Give me a home among the gum trees, with koalas and honey bees…In this unit find out about the life cycle of Australia’s majestic eucalypts and the animals that depend on them.

Some things can be bent, some things can be stretched, some things can be folded, some things can be cut... How a material can be changed depends on what it’s made of. Explore how everyday materials can be physically changed.

“More than a Box” describes the processes and practices used when planning, designing, and building a large indoor sports centre. It outlines the science and technology behind the building process, including the steps taken to ensure that the structure remains erect, stable, and safe.

Scientists are detectives. They try to solve the mysteries of nature. They use all their senses to find out what life, the world, and the universe are up to.

Christchurch school students came up with some exciting ideas for the BNZ Amazing Place Playground Competition. A group of year 4 students designed the winning playground by gathering survey data and research evidence about the popularity of their idea.

Why did the cork pop out of the bottle? The class in this graphic story investigate acid-carbonate reactions to answer this question. They make predictions, observe what happens, and suggest a possible explanation.

Students Paige and Sabitra design an experiment to test whether their solar oven would work better if they paint it black on the inside. But they notice some problems with the data they collect. By changing their experiment, they are able to improve the quality and reliability of their data.

Have you noticed that exercising a lot can make you feel tired or sore? Sometimes when we exercise very hard, our muscles use oxygen faster than our body can supply it. This is called muscle fatigue. Moana and Oscar carry out a simple investigation to discover more about muscle fatigue.

This article follows a science project conducted by students in three Dunedin schools. The topic – investigating which inner city ecosystem supports the most insects and invertebrates – should appeal to most students. The article demonstrates how to conduct a scientific investigation. It also emphasises the importance of communicating your findings so people can take action.

Who, what, where, why and how are powerful question words.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7dh3EdCEHE

Use this resource to experience birds in your school grounds or another local green space.

Is it living or not living? Is it a plant or an animal? Explore how we group things together based on their observable features, to help us figure out what everything is!

Bees need flowers, and flowers need bees… In this unit find out about how flowers rely on animals to germinate and help disperse their seeds and how animals depend on plants for food.

We need them, but do they need us? Delve into the life of plants, look closely at what they need to survive, and how that compares to the needs of animals.

If I hold something cold in my hands, why does it warm up? Where does the heat come from? And when I turn on the heater, where does the heat actually come from? Investigate how heat is produced, which objects make their own heat, and how heat is transferred.

Cleaning or Hygiene Stations are places where we scrub and spray our shoes and gear before and after going for a walk in the bush. It’s super important that everyone uses them, every time they visit. It will stop the spread of kauri dieback disease, and save these forest giants!

You can use red cabbage to make your own pH indicator strips to test the freshwater around where you live.

Use these directions along with the ‘How to make red-cabbage indicator strips’ resource.

We can use macro invertebrates to measure water quality. Judge your fresh water in hard-bottomed (stony or gravelly) streambeds using this guide.

Light and sound are all around us. What produces light and sound? Can you feel sound? Does sound travel through things? Do we need light to see? Are two eyes better than one? Let’s use our senses to explore light and sound.

We are living in a material world, and those materials have a range of physical properties that influence their use. Investigate the properties of things we use everyday and apply understanding to investigate how materials keep things warm.

Next time you want a powerful snack, try popping up some science.

People like to move it, move it. Toys like to move it, move it. How do they move? Which forces make objects move? Explore the factors, including size and shape, that affect how an object moves and look closely at how far objects can roll depending on their shape.

We depend on plants for the oxygen we breathe, many foods, fibres, building materials, medicines and fuels, and for the pleasures of beautiful flowers. Agriculture, horticulture, forestry, conservation of natural habitats and gardening all require an understanding of plants.