What would it be like to live in the Ocean? Who are the animals that cope in this watery world, and how do they do it? Using a range of colourful characters, we can explore the shoreline without getting too wet, or do we! Predation is a big issue for many creatures, so critters use many ways to avoid being something else’s dinner! Try the Survivor game and see how you fare!
In pre-European times, the seas around Aotearoa were the main food source for most Māori. However, having recently arrived, the earliest Polynesian settlers were used to spearing fish in clear tropical waters. In Aotearoa, the murky seas must have been initially frustrating. Māori went on to develop the fishing hook beyond any other culture on the planet.
This session will look at examples of hooks, lures, traps, nets, and aquaculture, looking at design, manufacture, and functionality. It will also explore some of the tikanga and science around traditional Māori fish harvesting and enhancement methods. This content links to NZ Histories.
Who’s responsible for the oceanic disco lights the we call bioluminescence? Is it really causing albatross to swim in circles? Can we catch and get to see some of these mysterious glowing creatures? Why and how do they do it? The disadvantages of glowing in a dark ocean are obvious, so what are the advantages? Join us on a dark oceanic field trip to see if we can find some of the culprits!
Puppets have a unique ability to break through barriers to learning.
Puppets allow the operator to step ‘outside themselves’ because the ‘performance’ transfers to the puppet.
Interactions between students and educators using puppets are neutral and non-threatening. This allows students to ask questions and say things they might never normally say to a teacher.
Puppets are incredibly versatile, allowing people who don’t normally have confidence to feel at ease, and allowing humour into normally dry situations. A great way to enhance the learning and retention of information.
Richard has created many hand puppets, string-controlled marionettes, finger puppets, full-body animal costumes and character hats. Join Richard de Hamel in a practical session where we will all make a puppet to take away and discuss and try out a variety of puppet styles.
Check out one of Richard’s presentations here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30Np7_k_sWw
Looking at how schools can investigate/discover what’s going on below the surface. Exploring the undersea world can be problematic. That can either put you off trying or it can create a worthy challenge to try and come up with simple solutions to find out what is going on down there. Low-tech answers can lie in using inexpensive action cameras in smart ways, taking bottom samples, video transects, light traps, plankton sampling, water sampling (temp/salinity/pH etc), sediment deposition and using ROVs. Much of this gear can be designed by students and built in a school’s technology suite. Getting real-world data from the real world, is life experience stuff and its value cannot be underestimated.
New Zealand/Aotearoa is the envy of many countries, being the only country in the world with a quota-managed fisheries resource for all commercial species. In the long term, how sustainable is commercial and recreational fishing in this country? We will look at Commercial Fish harvesting and the controls and strategies employed to do the job efficiently. How does this compare with Aquaculture? Is aquaculture going to be the answer to supplying consumer demand for seafood? Where will we end up? How will climate change affect the marine environment and the way it works? What effects will be seen on species we are used to having in our waters. Includes a Mussel dissection and a demonstration of mussel water filtering? Includes a mussel dissection and a demonstration of mussel water filtering.
Who’s responsible for the oceanic disco lights the we call bioluminescence? Is it really causing albatross to swim in circles? Can we catch and get to see some of these mysterious glowing creatures? Why and how do they do it? The disadvantages of glowing in a dark ocean are obvious, so what are the advantages? Join us on a dark oceanic field trip to see if we can find some of the culprits!
When did the first Polynesians arrive and what inspired them to search for Aotearoa? What cues did the Polynesians use before they set off to find Aotearoa? How did they prepare for such a voyage, navigate and survive during the trip? What did they find when they got here. The answers to most of these questions are hidden, but clues have been left along the way, some coming from unlikely sources. One can only marvel at these remarkable navigators.
Aotearoa/NZ is biologically the oldest place on this planet. A Dinosaur museum! Our native plants, insects, frogs, birds, lizards and many other creatures are the oldest in existence. Our native frogs make no noise because they are derived from the very first frogs to ever to evolve, and with only one species, they didn’t need to differentiate using sounds! In other countries Tuatara are known only as fossils but they still live here! It is an amazing heritage that dates back millions of years. The whole story is linked very closely to the Geology of NZ, Gondwanaland, the ice ages, sea level changes, volcanic activity, fault lines and of course fossils!
