Carol McHardy – Primary School Teacher –
Glenview Primary School
A lot of students are turning off science in the late primary and intermediate years. Better engagement in science is required to create a more scientifically literate society as well as promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers.
The Royal Society of New Zealand administer a programme (Science Teaching Leadership Programme) for teachers of years 1-10 where they are placed in a science organisation for two terms to work alongside scientists and find out what scientists do, focusing on the Nature of Science. The Nature of Science is the over-arching strand of science in the New Zealand Curriculum. This placement has a curriculum development and leadership component to assist with professional development at the teacher’s school.
During this seminar, I will give some background information then show you some of the experiences I have had while at NIWA. For example: Sorting and sifting benthic animals for Marine Ecology; National Water Quality Monitoring; collecting sediment samples, working in the ecotoxicology labs; helping with a fish surveys; taking samples at an experimental wetland; observing how many fish make it up a culvert and preparing samples for analysis. (lots of photos)
I then connect the dots by linking my NIWA experiences to the New Zealand Curriculum and the classroom.
This flyer was circulated among the science faculty and also to the media apparently! Ange I decided to go to support Carol, hear about her experience and glean ideas for any presentations we may do. Dave hinted that a presentation (with refreshments!) would be good to do for our hosts.
After a few technical difficulties Carol was able to begin outlining the need for the programme, the three main components of being hosted by a research facility, curriculum and leadership development.
Some ideas that I got for my presentations are:
- a screenshot of the actual science curriculum page showing the strands and a paper copy of the document itself could be interesting
- a photo and information about me at school
- information about the current state of science and the impetus for the STLP
- what the STLP is
- concrete examples of NoS in action from my perspective and how this might link to concrete examples of NoS at school
- gems from each photo/experience
- a few pictures per slide so that the detail can be seen
- issues and solutions for teachers (why science not happening and what can be done)
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