confidence and help to clarify strengths and future direction for New Zealand’s next generation of leaders.

The Sir Peter Blake Trust expedition is open each year to all Year 11–13 students.

From the hundreds of applications, only 50 students are selected to attend a forum. Each students’ performance at this event, leadership skills, team work and personal initiative are taken into account in the selection process. Twelve students are selected for the expedition to Sub-Antarctic.

These 12 lived on the HMNZS Wellington for two weeks in February 2014. They travelled from Auckland to Bluff, then on to New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic Islands. Their trip took them to Enderby Island, Auckland Island, and Adams Island.

In the first part of the trip, Sir Peter Blake’s daughter, Sarah-Jane, accompanied the students to share her father’s legacy. Daily sessions aboard the ship included workshops on leadership, marine ecology, and Navy life.

It was on Auckland Island that the innovative research was undertaken. For the first time in the region, a multitude of surveys were performed, based around planning for the building of a research climate change station. Taking part in relevant, important and worldfirst first data gathering was in itself a highlight for the students involved.

The team of New Zealand scientists and the students carried out the following projects: Hydrographic surveying Together with University of Otago surveying school lecturer Emily Tidey, the students measured tides with hydrographic surveying equipment in order to record the depths in Smith Harbour and its tidal cycles. Information gathered will assist in identifying where proposed climate research station buildings and a wharf are likely to be constructed.

Engineering surveying Assisted by engineering surveyor Greg Leonard, the students surveyed the proposed site, which involved taking height and land measurements for planning purposes.

Terrestrial ecology Together with Dr Janice Lord, students studied and recorded plant, insect, and animal life at the proposed site to ensure that the building of the station has minimal impact on the flora and fauna in that location. This surveying work will also serve as the reference point for the land before the station is built.

Weather station set up and stream gauging Led by NIWA’s Pete Pattinson, students helped to set up a weather station that will record the key environmental information required for building the station, such as wind, rain, and temperature data. Solar panels have also been installed to transmit data back to New Zealand year-round.

Students also measured the flow of water downstream, around the proposed location site, to see whether hydroelectric power could be a source of energy to power the station. This will be available for public viewing on the NIWA website soon.

Sediment coring This term refers to core samples of mud being taken from the sea floor to test the age of the layers of sediment, and what has lived in it over many thousands of years. This work is part of a University of Otago research that which will eventually, it is hoped, be undertaken by scientists all year round, rather than just a week or two each year. Such research will allow for detailed climate data to be collected and a much clearer picture of climate changes in the region.

TEACHER EDUCATION Secondary

Creating ‘science champions’ in teacher training ANNE HUME and CATHY BUNTTING investigate the use of Content Representation (CoRe) design and the Science Learning Hub (SLH) to develop pre-service primary teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science.

Introduction This article reports on a purposeful and planned approach to accessing and navigating a web-based resource – the Science Learning Hub (SLH) – in ways that can provide primary teachers with focus and a powerful means for building their professional knowledge for teaching science. The approach sees teachers engaging in a decision-making process known as Content Representation (CoRe) design as they consider pedagogical prompts about what science ideas to teach their students and why, when and how as they work with the SLH. This particular study features pre-service primary teachers, who are developing the foundations of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) to support student-centred inquiry-based learning in contexts of interest and relevance to students and the achievement of scientific literacy goals – i.e. students who have an understanding of key science concepts, as well as the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The findings reveal significant PCK development by the pre-service teachers, but equally important is emerging evidence of their raised feelings of self-efficacy and positive dispositions towards the teaching

of science. The authors argue that this process is helping to foster growth in the number of early career primary teachers who are ready and willing to champion science in classrooms.

Background to the initiative This initiative grew out of concerns that primary science education in New Zealand is under pressure, with low student engagement in science and falling achievement levels (Chambers & Caygill, 2012; Hipkins & Bolstad, 2008). It appears that factors like the low status of science in our primary school curricula, many teachers’ lack of knowledge and confidence in teaching science and minimal systemic support for New Zealand primary science teaching (Bull, Gilbert, Barwick, Hipkins, & Baker, 2010) have resulted in science programmes that are unappealing to students and fail to meet reformbased curriculum goals related to studentcentred inquiry learning and the development of 21st century think skills.

In his report Looking Ahead: Science Education for the 21st Century, Sir Peter Gluckman (2011) argues that if our students are to become fully functional members of national and global

societies that increasingly rely on the scientific literacy of their citizenry for economic and social progress and sustainable use of the physical environment, then things have to change in our schooling. Among his recommendations as a way forward for primary science education in New Zealand is the targeted development of science strength in a small number of teachers within each school. Such teachers would be identified on the basis of their willingness and potential to champion science within their schools, and supported in their leadership roles through the provision of in-depth professional development and membership of a primary science cluster group to share good practice.

In his vision, Gluckman calls these teachers “champions of science” because they possess the skills and drive to lead the development of science teaching and learning programmes for all staff within their school. Their roles would be given appropriate recognition and status within the school as they take on “overall responsibility for the development of science education capability within the staff, curriculum planning in the school, and organisation of science resources” (p. 38). >> New NewZealand ZealandScience ScienceTeacher Teacher >> 67

In achieving this vision, there are already some positive developments to report that are occurring in the pre-service sector of science teacher education. For example, recent research (Hume, 2010; 2013) indicates that some student teachers are emerging from teacher education programmes with the willingness and the wherewithal to support, and even lead forward-looking school science programme development. Armed with positive dispositions and appropriate foundations for the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) necessary to teach progressive primary science with confidence, these new teachers have the potential for leadership roles in science education, working alongside their more experienced teaching colleagues to inject new life and purpose into school science programmes. Such early career primary teachers could be future champions of science in New Zealand and valuable assets within school communities.

We report here on further initiatives within a pre-service primary science teacher education programme at the University of Waikato to support and enhance these trends. Specifically, this paper explores two tools for supporting ongoing PCK development during the student teachers’ future professional careers. The tools – Content Representation (CoRe) design and the Science Learning Hub (SLH) – have previously been used successfully in teacher learning (Hume & Berry, 2011; 2013), and within schoolbased professional learning communities they could arguably provide very powerful means for collaboratively creating exciting teaching and learning programmes in primary science (Hume, 2013). The nature and purpose of each tool is briefly described below.

be learned by students, their prior knowledge, learning difficulties and likely misconceptions, suitable instructional approaches and strategies, and appropriate assessment. Like any innovation in education, others took this original idea and gave it new uses. For example, rather than examining the small pool of existing CoRes, some teacher educators have challenged their student teachers to create their own CoRes, and CoRe design has proved to be a powerful means of initiating PCK development in student teachers, especially when done in collaboration with peers or associate teachers (Hume & Berry, 2011; 2013).

The Science Learning Hub (SLH) The Science Learning Hub is a web-based resource developed by teachers and education researchers in collaboration with New Zealand scientists to provide insights into contemporary science research in New Zealand. The project, funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and managed by the University of Waikato, highlights New Zealand science and is primarily intended to enhance the science understandings of Year 2–10 teachers. A key feature is the presentation of multimedia content in collections of ‘contexts’, for example, Satellites, Toxins, Light and Sight, Rockets, The Noisy Reef, Super Sense, Hidden Taonga, etc. Each context includes identification and explanation of key science concepts underpinning the context; detailed storytelling about contemporary New Zealand research, presented through text, video and animation; a question bank for initiating teacher and student thinking; profiles of people involved in the work; and examples of teaching and learning activities.

Content Representations (CoRes) A Content Representation or CoRe is a means of making the PCK of an individual teacher, or group of teachers, explicit to others (see Table 1). PCK is that very special, often unspoken and unshared form of professional knowledge that individual teachers possess that enables them to successfully teach certain topics to particular groups of students (Shulman, 1987).

It includes their orientations towards science and science teaching (beliefs and attitudes) and knowledge of their learners’ characteristics, which in turn impact on what content they select to teach for a particular topic, the specific instructional strategies they choose to use and how they monitor students’ learning (Magnusson et al., 1999). One crucial source of this PCK is classroom experience and it is typically underdeveloped in novice teachers, even when they have high levels of content knowledge.

CoRes were originally devised in template form to try to capture a holistic picture of the collective PCK possessed by a group of expert science teachers for a particular topic, and then used as exemplars for pre-service teacher education (Loughran, Berry & Mulhall, 2006).

These CoRes proved to be valuable pedagogical tools for teacher educators because they unpack PCK in ways that reveal the key ideas to 68 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

There was a strong focus on the relevance of the learning to students’ everyday lives and on the importance of the learning for future citizenship.

The research project The primary science education programme described in this paper had in the past required student teachers to design unit plans as a major component of the course. These unit plans were to use inquiry-based approaches to learning in contexts of interest and relevance to students, following The New Zealand Curriculum guidelines (Ministry of Education, 2007). In the lead-up to this task, the student teachers were exposed to various pedagogical approaches aligned with inquiry-based science learning, and to a range of appropriate resources including the SLH. In the 2013 version of the science education programme, the teacher educator introduced CoRe design as an intervention, where students first worked collaboratively in groups to produce

CoRes for science topics found on the SLH, such as ‘Life in the Sea’, ‘Fire’ and ‘Fizzy Rocks’.

Then as individuals they produced their own CoRe on a new topic, again from the SLH, which was assessed. The individual CoRes were subsequently used as the basis for planning a teaching unit on the same topic, which was again assessed.

The impact of using CoRe design in combination with SLH for developing preservice primary teachers’ PCK in science was investigated. This article focuses on the student teachers’ CoRes and their accompanying reflective statements as data sources. The reflections formed part of the assessment requirement and took the form of a 300-word reflective statement on what student teachers derived from the process of developing the CoRes: »» Their professional learning about how to teach the topic to students at a particular stage in their schooling »» Aspects of content and pedagogy highlighted by the CoRe »» Whether the process of constructing a CoRe was easy or difficult, and what aspects made this the case.

Findings Overall, the CoRes and reflective comments offered strong evidence of the student teachers’ budding PCK and the supportive role the SLH played in this development. In particular, the SLH supported student teachers as they constructed CoRes to: develop their own understanding about their selected science topic; identify the ‘big ideas’ and the underpinning key concepts; identify appropriate teaching and learning strategies; and consider assessment opportunities as well as potential difficulties to consider when teaching the topic. CoRe design provided a useful framework for focusing student teachers’ decision-making in each of these areas, and to take into consideration the ordering of concepts and skills coverage within and across the lessons.

Identifying the ‘big ideas’ All student teachers were able to identify the ‘big ideas’ for their chosen topics, and to write these as specific statements. This capability is key to developing a CoRe, and was something that the teacher educator emphasised during the teaching, by modelling the development of ‘big idea’ statements and working with student groups in the first iteration of CoRe development to identify and appropriately phrase the big ideas.

In many cases, the SLH context gave a strong lead in this regard. For example, seven student teachers constructed CoRes using the ‘Life in the Sea’ context on the SLH. This context proved to be the most popular choice for the CoRes, and all of the ‘big ideas’ identified by these students related directly to the ‘science ideas and concepts’ identified on the SLH. In a few cases, student teachers identified additional ‘big ideas’, although these extra ideas were in fact closely related to information

These points link to one of the principles in the NZC ‘cultural diversity’ which states ‘the curriculum reflects New Zealand’s cultural diversity and values the histories and traditions of all its people’.”

Although culturally responsive pedagogies obviously involve more than reference to Māori words, this student recognised the potential for using the science learning context of rockets to explore aspects about Te Ao Māori (the Māori World), signalling that pre-service teachers are able to make these links.

Understanding students to maximise learning opportunities

provided within the particular context on the SLH. For example, Evelyn created a CoRe based on the SLH context ‘Light’ and included four big ideas that she derived from the list of ‘science ideas and concepts’ introduced within the context. She also identified an additional big idea: ‘The history of light leads up to the theories we know today’, which can be linked to a ‘nature of science’ theme embedded across the SLH i.e. scientific knowledge evolves over time. The ‘light’ context manifests this theme via a timeline showing key advances in the understanding and technological application of light.

Concepts to be learned now and later As well as being able to identify ‘big ideas’ relevant to their chosen science topic, the student teachers were able to specify individual concepts related to each big idea (‘What you intend students to learn about this idea’). However, in a few cases the concepts appeared more conceptually complex than those usually expected for school students of the targeted age group. These decisions were likely to have been influenced by the ‘science ideas and concepts’ identified on the SLH and it is important at this point to reiterate that the SLH resource is designed primarily to support the science knowledge of teachers. The SLH relies upon teachers to use their professional judgment when deciding which concepts to explore with their students. These judgements could be difficult for pre-service teachers given their limited classroom teaching experience.

Significantly, all student teachers were able to isolate ideas that they would expose students to but not at the particular level under consideration (‘What else you know about the idea that you do not intend your students to know yet?’) – indicating an awareness that teaching does require judicious decision-making about which conceptual learning to focus on and when.

Purposes for learning science Responses to the CoRe prompt asking student teachers to identify the purposes for teaching specific concepts (‘Why is it important for students to know this?’) revealed the pre-service

teachers’ growing awareness of the multiple purposes of science education. Responses centred around: the requirements of curriculum prescriptions; providing foundations for future learning; understanding the world; relevance to students’ everyday lives, and importance for future citizenship. For example, Simon completed a CoRe on New Zealand’s marine ecosystem. His reasons for students to learn the concepts he had identified included: “New Zealand is surrounded by water and therefore it is important for students to have knowledge about what marine organisms are present in New Zealand waters” (relevance); “Students are expected by level three in The New Zealand Curriculum to ‘begin to group plants, animals, and other living things into science based classifications’” (curriculum); “Students need to be aware that their actions can determine in the future whether or not New Zealand has a healthy marine environment” (citizenship).

There was a strong focus on the relevance of the learning to students’ everyday lives and on the importance of the learning for future citizenship. Nearly half of the student teachers also specifically referred to curriculum requirements or that the learning was foundational for future learning of more advanced concepts. This finding indicates that the student teachers have a holistic understanding of the purposes of teaching science, and that such teaching has goals that reach beyond simply meeting curriculum guidelines. In contrast, then, it was somewhat disappointing that less than a third (five out of 17) of the student teachers explicitly identified outcomes related to their students’ understanding the nature of science, a key aim of a more holistic understanding of the purposes of science education.

One student, Linda, considered issues of cultural relevance. In her CoRe about rockets, she identified the value of learning about New Zealand’s first rocket launch – ‘Atea-1’, which means ‘space’ in te reo Māori: “I believe this could be relevant to the students as it is part of New Zealand history. The name of the rocket incorporates culture as it is a Māori name.

It was anticipated that the student teachers would find it most difficult to identify “difficulties/ limitations connected with teaching this idea” and “knowledge about students’ thinking which influences your teaching of this idea” because of their limited teaching experience. This expectation was borne out in their reflective statements and interviews, with numerous indications that these sections of the CoRe had been most difficult. For example, Sarah in her reflective statement recognised the value of classroom experience in terms of developing deep understanding of students, but in the absence of this direct knowledge she had sought to find information in other ways: “I think that knowing how students think will come with teaching experience. However, I used The New Zealand Curriculum and the Building Science Concepts books to gage [sic] what I think their prior knowledge might be.”

Most student teachers made considerable effort to think through and identify possible challenges to student learning, such as: students’ potential difficulties with the science vocabulary (including where words have different everyday and scientific meanings); common misconceptions or alternative conceptions (in some cases provided on the SLH); the abstract and/or unseen nature of some concepts; the varied backgrounds of students (affecting their prior knowledge and the relevance of certain examples); potential for controversy (e.g. when teaching about evolving adaptations); and too much new content to assimilate. For example, Linda (for a CoRe on rockets) wrote: “Students may find it difficult to imagine different types of forces acting upon one thing at a time.

They may find it difficult to understand because forces are not visible – only the result of them can be seen” (the abstract nature of forces).

Evelyn, in a CoRe on light, wrote: “[Students may believe] that light does not bend when it passes through substances, in this case plastic or glass, as it is usually shown in a straight line in cartoons and images” (a common misconception about light waves).

She also referred to the varied backgrounds of students and the impact of their life experiences on their understanding: “Some students may have no idea about spear fishing [used as an example to demonstrate light refraction] and what it is, whereas some students may have experienced spear fishing depending on their community background” (prior knowledge). >> New Zealand Science Teacher >> 69

Teaching and learning strategies Student teachers identified a range of teaching procedures to support students’ engagement and learning in the chosen science topic. Again, many of these ideas were drawn directly from the SLH. For example, Evelyn, in her CoRe on light and sight, included the refraction investigation using spearfishing. However, she also included some activities from other sources, such as students creating a model of the eye.

Similarly, Sarah used SLH ideas to develop her own approaches to teaching about refraction, indicating in her unit that she would show one of the SLH videos and then use objects in a swimming pool to see the effects of refraction.

With the strong focus on inquiry approaches during the first part of the course and in the assessment schedules for the CoRe and unit plan, a large proportion of the student teachers specifically included inquiry approaches in their ideas for teaching. Often inquiry took the form of a ‘predict-observe-explain’ activity, with a few student teachers specifically including an experiment or investigation that students would carry out.

Table 2 Excerpt from one student teacher’s CoRe: The Ocean in Action (Year Level 5/6) Big idea: The ocean is a system that consists of chemical, physical and biological features.

The density of the ocean’s water plays a vital role in causing ocean currents.

The temperature of the ocean in a particular place determines the water form.

Scientists use new technology to collect information from the unreachable parts below the ocean’s surface. Maps are a way of demonstrating the different features of the ocean.

Specific ways of ascertaining students’ understanding or confusion around this idea.

Concept map: Construct a map of everything they learnt and how the features of the ocean link to one another.

Curriculum vitae: Pretending they are applying for a job as an oceanographer, they need to write a letter stating why they want the job and what skills/knowledge they have as to why they should be hired.

Observation/questioning: Observe all previous activities, whilst questioning to see if students grasped the information incorporated in this big idea. I used to think … but now I know that …

Paragraph explaining how their thinking has changed.

Sequenced picture: Draw pictures representing what happens over time when water heats and cools.

Imaginary scientist: Imagine you are a scientist who is involved in the Argo Project. You have just been told that you have been selected to speak at a conference. One requirement is to create a pamphlet outlining what aspects will be talked about.

News broadcaster: In groups each student will have a different map of the world that shows either temperature, salinity, or density, etc. Each member will stand up and present their map to their group as though they are on the news explaining it to the rest of New Zealand.

Blank map (outline only): Give information that relates to a part of the world. Students will then have to draw and colour their maps according to that information.

70 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Assessment The student teachers all incorporated a variety of strategies for “ascertaining students’ understanding or confusion”, and in many cases these assessments were integrated through the teaching programme. A considerable amount of creativity was also evident in specific activities, and in the variety of activities included in most of the CoRes. For example, activities included observations of student talk, class brainstorms, role-playing, and students making predictions and then explaining observations. Harriet indicated that students could write a diary entry from a pathogen’s point of view after it enters a human body.

In nearly all cases, the assessment was closely linked with the big ideas that had been identified, and consistent with the teaching approaches that had been selected to explore these ideas. There was also a mix of formative and summative activities. Interestingly, a few student teachers proposed assessment activities that built on students’ identities as scientists. These activities, if scaffolded appropriately (and as the student teachers develop their PCK), have the potential to develop students’ understanding of the nature of science.

By way of example, Katie’s plan for assessment is shown in Table 2.

Student teachers’ reflections on the development of a CoRe using a topic from the Science Learning Hub Student teachers’ reflective comments about the process of CoRe design revealed that the CoRe became a focus for their decision-making about what to teach, how to teach, what resources to use and how to assess. Harriet’s response is typical of this focus: “I further found the process of developing a CoRe helpful because it provided a focus for what content I wanted to teach within my unit through requiring me

to create ‘big ideas’. Furthermore, this use of ‘big ideas’ also provided a focus for my research and assisted me in selecting what content to include form the Science Learning Hub (SLH) website. I feel that this process will be extremely helpful in the future … I will know what information to look for.”

Having a focus for decision-making, combined with enhanced understanding of the science content, led to self-reports of increased selfefficacy. Here, Katie’s comment is typical: “I like learning about science but often find it hard to comprehend, therefore I was always apprehensive to teach it. However, this process has allowed me to change my viewpoint and orientation towards science teaching. I feel a lot more capable as it allowed me to seize the most relevant and worthwhile big ideas from something that consists of so much information – such as the Science Learning Hub contexts. While doing this, it allowed me an easier way of developing my teacher knowledge on what I am going to teach and how I am going to teach it.”

The Science Learning Hub was considered by the student teachers to have been a significant support in terms of their own content knowledge development, and a source of teaching ideas. They particularly valued the videos, explanations, and teaching ideas. As Diane reported: “It also provided teaching experiences and ideas to inspire and get you started for teaching a context. By having information on scientists and experts, students and teachers are able to learn more about the topic and make real-life connections.”

Developing the CoRe required student teachers to also consider pedagogical issues, in ways that demanded deeper levels of thinking and as a result their awareness of previously ‘unseen’ dimensions grew. This evidence of emerging PCK is typified in Susan’s reflection: “The good thing about this way of planning is that as you think deeper and deeper about how you will teach the context it becomes clearer what will be too

Author contacts: »» Anne Hume, Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton New Zealand.

Email: annehume@waikato.ac.nz »» Cathy Buntting, Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Email: buntting@waikato.ac.nz

References »» Bull, A., Gilbert, J., Barwick, H., Hipkins, R., & Baker, R. (2010). Inspired by Science: A paper commissioned by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor.

Accessed on the 20/03/2013 from: www.nzcer. org.nz/pdfs/inspired-by-science.pdf »» Chamberlain, M. & Caygill, R. (2012). Key findings from New Zealand’s participation in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)

hard and what the students will be able to grasp and what will be very easy. This allows me to begin to form my pedagogical content knowledge.”

Importantly, many of the students recognised that their PCK would develop further when in a classroom: “However, I think that these sections [of the CoRe] will be much easier to complete when I have my own classroom because I will know my students and will therefore hopefully have an idea of what knowledge and misconceptions they have about a science topic” (Harriet).

Discussion and implications This study offers strong evidence of the value of student teachers using the Science Learning Hub to develop a CoRe for a science topic of their choosing. Consistent with previous studies (e.g.

Hume & Berry, 2010; 2013), developing a CoRe helped these student teachers to consider a wide range of pedagogical aspects, and in this way begin to hone their nascent PCK. For example, they reported that the CoRe provided a focus for them to make decisions about which concepts to teach, why they would teach these concepts, how they would teach them, and how they would assess student understanding both formatively and summatively. To complete the CoRe, student teachers were also required to think about what students might already know about the concepts, and difficulties they might have learning the concepts (knowledge that will develop further with classroom experience). In other words, student teachers’ awareness was drawn to the complex nature of planning an effective science programme by the framework in ways that supported their feelings of self-efficacy.

Since student teachers were required to use the Science Learning Hub as the basis for their CoRe development, they also became familiar with a significant web-based resource, and reported that in 2010/11. Retrieved from www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ series/2571/114981 on 20/03/2013. »» Gluckman, P. (2011). Looking Ahead: Science Education for the Twenty-First Century.

A report from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. ISBN 978-0-477-10337-4 (pdf). Auckland, New Zealand: Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee. »» Hipkins, R., & Bolstad, R. (2008). Seeing yourself in science. The importance of the middle school years. Wellington: NZCER. »» Hume, A. (2011). Primary Connections: Simulating the primary science classroom in initial teacher education. Research in Science Education, 42(3), 551-565. »» Hume, A. (2013). Student teachers as future agents of change in New Zealand primary science. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice: Special Educational Edition in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Education, 28(2), 3-14.

it supported their own conceptual understandings of the science. This increased understanding, in conjunction with creating the CoRe, was another factor impacting positively on their self-efficacy.

Even student teachers who had previously felt very apprehensive about teaching science reported feeling far more confident about the prospect after completing the CoRe assignment.

In addition to supporting student teachers’ conceptual understandings, the student teachers used the SLH to get ideas for the big ideas they wanted to teach, the concepts that they didn’t yet want to teach, understandings that students might already have, and strategies for teaching.

In many cases they interwove this information with other ideas to develop engaging outlines for science programmes. While their lack of classroom experience sometimes impacted on their ability to make judicious decisions on the level of understanding that the children would bring with them, they indicated an awareness of the importance of taking this into account. Many of the student teachers also acknowledged that their professional teaching knowledge, especially their PCK, would continue to develop when in a classroom setting.

Most significantly, these student teachers indicated a strong commitment to creating engaging, relevant science education programmes that are not only aligned with meeting curriculum requirements, but that also appeal to notions of the relevance of science for everyday life and for future citizenship. Although their PCK is still in its infancy, it can be greatly enhanced by using the SLH in conjunction with CoRe design during their pre-service education. Securing this foundation with appropriate mentoring in their first few years of teaching is likely to nurture future ‘science champions’ who have both the passion and capacity to help promote science education in their school communities.  »» Hume, A., & Berry, A. (2013). Enhancing the practicum experience for pre-service chemistry teachers through collaborative CoRe design with mentor teachers. Research in Science Education, DOI: 10.1007/s11165012-9346-6. »» Hume, A., & Berry, A. (2010). Constructing CoRes – a strategy for building PCK in preservice science teacher education. Research in Science Education, 41, 341-355. »» Loughran, J., Mulhall, P., & Berry, A. (2008).

Exploring pedagogical content knowledge in science teacher education. International Journal of Science Education, 30(10), 13011320. »» Ministry of Education. (2007).

The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington Learning Media. »» Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22. »» The Science Learning Hub www.sciencelearn.org.nz New Zealand Science Teacher >> 71

news 2014 events

Wil d Sci e n ce a n d Twitt e r ch at s:

SciCon 2014 isting confirmed ex and connections nes o sparked new

SciCon2014: Wild Science NZASE’s biennial conference SciCon was held at Otago Boys’ High School, Dunedin from 6–9 July this year.

The conference, with its theme of ‘Wild Science’, was a vibrant event this year and included a wide range of interesting keynote addresses, presentations, and workshops.

The southerly location provided some diverse field trips, too, including a visit to the albatross and penguin colonies, Orokonui Sanctuary, the research vessel Polaris II and the Marine Studies Centre.

Dunedin’s industrial offerings also provided opportunities for curious minds: visits were organised to Speights Brewery and the Cadbury World chocolate factory.

Keynote speakers at SciCon 2014 included two presenters who also appeared at the New Zealand International Science Festival, also held in Dunedin at the same time. James Piercy is a UK-based science communicator who shared his extraordinary story of recovery from a car crash that left him with a traumatic brain injury.

Tom Pringle, aka Dr Bunhead, also travelled from the UK to present at both SciCon and the International Science Festival. He spoke about his work as a science communicator “bringing audiences face to face with the silly, crazy, dirty, dangerous, and magnificent side of science”.

Other keynote speakers included Professor Richard Blaikie (University of Otago), Professor Jean Fleming (University of Otago), Professor William McComas (University of Arkansas), and Professor Christine Winterbourn (Centre for Free Radical Research).

On the Tuesday afternoon, delegates gathered in the Maurice Joel Theatre to hear Sir Peter Gluckman, the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor, speak via Skype and a big screen. His address focused on the importance of scientific literacy in our society and the importance of keeping the subject engaging and exciting for young students. He noted that many students are “deciding how they feel about science during the primary years” and have perhaps made up their minds by the time they reach secondary education.

“At this time we start realising that not everyone is going to be a professional scientist,” he said. “But everyone needs to be exposed to 72 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

issues such as fracking, the environment, and human health, among others. Our job is to keep it relevant, exciting, and interesting.”

The lecture also acknowledged how complicated this is, and that science is woven into virtually every aspect of our modern lives. Day-to-day practicalities for teachers were acknowledged, and a favourite quote by Einstein triggered nods of recognition amongst the audience: “Not everything that's measured is important, and not everything important can be measured”.

Peter Spratt Medal awarded The Peter Spratt medal recognises a long-serving and hard-working member of New Zealand Association of Science Educators, and a sustained contribution to science education in New Zealand. Peter Spratt was the dedicated executive officer of NZASE for many years. He died suddenly in August 2007.

At SciCon2014, the Peter Spratt Medal was presented to Jenny Pollock.

Below is the speech given by NZASE President Steven Sexton at the medal’s presentation ceremony: “This year’s recipient of the Peter Spratt Medal is a person many people from many different organisations and regions from around New Zealand felt was most deserving of this recognition. This person has been a long-serving officer of the NZASE both at regional and national level.

Specifically, this person was holding office at the highest level within the NZASE and at most probably one of its most traumatic times. The time I refer to was the period after Peter Spratt’s untimely death.

The NZASE lost its linchpin and much of the role that he’d carried out under the auspices of the Royal Society was no longer available. The reorganisation and continuation of the profile fell on the then NZASE committee and the leadership that was needed to continue through this transition as a professional body.

Fortunately, this person’s leadership and the NZASE executive carried out that transition and laid a set of new foundations for the continuation of the NZASE, outside of the administrational assistance on the Royal Society.

This person has been involved in the development and review of standards and resources to support the assessment of science at all

Sir Peter Gluckman via Skype at SciCon 2014.

three levels of NCEA, since NCEA began, through work with NZQA and the Ministry of Education.

In recent years, she has also been one of the key people in the development of standards and resources for the new subject of Earth and Space Science at Level 2 and Level 3 NCEA. In addition, this person was also part of the group developing the Science Learning Area achievement objectives and Essence Statement for The New Zealand Curriculum (2007).

And as if that was not enough, this person has supported teachers through the development of numerous resources and her willingness to travel throughout the country to run workshops on the implementation of new science standards and earth space science standards.

This person has shared electronically many teaching resources she has developed for her own teaching with teachers throughout New Zealand. This support has led to the expansion of earth and space science in many secondary schools.

Please help me welcome to the stage this year’s recipient of the Peter Spratt Medal: Jenny Pollock.”

Meeting and tweeting

Not everything that's measured is important, and not everything important can be measured.

Taieri College teacher Rachel Chisnall gave a presentation at SciCon entitled ‘Wild Wild Web’. Participants brought their own device along to the session that aimed to show “how Twitter can provide some of the best PD you will ever get, all from the comfort of your couch,” and promised to “stop off at Pinterest, splash in the Pond, and explore some of the options when choosing what media and web-based apps suit you and the needs of your students”.

It was at SciCon that Rachel first floated the idea of a uniquely New Zealand science education hashtag to help grow the community of teachers on Twitter. One month later, #SciChatNZ held its first live chat on a Thursday evening.

The inaugural #SciChatNZ took place on 31 July 2014 and has already established itself as an exciting new platform for science teachers. Comments like “that was magic!’ and ‘how can I possibly sleep now?” ended the first session, which included more than 400 tweets deeply discussing science education in New Zealand.

The live chat format works by tweeters using the hashtag #SciChatNZ in their tweets at a designated time and responding to question prompts from the chat host.

Timed to fill the space between the popular and longrunning #EdChatNZ, which takes place on alternate Thursday evenings, the science chat was well attended by primary and secondary teachers, as well as academics and practising scientists.

Rachel collaborated with Matt Nicoll and Chhaya Narayan to create the fortnightly event. Support was also given by teacher Danielle Myburgh, who helped to Jenny Pollock and medal (right) with fellow science teacher Hazel McIntosh (left).

bring the #SciChatNZ under the umbrella of the greater #EdChatNZ community.

Since then, tweeting English teachers have established #EngChatNZ, held at the same time. In fact, some teachers used their fast-thinking, multi-tasking minds to join in with both chats.

Christchurch chemistry teacher Matt Nicoll led the first chat by introducing questions to guide the discussion.

The questions were as follows: »» Q1: What are your feelings when you recall science at school? »» Q2: What do you love about teaching science? »» Q3: What do you see as the biggest barriers to student enjoyment of science in school? »» Q4: How do we keep students engaged in science? »» Q5: Why do students (and the community) perceive science as ‘hard’? »» Q6: How does your current science teaching cater for students' inherent passions/interests in science? »» Q7: Primary students seem to love science. How can secondary/specialist teachers support science education in primary schools? »» Q8: How do you maintain your love for science?

Each question was hotly debated, with additional, ‘sidediscussions’ taking place too, on everything from the accessibility of cutting-edge education research, to the way students themselves feel about their science class content.

Matt Nicoll says he was overwhelmed by the energy and enthusiasm for science education that was revealed in the chat.

“It was incredible to see such a range of science educators involved, from pre-service teachers to university lecturers and researchers,” he says. “I can only hope that our future topics invoke the same level of collaboration and interest.”

In keeping with the open and democratic nature of a live Twitter chat, participants will be able to vote on which topics are next discussed in future chats. Links to voting forms will be available from the #SciChatNZ Twitter account.

Proposed future topics include: »» Managing assessments and the Nature of Science »» The future of the science fair »» Science education in primary schools »» Authentic scientific learning experiences at school. 

Not on Twitter, but keen to take a look at the first SciChat’s progression?

Rachel Chisnall created a Storify record of the event, which can be found here: bit.ly/1o7KDDZ Want to join Twitter and add your voice to the discussion? It’s easy to sign up and tweeting couldn’t be simpler. Find a starter’s guide here: bit.ly/1ugWCi5 Are you wondering exactly how a live chat on Twitter works? Here is a guide put together for #EdChatNZ: bit.ly/1zPjdFv The dedicated science Twitter chat will now take place on alternate Thursday evenings from 8.30pm to 9.30pm, and interested teachers and/or scientists are invited to take part. Please check the #SciChatNZ Twitter account for updated details.

New Zealand Science Teacher >> 73

EDUCATION & SOCIETY science education & the environment

E m bracin g wild ne ss:

we talk to Jean Fleming Jean Fleming, reproductive biologist and environmentalist, spoke this year at SciCon about how we need to encourage children to embrace wildness.

J

ean Fleming has recently retired from her work at Otago University’s Centre for Science Communication, where she developed courses and taught the ‘Popularising Science’ stream of the MSciComm. She is also a biochemist and reproductive biologist and has worked extensively in science outreach projects, particularly for the New Zealand International Science Festival. She has won numerous awards, including an ONZM for services to science in 2002.

Hi Jean, it was great to see you giving the Peter Spratt Memorial Lecture at SciCon 2014: Wild Science. How would you describe your talk?

In my lecture, I wanted to get across the idea that children need to be freer to explore,

discover, and ‘run wild’. I presented the evidence that getting kids outside to play builds stronger, healthier and happier adults who value the land and its ecology and enjoy being in it. If we fail to give kids a chance to discover the wonders of nature, how on earth can we expect them to treat the environment with love and respect?

Can you tell us about your work at the Otago Centre for Science Communication?

I have just retired from the Centre for Science Communication, after six years developing courses to teach postgraduate Master of Science Communication students. The centre only teaches postgraduate students – as well as between 50 and 60 MSciComm students at any time, we have a handful of PhD students, working on the communication of disaster risk reduction after the Canterbury quakes, communication of the science of wine, and how to use graphic design to improve people’s understanding of environmental and conservation issues. The MSciComm is a two-year course, with streams in natural history and science documentary filmmaking, creative non-fiction writing about science or scientists, and popularising science. This latter stream encompasses everything from media analysis of scientific issues, to website design, app development, or work to evaluate better teaching methods for science in schools. In the first year of the degree, students do courses in film technique, e-book publication, creative and critical thinking, and the art of storytelling. The MSciComm is unique in that it combines the creative with the academic. The Centre aims to get our graduates ‘walking the talk’, taking science into the community in various ways.

What do you most enjoy about your work as an educator?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata! For me, the students were my reason to be there.

Over my 21 years teaching in various parts of academia, I have enjoyed watching young people ‘find themselves’ as they go through their chosen degree.

I have to admit to

enjoying the process of publishing the findings of my own and student research as well.

Otago's Centre for Science Communication is the world's largest. Why do you think New Zealand is leading the way in this field?

In May, I attended the Public Communication of Science & Technology conference in Brazil to talk about the emergence of science communication in New Zealand. I was one of over a dozen people representing countries from the UK and US, through to Mexico, Estonia, and Finland, all talking about the rise and rise of science communication as a discipline in their countries. Science communication is growing throughout the world, not just in New Zealand, and some European countries have timelines stretching back to the 15th century with regards to organisations and academic institutions working on presenting science to society. On the other hand, New Zealand is a long, thin country, and apparently about the last in the world to be found by humans. Our relative isolation and rugged geography has ensured a culture of exploration, discovery, and communication, in my opinion – the ‘number 8 wire’ phenomenon.

We also have an indigenous culture with well-honed communication skills: Māori used chants, whakatauki, and even string ‘games’ (whai) to pass on astronomical, agricultural, and historical knowledge.

The Otago Centre for Science Communication is by no means the first of its kind though. Many other countries have been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate science communication and effective outreach techniques for many years. The Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, in the Australian National University, Canberra, has run courses for over 20 years, and there have been documentary filmmaking courses in the US for ages too. Otago’s Centre is, however, unique in its approach to combining the creative with the academic and the digital with educational approaches, and also in its long-term relationship with NHNZ, the internationally recognised documentary filmmakers, based in Dunedin. The centre attracts many international students to all the streams, making for a rich blend of creative and passionate students with a strong interest in science. The centre is also expanding rapidly, with new staff replacing me in the near future.

You are also a reproductive biologist. What was your path to this discipline?

How long do you have? My career as a reproductive biologist started in the 1980s, concomitant to my having a son. In fact,

74 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

Standing committees 2014 REPORTs

the two were not related intentionally!

My original degree was in biochemistry at Victoria University of Wellington, in the early 1970s. I then worked for five years in Cambridge, UK, primarily on human brain biochemistry in Huntington’s disease. When I returned to New Zealand, I got a job with an endocrinologist (hormones) in the Wellington Clinical School (Otago Uni), which quickly transmogrified into an MSc. My research was on a new way of isolating the cells in the testes that make testosterone. I went on to do a PhD on the brain peptide that controls reproductive hormone release from the pituitary gland, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone. I was using specific antibodies to try to identify precursor protein forms of this 10 amino acid peptide. Inevitably, on the day I submitted my doorstopper thesis (I always was long-winded), a paper came out on the gene sequence of the GnRH gene.

After that, I worked in AgResearch on the reproductive biology of the super-fertile Booroola sheep, and then later, on the growth of the velvet antler (this was probably the most fascinating of all the projects I’ve worked on). I joined Otago University as a lecturer in physiology in 1994 and moved to join the other reproductive biologists in the Department of Anatomy in 1999. For years, I worked on ovulation in mice, observing the ‘healing’ of the ovulation wound, using scanning electron microscopy and looking at the effects of a high total lifetime ovulation number on ovarian morphology and cyst formation. My later research was centred on trying to understand the cellular basis of epithelial ovarian cancer. I still have a couple of papers to write on that topic – some day …

What would you like to do over the next five or 10 years?

Having retired, I am busier than ever! Doors are opening everywhere, and I find myself learning to say no at last. I am about to go off on a Heritage Expedition in the Pacific to look at birds. This is my ‘retirement treat’. There are conferences to speak at and a whole range of books and papers to write. I have science communication research from at least four students to publish – the proofs are back from the first paper submitted. So while I would like to “do nothing and do it slowly”, to quote an old friend of mine, I don’t think I am cut out for that. I don’t have any real aims.

I want to grow my own food more, ride my electric bike more, and spend more time with family and friends. I know I will work towards community resilience in the face of climate change, and I do have a dream of walking or biking through the country recording people’s personal responses to climate change and evaluating New Zealanders’ ideas on preserving their way of life, as well as their environment. I am green as green but actually think I want to avoid politics and politicians as much as possible in this next stage of my life. 

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Girls from Nelson College for Girls on the Steadfast in Tasman Bay.

Earth and Space

Science Educators

E

arth and Space Science Educators (ESSE) is the standing committee of the relatively new subject of Earth and Space Science (ESS).

The emphasis of the members of ESSE initially has been to make sure that teachers and students have good resources and secure assessments with whitch to teach and learn with; and secondly, to be part of the writing of textbooks. This has been largely achieved, and teachers have access to a Google group for resources and assessments and good textbooks.

At SciCon this year, ESSE held its first ESS day in which delegates went on marine science, astronomy, and geology field trips. We are hoping to make this a biennial event.

Our plans for the future are to keep on providing guidance for new teachers to ESS, develop effective professional development, and to make new and secure assessments available each year.

One of the best aspects of teaching ESS is that teachers now have the opportunities to go on exciting field trips with in-depth learning opportunities, knowing that there are good achievement standards that can be used for assessment.

New Zealand is a natural laboratory for earth sciences and astronomy. Our unique geology has been formed as a result of straddling two major tectonic plates and our country is in the middle of vast, restless oceans, through which major currents that control the world’s climate flow. The southern hemisphere sky allows us to study our solar system and the Milky Way galaxy, as well as enabling us to continue exploring other parts of the universe through unpolluted skies.

For those of you unfamiliar with Earth and Space Science, it is a subject derived from levels 7 and 8 of the Planet Earth and Beyond (PEB) contextual strand of the Science Learning Area.

Achievement standards are available at Level 1 as part of science, and at Levels 2 and 3 as part of ESS or a science course. Students do not need Level 1 ESS standards to take Levels 2 and 3 ESS, although courses assessed by these standards would give valuable background.

Many of the new ESS standards have considerable flexibility and are being used to assess not only Earth and Space Science but also courses with the emphasis on geology, astronomy, marine science, environmental science, and Antarctic studies. Many science courses are using ESS standards in them.

ESS aims not only to prepare students for possible careers in the earth, marine, and environmental sciences but also to ensure that students are scientifically literate with regards to our planet and the problems it faces. This is essential because humans face many challenges, such as dwindling energy and mineral resources, changing climates, ocean acidification, water shortages, and waste disposal. These are all problems that can be tackled by people having current and accurate scientific understanding of earth-based sciences.

Earth is the only known planet with abundant and complex life. The Earth’s interlocking spheres (geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere) are dynamically balanced.

Understanding how these interact, how they affect us, and how we affect them is vital to human survival. Changes, even small ones, can profoundly influence all life and affect the course of human civilization.  New Zealand Science Teacher >> 75

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Standing committees 2014 REPORTs

Auckland Science

Teachers Association

W

e had our AGM at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum on Auckland’s waterfront in March. Our support groups for physics, Chemistry, Biology are going strong. Our thanks to Mike Stone, Ian Torrie and Jan Giffney (physics, see below).

The Primary Science Group hosted the Primary Science Conference and Science Week at the beginning of May (see their reports on our website for more information and contact details).

Our Term 2 event with Peter Stewart (Prime Minister’s Science Teacher award recipient) was highly successful with over 85 teachers attending at the Epsom Campus of The University of Auckland on Thursday 20 June.

The ASTA dinner was once again very popular, with 85 people attending.

We celebrated ‘The Year of Biodiversity’ and recognised the work of Mike Stone by awarding her a Life Membership to ASTA (Auckland Science Teachers Association). This event is becoming a regular feature on the social calendar of a number of schools who have attended regularly for many years. We use this event to include and introduce ‘beginning’ teachers and teacher trainees who will become new ASTA members the following year. This group is often the largest group on the night. It is a fun night with a set menu at Little India restaurant in Kingsland.

We hosted a meeting at The University of Auckland on 22 August with a visiting physics education specialist from Hong Kong, Alice Wong. This was very interesting, informative and useful. She talked about the nature of science and physics teaching.

The exam discussion meeting on 27 November was well attended by 65 people. This is once again a well-received, permanent fixture on our calendar. Meeting together to go over the Level 1 science paper and then splitting up into the specialist areas for Levels 2, 3 and scholarships has proved to be the best way to run this. Thanks to Colin North, Ian Torrie, Jan Giffney, Mike Stone, Nat de Roo, Deborah Hay and Dave Thrasher, who hosted the specialist feedback sessions.

Physics Day on 29 November was hosted by The University of Auckland and more than 145 teachers attended. ASTA provided the morning tea for the day and looked after their accounts. Thanks to Graeme Foster, Terry De Vere, Kate McKinney and Dave Thrasher (Physics Support group leaders) for their efforts to organise this incredibly valuable and successful PD day for physics teachers from Hamilton, Auckland and Northland.

I would like to thank the committee for their time and effort through last year as without their dedication there would not be ASTA or the events that we run. Colin North, who is the treasurer of NZASE, was our representative at the NZASE AGM – thanks Colin.

I would also like to publicly thank The University of Auckland and the Faculty of Education for hosting the exam discussion evening, and the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum for hosting our AGM. 

Carolyn Haslam, ASTA president.

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Primary science education across New Zealand

N

ow is the time for primary science! With STEM careers expected to increase in the years to come, we need to encourage our younger students and teachers to take the plunge into practical science. Practical science allows children to practice and use what they learn. Science in primary should be fun and allow children to connect what they are learning about with their everyday life.

This has been a great year for the New Zealand Association of Primary Science Educators (nZAPSe), we have more new members and the momentum is building for growth in 2015.

We have a great committee of passionate individuals who are focused on the importance and excitement of primary science in New Zealand.

The committee includes: »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

John Marsh, Tauranga Steven Sexton, Dunedin Carol Brieseman, Wellington Greta Droomgol, Hamilton Sandy Jackson, Auckland Sterling Cathman, Nelson Tracey Kinloch-Jones, Hawkes Bay.

Waikato Science Meetings Four general meetings have been held in the past year, including the Annual General Meeting.

The 2013 AGM was held at Sacred Heart Girls’ College.

Alex Ritchie (Hamilton Girls’ High School) was re-elected treasurer, Sarah Hay (St Peter’s) was re-elected secretary, and Sara Loughnane (St Peter’s) was re-elected chairperson.

Mike Wilson (Sacred Heart) was re-elected as IT manager for WSTA and has continued to manage the WSTA website (www.wsta.org.nz). All officers were re-elected unopposed.

Subs were reset for $30 per school per year for the next year.

The relationship between WSTA and Kiwanis regarding the NIWA Waikato Science Fair was discussed. An amendment to the WSTA constitution was mooted.

In Term 3 of 2013, we met at St Peter’s, Cambridge, with guest speaker Michael Heyes from The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in London, UK. Mike was touring Australia and New Zealand on a Travelling Fellowship. He spoke on student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), with a focus

National Association of Primary Science Educators National Primary Science Week These are the people who are keeping primary science in New Zealand alive and exciting. Our main initiative is National Primary Science Week, which brings interesting science into schools and homes around the country. In 2014, we partnered with Stardome, Auckland as a major supporter of Primary Science Week, with an emphasis on astronomy.

Here’s a sample of some of the feedback we received about Primary Science Week:

“Our students loved doing lunchtime activities, and the teachers enjoyed the workshops.”

“We had university scientists visiting the school.”

“We had great support from the local university.”

“We held lunchtime activities at school - different themes, physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry…”

“Students took part in an astronomy night at our local observatory.”

Shadow stick observation Another successful part of National Primary Science Week was the ‘national investigation’. For this, we challenged students across the country to measure the shadow of a perpendicular meter stick at exactly 12pm. Then we compiled the data and generated lots of questions.

Our hypothesis, that an increase in latitude will result in a longer shadow at midday, was correct.

Next year – 2015 Based on the feedback we received, we have identified some things that need to be improved for next year’s Primary Science Week.

For example, we offer free services and support to schools and their teachers that are just not taken up at the level they could be. Teachers still tend to want people to come in, do the science, and then leave so they can tick science off the ‘to do’ list.

Activities need to be extremely teacher-friendly and what we think are easy/simple many teachers are still finding daunting and intimidating.

Other issues include a lack of support at school (meetings being run) and concern over visitors performing dangerous demonstrations at school.

For Primary Science 2015 our focus will be on the YEAR of LIGHT! 

Have fun with science!

National coordinator – Sterling Cathman, sterling@MrScience.co.nz

Teachers Association on STEM delivery and teacher training.

We held a successful but poorly attended meeting in Term 4 of 2013, where we had two invited guests speaking on the topical issue of water fluoridation in Hamilton: Dr Graham Saunders from the University of Waikato and Dr Felicity Dumble from the Waikato District Health Board.

We did not have a quorum, so were not able to carry out any actions at this meeting.

In Term 1 of 2014, we had a better turn out of members who enjoyed the opportunity to build and launch rockets under the tutelage of guest speaker

David Gilmour. We had discussions around key events including the NIWA Waikato Science Fair and the WSTA Science Symposium.

Additionally, we discussed the proposal of hosting BIOLive 2015 and Kathy Saunders has expressed our tentative interest in running this event to BEANZ. We also had a useful session of sharing ideas and resources.

NIWA Waikato Science Fair The Science Fair committee has been working hard to build upon the foundations for this annual event built by Rosalie McGeown.

There has been a new category

added for the 2014 Fair: Scientific Video. The allocation of prizes has had a restructure, resulting in an increase in prize money. A ‘top school’ shield has been initiated and Kiwanis is organising the trophy for this. The 2014 themes were set as: »» Biological drawing theme: plants of the Waikato river »» Scientific wall charts theme: the effects of humans on the Waikato river »» Scientific photography theme: the natural science of the Waikato river »» Scientific video theme (Year 9–13): the effects of humans on the Waikato river.

The website has been updated and can be found at www.waikatosciencefair.org.nz/ niwa-waikato-region-scienceand-technology-fair.

Science Symposium On Monday 10 November 2014, WSTA will run the second WSTA Science Symposium in conjunction with Simon Taylor of Team Solutions. The programme has been modified slightly to reflect the comments made in evaluation of the 2012 symposium. The process of organising speakers and workshops is underway.  Sara Loughnane, chairperson WSTA New Zealand Science Teacher >> 77

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Standing committees 2014 REPORTs

Canterbury

Science Teachers Association 2013/2014 has seen many developments for the education sector in Canterbury, and this is likely to continue for many years to come. The past year has proved to again be a testing time for the science teachers of the Canterbury area. For many teachers and support staff across all the levels of the profession, there are still many challenges. Continuing earthquakes, EQC rebuilds, wind damage, changes to school buildings, staffing, and changing student numbers are just some of the things that members have to deal with. The effort by educators and technicians is remarkable and worthy of greater recognition.

CSTA has continued to provide support for all levels of science education in the Canterbury area and maintain strong links with the local tertiary institutions. One focus for 2013/14 was to increase the participation and support of primary science in Canterbury. This was led by committee member Felia Ward and saw further increases in membership numbers at the primary and intermediate level and another very successful Primary Science Week event being held in the region.

The CSTA community Communication between CSTA and its members has once again been a focus for 2013 and this continues to develop through the use of Twitter, the website, and an email newsletter. All of these electronic or social media areas help promote activities and opportunities in our region.

Thanks again, Donald Reid (Information Matters), for all your tireless work.

There has been a show of positive support for social occasions that provide members (families) a reprieve from the continued stressful conditions many face. The following activities were held successfully: »» CSTA-sponsored quiz night held at CPIT (high level of attendance) »» 2013 Royal Society Fellowship dinner and presentation. Visions CPIT. Financially, CSTA - organised examinations are still a major source of income.

CSTA continues to provide multiple professional development opportunities and support at all levels.

Sponsorship, support and organisation of events: »» »» »» »»

BioLIVE 2013 Bronze Sponsor (a wonderfully successful event) National Chemistry Competition (sponsor of costs for travel) Erskine fellow talk focuses on chemistry (sponsor) Canterbury and Westland Science Fair 2013/14 (continued sponsorship and support) »» First Year Biology Educators Colloquium 2013 hosted at Lincoln – an event where secondary and tertiary educators were able to learn and discuss issues facing the future of education »» Technicians’ day 2013 successfully held at CPIT »» The HOD day 2013 at Lincoln University a very successful event The continuation of hosting this event in a cyclic form by the region’s three tertiary institutions is working well and will see UC hosting the 2014 event.

Other completed promotional activities include the design of a new logo and purchase of a CSTA banner/flag for use at all events. CSTA is also continuing to look at ways to develop science resources for the region by applying for grants.

Membership CSTA continues to remain solid and is growing. This is largely due to the supportive and increasing number of new and old committee members and the ever-increasing membership at all levels.

I do wish to acknowledge the amazing work of the following committee members who have continued year after year in their roles: treasurer Joanne Isles, secretary Graham Hall, Mark Burtt (honorary senior president) and Sue Unsworth – organiser extraordinaire. They have all contributed immensely to the CSTA and many of its endeavours would have not have been as successful without them.

I greatly appreciate the effort and commitment of the committee members in making this association one of the strongest in New Zealand.  Dwayne McCormick President, Canterbury Science Teachers Association

West Coast Science Teachers Association The West Coast Science Teachers Association was set up last year by science teachers from the geographical area ranging from Karamea Area School to South Westland Area School.

This year has been another successful year for the West Coast schools.

At the beginning of the year, West Coast students from John Paul II High School, Greymouth High School, and Buller High School participated in The International Youth Physicists Tournament for the first time. This was a fantastic opportunity for all students attending to visit the prestigious Canterbury University facilities. Although it was unfamiliar for students, they took great responsibility in this competition and placed well. Students enjoyed this challenge and learned how scientific ideas are tested and experiments conducted, on a larger scale. It demonstrated how so many different theories

78 >> New Zealand Science Teacher

can join together from one simple question.

Teachers and students have already started to prepare for next year’s tournament.

In June, John Paul II High School was given the opportunity to host for the second year the annual West Coast Science Fair. High school students from Karamea to South Westland took part in this year´s event. The judges had over 70 projects to consider and rate. With great thanks to the huge generosity of our sponsors, the awards were: »» First place: Roisin Dorey and Sarah Casey from Buller High received $300 from Electronet. »» Second place: Emily Crawley and Jasmine Dodemiade from John Paul II received $200 from Lions Riverside.

Judges commented that all projects were of an extremely high standard, making this year truly difficult and a close-run competition.

“Significantly raising the bar,” commented one judge. Winning students were entered into the Christchurch Science Fair, held late in August.

The 2nd annual Physics Debate took place in July this year. Physics teachers raised the benchmark last year to increase students’ communication skills and create a physics debate amongst the three high schools in the Greymouth/Westport area. Students responded to the challenge with excellent results and took pride in representing their schools during their assessment. It was a complete success for all those who participated. 

»» Third place: Annie Molloy from John Paul II received $100 from SGS.

Radka McKendry, WCSTA president.

New Zealand Institute of

NZIPES goals: »» To continue to offer the usual services such as Year 12 and 13 examinations. »» To provide resource materials and to update current resources available. »» To continue to promote the views of physics teachers in this country on issues of national importance. »» To provide core professional development opportunities for teachers. »» To encourage stronger links with tertiary/research bodies. »» To develop stronger regional support networks for physics teachers.

Achievements for 2013–14: »» Successful completion of examinations for 2013. »» Successful completion of examinations for 2014. »» 2014 examinations have been developed under a new system where there are examiners for each level – the basic system is a replica of the NZQA model. »» New secure website has been developed and resources are regularly updated. »» Conference and Events Ltd formally handle all contract arrangements and secretarial support for NZIPES. »» Development of our online resource service. Over 300 schools now subscribe to this service. The quality of the resources available is extremely high. »» Further development of resources – we now offer assessment resources for virtually all physics-related standards.

These resources have successfully met the moderation requirements of NZQA. »» A complete rewrite has occurred of all the L2 and 3 internal standards for physics. »» In 2014 more than 10 new assessment resources have been added for the internal physics standards.

Physics

IYPT We continue to provide financial support for the International Young Physicists’ Tournament. New Zealand has had considerable success in recent years.

In 2014, the team returned as silver medallists.

NZIP conference The New Zealand Institute of Physics held its biennial conference in late September at the aptly named Rutherford Hotel in Nelson. For the first time, the conference was held outside the main university centres and, ironically, was the first time that no talks were dedicated to Rutherford and his work.

The relatively small size of the physics community in New Zealand has led to conferences designed to appeal to high school teachers as well tertiary academics. This linkage was well served

by Professor David Sokoloff (University of Oregon) whose advocacy of ‘active’ learning applies equally to schools and universities. Sokoloff’s research has shown that when students are asked to record the results they expect before undertaking practical investigations, in combination with computer-based data acquisition and analysis, greatly improved student understanding follows.

Aside from pedagogy, most of the conference was devoted to crossdisciplinary aspects of physics. These included broad areas such as cosmology, astrophysics, geophysics, biophysics, and narrower areas such as ‘exotica at the borderlands of general relativity’. 

David Housden, chairperson NZIP Education Section

Science Technicians Association

T

his year there have been many opportunities and issues for STANZ(Inc) to be involved in.

STANZ sponsored an executive member to attend a Code of Practice forum at SciCon in Dunedin in July.

Annette Prien volunteered to attend.

However, this opportunity was taken up by David Cook who was also attending the NZASE AGM on my behalf. At the Code of Practice forum, NZASE revealed they are waiting on Ministry funding approval. If approved, a rewrite is unlikely to begin until a new Health and Safety Reform Bill comes into law in April 2015. This implies a rewrite could result in more legalisation, compliance and documentation.

David Cook looks after our online database and has just added forum manager to his portfolio and is now involved in registering new members on Scitechtalk. He is assisted

by Alison Blakey. We have an informative newsletter designed by Ann Brimmer. She manages the subscriptions and invoicing. We get around 50 new members a year replacing those moving on. A new ‘Sign Up’ form has been added to our website to make it easier for new members to access these services.

Sheryl Fitzsimons has taken on the challenge of STANZ(Inc) treasurer with great focus. Her efforts will have benefits for all of us. With good management we continue to be in a sound financial position.

A group of non-executive members are reviewing the Safe Methods of Use of Hazardous Substances requirement as outlined in the Code of Practice. A report will be presented to the STANZ(Inc) executive in September and if approved will be available to members shortly thereafter.

Robyn Eden on behalf of STANZ(Inc) approached the Ministry of Education for funding to provide the ChemWatch Safety Data Sheet programme free to all schools. However this was rejected by the Ministry, which said it was a Board of Trustees responsibility to provide such safety information.

We have a very capable team to represent the STANZ(Inc) members. The executives are well supported in their roles and have taken up the challenge to advance the professional interests of school science technicians.

As a result, we have had a successful conference in Rotorua and the planning for ConSTANZ15 in Nelson is underway. We have a well-managed subscription newsletter, Scitechtalk forum and members database and are in a good financial position. We hope to continue these services as well as address new issues that are important to our members. 

Terry Price, STANZ(Inc) president New Zealand Science Teacher >> 79

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Standing committees 2014 REPORTs

e w Z ea la n d NChemistry Olympiad team

New Zealand performed extremely well at the 46th International Chemistry Olympiad in Hanoi, Vietnam, winning four bronze medals in a competition involving nearly 300 high school students from 77 countries around the world. This maintains a run of nearly a decade in which all New Zealand students have managed to earn a medal – an outstanding achievement for a country of our size.

T

he New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad team – Isari Masuda (Auckland Grammar School), Ross Shillito (Christ’s College), and Victor Xie and Mark Yep (both from Mount Roskill Grammar School) – was chosen from more than 200 high school students. The students were nominated from across the country to participate in a challenging selection exam in November 2013. A training group was selected, which attended a week-long camp at The University of Auckland and St Cuthbert’s College in April 2014 to develop advanced chemical theory and practical laboratory skills, before sitting both practical and theory exams to find the four students to represent New Zealand.

The International Chemistry Olympiad is an annual event between high school students from countries around the world that has been running for nearly 50 years. Each country is represented by only four students – to select the four students of the Chinese team, nearly 150,000 students competed in the first round of their national competition. Once in Hanoi, the teams are separated from their mentors (Dr Duncan McGillivray, University of Auckland; A/Prof Owen Curnow, University of Canterbury; and Dr Stephen McCracken, Mount Roskill Grammar School) and placed in the care of a local guide. The mentors then adjourned to discuss the precise wordings of the theoretical and practical examinations the students must sit, and to inspect the laboratory facilities where they perform their practical work.

This year’s exams included asking the students to synthesise a derivative of artemisin (a potent antimalarial drug extremely significant to Vietnam), and to calculate the properties of high-valent silver compounds or follow the synthesis of one of the flavour compounds in phở (the traditional Vietnamese soup), amongst other challenges.

The students, meanwhile, both prepared for their exams and met with similarly minded students from around the world. After sitting the theoretical and practical examinations (both five hours long) they had the chance to explore the richness of Vietnam’s history and culture, and build strong connections with their peers – all the while waiting to hear how they performed in competition only at the closing ceremony (apparently one of the most stressful parts of the competition), to be rewarded with their medals in a ceremony hosted by the Vietnamese prime minister.

Overall, it was an extremely rewarding experience for all involved, as preparations start for the next International Chemistry Olympiad in Azerbaijan, 2015.

We thank all the sponsors who have contributed to make this possible, including the Royal Society of New Zealand, The University of Auckland, Douglas Pharmaceuticals, ABA resources and the MacDiarmid Institute. 

For more information, please visit the New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad Trust: bit.ly/1uw33xG

NZIC Spectroscopy resource A resource has been developed by the NZIC Education Group to support the NCEA Spectroscopy achievement standard. It is available at http://nzic.org.nz/secondary-school-resources.

This resource has been developed to provide access for teachers to actual spectra of compounds and will be added to as more spectra become available. The resource contains the mass spectrum, the IR spectrum, and the C-13 NMR spectrum for a range of compounds, along with a summary of the relevant peaks/data from each spectrum. The database will be expanded as more compounds/spectra become available.

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Material is available in both Word and PDF files. At present, the list of compounds is publicly accessible, but the actual files are password-protected.

User name: nziccompounds Password: aiu5f8hqbw

The sun is now shining for science and maths teachers

Since 2006 the Schoolgen programme has installed solar photovoltaic arrays in 66 NZ schools. Each solar array is monitored, with the amount of electricity generated recorded in a database and made publicly available through the Schoolgen website. The context provided by a school owning its own solar power station creates a powerful tool for learning, not just for that school, but for all NZ schools.

The solar daTa is presenTed on The schoolgen websiTe in 3 main ways: inTeracTive map

graphs

widgeTs

The map on the home page shows the geography of all the Schoolgen schools, and their colour-coded symbols indicate how they are performing right now relative to each other. Clicking on each symbol reveals further live measurements of voltage and power, and offers a link through to the school’s individual graph and profile page.

Students and teachers can view interactive graphs of any school’s solar generation and compare it with other schools using the “solar versus solar” function. The graphs clearly show the effect of astronomical cycles and climatic variation on the amount of electricity generated from the solar panels. The effect of angle and tilt of the different solar arrays can also be investigated by comparing schools and viewing their system details. More advanced students can download the solar data for their own analysis.

The widgets provide a snapshot of key statistics such as total solar electricity generation, or carbon dioxide emissions prevented, for each school as well as for the whole programme. The widgets allow a feel for unfamiliar quantities (kilowatthours, kilograms of carbon dioxide) to be gained by providing a comparison with more tangible concepts such as: “How many computers would this run for a month?”; “How far could an electric car drive on this?”; “How many kilometres would a normal car drive to emit this amount of gas?”; “How much space does a tonne of carbon dioxide occupy?”

Some may see data as just abstract numbers, but data is a precious record of actual events in the phenomenal world, providing insight into real physical relationships. Data treated in the right way is useful; when formed into patterns it can reliably show what has happened, when, where, and “How much?” Data allows future predictions to be made and provides a sound basis for decision-making.

New Zealand

Science Teacher Get inspired Visit New Zealand Science Teacher online and get inspired by the world of science education in New Zealand.

The website is updated daily with news stories and articles to keep you informed. You will find articles written by New Zealand educators, academics, and scientists covering all areas of the New Zealand Curriculum, including the overarching, unifying strand: the Nature of Science.

You’ll also find links to interesting apps, videos, and upcoming conferences in your region.

JOIN NZASE

and become a New Zealand Science Teacher subscriber About NZASE The New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE) coordinates and supports many organisations dedicated to science education. Membership is open to institutions and

A growing website

individuals that support the objects of the association.

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With website content updated daily, New Zealand Science

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half vs 1 half 2014). st

A finger on the pulse of science education

teachers, science technicians, and in fact, educators at all levels with an interest in science!

New Zealand Science Teacher is the official publication of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE).

Full access to the New Zealand Science Teacher website is only available to New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE) members.

NZASE members also receive the annual print and digital editions of New Zealand Science Teacher, which are packed with exclusive articles.

Join NZASE and your subscription to New Zealand Science

Teacher will ensure your finger will be on the pulse of science education in New Zealand.

http://nzase.org.nz/membership Other NZASE membership benefits »» SCICON – the biennial conference of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators. It is organised and hosted by regional science teachers’ associations with NZASE support and provides a unique professional development experience for teachers of science at all levels in New Zealand. Discounts are available to individual NZASE

www.nzscienceteacher.co.nz

members. »» Access to science tasks at a cost of $30 each. »» Notification of events and professional opportunities.