Teaching resources
NIWA's educational resources and scientific data are tools for young people to learn about science.
Links with teachers
NIWA collaborates directly with teachers through its involvement with the Royal Society of New Zealand Teaching Fellows. As part of the programme, Teacher Fellows participate in the life of the institute (including field work), engage in discussion and generally enhance their science skills and background. They work on defined projects and create teaching resources and activities to take back to the classroom.
Climate change
IIn March 2020, NIWA took part in a virtual field trip with LEARNZ. On the LEARNZ website you can:
- Scroll down to see the links to videos, including with NIWA researchers talking about their work.
- Use the menu on the left to access activities that can be done in class, including a graphing activity using greenhouse gas data from NIWA's Baring Head monitoring station.
(The field trip was postponed partway through due to COVID19 and lockdown, but there are plans to resume later in the year).
Calculating the weather
Use our climate data to devise mathematics-orientated exercises for secondary school students. We also provide an overview of New Zealand climate data for use in school projects.
Estuaries and coasts
When fresh water meets salty water
- A classroom exercise that explores the physics of estuaries.
- A NIWA CD resource for science and geography teachers which covers coastal processes and hazards such as the effects of erosion on development. The introductory material includes information on how the content fits into the New Zealand science, physics and geography curricula.
Royal Society of New Zealand
The Royal Society of New Zealand has assembled a range of teaching and learning resources, including many on ocean and marine topics.
