01 March 2006
PDF of this article (54 KB)
One of NIWA’s aims with this magazine is to contribute to science education in New Zealand. To this end we distribute Water & Atmosphere without charge to New Zealand high schools. Most of the magazine’s articles are assigned ‘Curriculum Connections’ to indicate which of the NZ NCEA Achievement Standards they can complement as a classroom resource. These links are assigned by Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Fellows who are working during the year with NIWA scientists.
Remember that there is an Archive of past issues beginning with September 2000 (vol. 8, no. 3). All online articles include a pdf of the printed version and the articles are indexed via the website’s search engine.
Curriculum connections for this issue
| Article | Relevant NCEA Achievement Standards | Brief summary |
|---|---|---|
| Giving our estuaries a helping hand: restoring shellfish beds in Whangarei Harbour | Biology 90164 (1.4), 90460 (2.4), 90461 (2.5) | Community members have worked with NIWA scientists to determine the best ways to re-seed local cockle beds. |
| Shellfish on the move: predicting recovery of coastal habitats | Biology 90164 (1.4), 90460 (2.4), 90461 (2.5) | Laboratory experiments in a flume examine how shellfish move under different wave and sediment conditions. |
| Urban streamscapes: what people want to see in their neighbourhood | Geography 90206 (1.5), 90335 (2.5), 90705 (3.5) | Stream restoration projects can be more successful if the locals like the way they look. A survey has determined what people like and why. |
| Sustainable riparian plantings in urban and rural landscapes | Biology 90165 (1.5), 90167 (1.7), 90460 (2.4), 90461 (2.5) | An examination of riparian plantings in 15 projects looks at the factors that ensure the strips will flourish. |
| ‘Like a fish out of water’: life in a disappearing river | Biology 90714 (3.2), 90716 (3.4) | Large portions of the Selwyn River dry up each year. This study examines the fish that live in it and how they survive. |
| Going over the top: tracking aquatic insect flight paths | Biology 90164 (1.4), 90460 (2.4), 90461 (2.5), 90716 (3.4) | As part of their life cycle, aquatic insects disperse to new habitat. How far can they fly to find a suitable home? |
| Functional biodiversity in streams | Biology 90164 (1.4), 90460 (2.4), 90462 (2.6), 90713 (3.1) | The role organisms play within an ecosystem can be as important as who they are. |
| Tagging along when longfins go spawning | Biology 90162 (1.2), 90460 (2.4) Science 90771 (2.2) | Sophisticated electronic tags have been used to track the long-distance migration of longfin eels. |