Watercare Services Limited (2003). Adopt a Stream: Making science fun. Healthy Waterways Kit. 2nd Edition. Auckland, New Zealand.

This teachers’ manual is intended for Years 5-8. It includes suggestions for things to put into a water-testing kit, and has seven labs for exploring different facets of water health, such as turbidity, pH, nitrate levels, and living organisms found in waterways. The labs include worksheets that can be photocopied for students and notes and suggestions for teachers. A Māori translation of labs is also included.

Ministry of Education (2001). Making Better Sense of the Living World. Levels 1 to 4. Learning Media Limited: Wellington.
This booklet has many science activities for lower primary-level children, focusing on four areas: Classification, Structure and function, Life stages and genetics, and Relationships among living organisms and their environment. There are notes for teachers, giving hints about using the activities with students.

Ministry of Education (2003). Is this an animal? Introducing the animal kingdom. Learning Media Limited: Wellington.
This small booklet is part of a series intended for lower primary levels. It has background information and suggestions for teachers, and activities for students in Years 1-2, focusing on “Big Ideas” about what animals are and how we classify them.

Websites

The New Zealand Department of Conservation website has a Getting involved: Students & teachers page, with classroom and outdoor activity ideas, information and resources for current conservation topics, and field trip site information.

The education pages of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) website has information for classroom activities, programmes, and resources dealing with weather, oceans, and other atmosphere and water topics.

An online “Guide to Making Posters and Pamphlets” has good tips about making effective posters and pamphlets, including factors to consider about your target audience.

Photographs of the bacteria that make silage can help students make some of the abstract concepts of the process more tangible. Photos are available on various websites. An Italian site, Omnis Cellula, has an electron microscope photo, as does the Conicet website (for both of these, scroll down to the bottom of the pages to see the photos). Merck biological supplies has a photo of the bacteria growing on an agar plate.