Heads Up

Resources for teachers interested in science, technology and mathematics

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  • Cannibal blood cells: These could be key to easing the symptoms of gout.

  • Lines ! AGraphing Lines simulation, exploring  the world of lines. Investigate the relationships between linear equations, slope, and graphs of lines. Challenge yourself in the line game!

  • Never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. No, really – don’t shop when you’re hungry: A new study offers evidence to support what many people have learned for themselves: never go grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Researchers found that people who hadn’t eaten all afternoon chose more high-calorie foods in a simulated supermarket than those who were given a snack just before online food shopping ..and in a real grocery store, shoppers bought a higher ratio of high-calorie foods to low-calorie ones in the hours leading up to dinnertime compared to earlier in the day……

  • Proven by Larry? Learn more about the role of scepticism in science in this video.

  • See-through brains: Scientists have come up with a way to make whole brains transparent, so they can be labelled with molecular markers and imaged using a light microscope. The technique, called CLARITY, enabled its creators to produce the detailed 3D visualisations you see in this video on how to make brains transparent.

  • Ectotherms: All animals that can change colour, such as chameleons and cuttlefish, are ectotherms. This means they cannot generate their own body heat as mammals and birds do.

    How Your Blender Uses Physics to Make a Smoothie: Every time you throw food into a blender, you’re doing science. This seemingly mundane appliance is actually a chamber. Your blender transforms chunks of fruit or veggies into a smooth mixture, first by cutting them up into smaller pieces and then by bombarding the smaller morsels with tiny air bombs. As these bubbles collapse, shock waves break the bits of food up even further. This process is revealed in beautiful slow motion in the videos featured here. The short documentary of the rips and explosions that happen inside one of the most common kitchen gadgets is part of a new series of videos about the science of cooking produced by scientist-turned-chef Chris Young, Ryan Matthew Smith and Grant Crilly at ChefSteps.

  • Splat! Pupils investigate the relationship between the plasticity of clay and its water content by dropping a clay ball on to the floor and measuring its spread. Needless to say this is a very popular activity!!

  • Matariki :(the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters) usually appears in the sky just before dawn in the last days of May or in early June, and signals the Māori New Year. Explore this collection of links for suggested teaching approaches and activities, and resource material.

  • How particle physics improves your life: From MRIs to shrink wrap, particle physics technology improves the world we live in.

  • Why is there more matter than antimatter? :One of the experiments at CERN has observed D-mesons ‘flipping’ between matter and antimatter. Antimatter is identical to normal matter but with opposite charge, spin and other quantum numbers. Mesons are a type of particle made up of a quark and an antiquark. Quarks are the particles that make up the protons and neutrons found in atomic nuclei, and come in six ‘flavours’ – known as ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘strange’, ‘charm’, ‘bottom’ and ‘top’.

  • Geography in the News: Teaching resources.  Volcanoes, sinkholes, coastlines and much more… ( from the UK but there is a Global portal….)

  • A Boy and His Atom: The world’s smallest movie……IBM scientists have made a stop-motion animation using individual atoms of carbon… Researchers for technology giant IBM have taken film-making to a new level by using individual carbon atoms to make a short film. Being able to move single atoms is an important part of IBM’s research into  ‘atomic-scale memory’ which may lead to computers that are able to store huge amounts of data. In 2012, IBM scientists announced the creation of the world’s smallest magnetic memory bit, made of just 12 atoms, compared to the 1,000,000 or so atoms used for the same job today. But all work and no play makes for a dull nanophysicist, so the scientists moved atoms by using their scanning tunnelling microscope to make … a movie! It has now been verified by Guinness World Records™ as The World’s Smallest Stop-Motion Film. Watch the movie then visit IBM‘s Research Site to find out more.

  • Free teaching resources from the Royal Academy of Engineering(UK): Good for Y7-9 students  and/or Science clubs: As part of the Engineering Engagement Project the Royal Academy of Engineering and STEMNET have developed a suite of high quality engineering based resources for use in your class or STEM Club. Developed with teachers, the resources show quick, easy and inexpensive science and engineering sessions to help inspire future generations to follow careers in science and engineering. Each activity handy hints, engineer or company profiles and tips for further work. These new and exciting resources are free to download. Mix and match them, tailor them to suit your group and enjoy!

  • Invention Suspension:  Some Cracking Ideas come from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) – part of the UK Government. Their job is to protect the ideas that engineers, inventors and other hard-working innovators come up with – making sure that no-one tries to steal or copy them. The IPO have got together with Aardman Animations, the makers of Wallace and Gromit. The website has loads of free resources for pupils and teachers, all about the importance of protecting your ideas – and how great ideas can make money! There are also some great games like Invention Suspension. Check out our Intellectual Property Office New Zealand (IPONZ) and their Education resources.

  • Free teaching resources for science, design and technology, engineering and maths: Classroom activities for students aged 11-19 years with film clips, online games, posters, careers resources and STEM activity days. 

  • Moon mystery: A new study of Apollo 11 lunar rocks has revealed that the Moon’s magnetic field lasted some 160 million years longer than previously thought.

  • Frog fungus: The fungus suspected of killing off many of the world’s frogs is from an ancient strain that has just recently escaped its niche thanks to globalisation, suggests new research.. Have a look at Alpha Issue 125: Frogs at Risk , which traces the change in attitude towards frogs from the 18th Century to today. But will they survive the 21st century?

  • Online submission of moderation materials: Departments/Faculties in schools are invited to submit materials for standards selected for moderation through an online submission process as an alternative to the current courier bag system.( though you  need to be careful how it is submitted- i.e. cd’s are ok but they are not pen drives.) NZQA has at this stage tested My Portfolio and Google Docs and recommends these systems, as they will allow teachers to gather the required assessment materials, along with student evidence, and submit these for moderation via a single link (secret url).  My Portfolio users can access instructions specifically set up for moderation submission at MyPortfolio.

  • Science 101  Understanding Science has a new look and new tools available!  Now it’s even easier to find the resources you need for teaching and learning about the nature and process of science. 

  • Forget talking to your plants – they can talk to each other! Scientists from the University of Western Australia have been studying how seedling growth is affected by neighbouring plants. The study, which focused on chilli plants, showed that seedlings put next to so-called ‘friendly’ plants, grew stronger, although being planted next to other crops such as fennel, could hinder their development. The ‘neighbour’ plants tested were already known to have positive or negative impacts on neighbouring plants due to chemical emissions. For example, fennel is known to give off chemicals that stunt the growth of rival plants, in contrast, basil tends to have a positive impact on neighbouring plants as it emits natural insecticides and repels weeds. However, it seems that these chemicals may be only part of the story…..

  • NZ International Biology Olympiad Registration, Now Open!: On-line registration for the 2014 NZIBO programme is now open at  www.nzibo.org  . For students whose schools have never participated in NZIBO, the fee is $15 per student, while the cost for students from schools that have been involved is $30. To check whether your school has participated in the NZIBO programme please check the list on the registration webpage. All Year 11 and Year 12 biology students are encouraged to enroll. Registrations close on 9 August 2013.

  • ChemEd 2013: The biennial conference for chemistry teachers is being held in Dunedin this year (14-17 July 2013). This is a great chance to network with other chemists and learn about the new standards.Some great workshops and keynote speakers are already organised. Some help with costs is available.   Early bird rates until 31 May. Check out the website.

  • Interactive infographics: A great way to explore how people compare throughout the world.  Check out the Statistics New Zealand website. Lots of information and tools to present that  information.

  • Currant Benefit: A study by Plant & Food Research has shown that an extract of New Zealand blackcurrants enriched in anthocyanins can help people stay more alert, reduce mental fatigue and work with greater accuracy whilst under significant mental stress.

  • Galactic poet?: Send Your Haiku To Mars! NASA Seeks Poets NASA is raising awareness for its upcoming launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft with its Going to Mars project. The MAVEN spacecraft is scheduled for launch this November, to study the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere; the craft will examine why Mars lost its atmosphere, and how that catastrophe affected the history of water there.

  • Career advice: Are you an optimist?

  • Ancient Life: Learn more about palaeontology, the study of ancient life, in this interactive display.

  • Exploring a volcano:When a monster volcano starts to wake, how do scientists respond? As molten rock gathers underground, a huge volcanic field in Chile is the fastest-rising land on Earth. The biggest eruptions at Laguna del Maule, if they happened today, would change our climate and planet. Scientists are racing to understand a strange unrest in a bizarre landscape. Check out our very own GNS site and find out about NZ volcanoes. Also, check out their Volcanoes educational material and learn how to use these to gain a GNS/Primary CREST award.

  • Dark matter: The matter we can’t see: The Greeks had a simple and elegant formula for the universe: just earth, fire, wind, and water. Turns out there’s more to it than that — a lot more. Visible matter (and that goes beyond the four Greek elements) comprises only 4% of the universe. CERN scientist James Gillies tells us what accounts for the remaining 96% (dark matter and dark energy) and how we might go about detecting it. 

  • Microbial Biotechnology Poster :This A1-size poster illustrates four different groups of microorganisms which are important for biotechnology — green algae, fungi (including yeast), bacteria, and viruses — and describes their roles in biotechnology processes such as food production, medicine, and wastewater treatment. It also introduces scientific tools and techniques used in biotechnology. A copy may be obtained by emailing poster@cmi.ac.nz

  • Jumping Dew! Cicada wings are cleaned by dew drops jumping off the wings’ water repelling surface taking any dirt with them, scientists have discovered. The discovery, made by a team of scientists offers new insights into the creation of surfaces. Also, check out: Pitcher plant inspires slippery surface, Nano-nickel makes cheap self-cleaning surface and Leaf secret inspires self-cleaning paint.

  • Clouded in Mystery: Cloud mystery in Saturn’s rings solved. The research, reported in the journal Science, could help explain some of the ring’s characteristics such as their colour and age, as well as providing new clues about the meteoroids inhabiting the outer solar system.

  • DOC is on the lookout for southern right whales:The Department of Conservation (DOC) is asking public to report any sightings of southern right whales migrating along the coast this season. The annual southern right whale migration runs from May through to October when the whales head to protected shallow water. The whales can be sighted anywhere from the subantarctic islands to as far north as the east coast of Northland. Sighting reports are important because they help researchers understand the whales migrating patterns. Video and images of southern right whales are incredibly valuable to researchers as they help confirm which whales are on the move around mainland New Zealand. Southern right whale sightings can be reported to 0800 DOCHOT (0800 36 24 68 )

  • Drought in New Zealand: Farmers in New Zealand rejoiced in mid-April 2013 when rains started to break one of the worst droughts to hit the country in decades. Check out the  View Image Comparison tool!

  • Space Debris: There is now so much debris in orbit that the space environment is close to a cascade of collisions that would make space extremely hazardous, a major international meeting has concluded.

  • World’s oldest and stickiest lab study ready for drop of excitement: Scientists conducting  an Australian experiment which  began in 1927 to calculate viscosity of pitch, the world’s stickiest substance, hope ninth drop of material will fall soon.

  • Magnetic stripes: Modelling the symmetrical magnetic pattern of the rocks of the sea floor.

     

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