Science Teaching Leadership Programme ﴾STLP﴿

by Sneha Pillai

For schools wanting to make an impact on student engagement and achievement in science, an opportunity exists to support a teacher to become a science leader through the MBIE‐funded Science Teaching Leadership Programme (STLP) offered by Royal Society Te Āparangi. NZASE Science Communicator Heather Goodey looks into the STLP and shares some recent participants’ experiences and how students benefit from this programme.

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Creating a Science Space in the Classroom

by Sneha Pillai

The awesome thing about science is that students are innately curious about the world around them and how things work. A science space might be something you think of in ECE, but it is an opportunity to give students hands‐on experiences, engage learners and extend learning. Creating a science space in the classroom is a way to give Science presence in a busy curriculum with so many pressures on teaching time. NZASE science communicator Heather Goodey talks with teachers from Y1‐6 who have incorporated science spaces in their classroom. They share their goals, approach and advice for educators interested in how they might include science spaces in their teaching programmes.

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Picture books in science learning

by Jenny Rankine

Picture books tell a good story with evocative images, and they can be used as resources in a teacher’s kete across the curriculum. Kath Murdoch, a specialist in inquiry-based learning, says “The compelling pull of narrative can often lead us to understanding the world more deeply than any ‘data’ ever can.”

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Repo – Wetlands

by Jenny Rankine

Wetlands, areas of soggy ground with standing water, were seen as undesirable by Pākehā settlers and cleared for farming or urban development. Unsurprisingly, only ten percent of our wetlands remain. They are now seen as precious, important for removing sediment and toxins from water, for protecting land from flooding and for absorbing carbon (eg, peat bogs). Science Communicator Mike Stone talks with two primary teachers whose students visit a repo to learn more about the community of living things.

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Disciplinary literacy in Science 1: Vocab

by Jenny Rankine

Scientific writing has its own structure and vocabulary, and reading it is a specialised skill. Science teachers are uniquely placed to help students read, comprehend, and use this material. Students not only better understand the science, they also learn about how to structure their own writing.

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