The conference starts
and finishes on
Field-Based STEM are holding conferences around New Zealand, at the end of Term 4 (November / December).
Registrations are now being taken for the Wairarapa Conference. You can see what is on offer below and by clicking on the ‘Book This Conference’ button below:
Full day. A field trip exploring sites along a local river from upper to lower reaches, followed by discussion of the wide range of achievement standards that can be addressed with reference to Wairarapa’s rivers and alluvial landforms. Participants will learn that much of the modern Wairarapa landscape is a result of the interplay of tectonic uplift and climate cycles over the past million years. They will explore how the modern river system evolves along its course; how human activities have disrupted the natural flows; the rationale behind current remediation strategies, and mātauranga pūtaiao linked to river processes and histories. Options for observation and data analysis will be discussed in the context of agricultural contaminants, toxic blooms, climate change and ecosystem health.
Workshop 1 and Workshop 2 run together (so count as ONE full-day option ie you can select both to count as one day of your two days). Workshop 1 is led by Professor Chris Hollis and Joe Potangaroa (Potangaroa Education) will lead Workshop 2. Participants will be able to focus on the content of either or both workshops.
Full day. A field trip to explore how tectonic forces at an active convergent plate boundary have shaped the Wairarapa landscape from the coastal accretionary wedge, across the forearc Wairarapa basin, to the frontal ridge of the axial ranges. We will examine how oblique slip along within the Hikurangi Subduction zones is manifested in thrust faulting in the coastal hills and strike-slip faults in the west, with particular focus on the Wairarapa Fault – renowned for the largest lateral offset ever recorded on Earth, up to 16 m in the 1885 earthquake. The workshop will also explore strategies for managing the risks associated with earthquake and tsunami hazard, both locally and within the wider western Pacific region.
Half day Understanding river health using a SHMAK kit (or similar) and visual health assessment, and the implications for the environment. Workshop would be undertaken on-site, with a reflection back inside at the end, to summarise findings.
We will consider abiotic factors (temperature, reach dimensions, clarity, nitrogen), and biotic factors (invertebrates). This incorporates fair testing, as well as photos, measurements and tallies.
Full day. Starting with bird ID and five minute bird count sessions inside, before heading out for the rest of the day. Learn how to identify coastal birds and undertake 5MBC (with the group determining where they will carry out their surveys). At 5MBC stations, we will also do a quick quadrat survey (for example) of potential food sources, to determine if there is a link between the two.
Full day. Heading out and understanding what makes a rock pool tick. Measure rock pools (including depth), taking percent covers of algae, using quadrats to measure biodiversity and abiotic factors such as temperature and oxygen, pH. Includes tallies, measurements, observations, photos and fair testing. Using this information to infer what depends on what, and what we might expect if an abiotic factor were to change. Summing up back at base, comparing information, brainstorming report.
Half day. Indoors for the first part, with some activities outside. Running through the ethical considerations in conservation (activities), the representation of data for projects such as 1080 application, investigating claims and creating a science communication piece.
Half day: Mara kai is usually defined as vegetable gardening but it can extend out into wild foods. We will visit sites of traditional gardens on the west side of Masterton and look at the reasons these places were chosen. It may be of interest that several of these sites are on or near schools. We will go to remnant forest to learn about edible berries, drupes and other parts of plants. And look at how Maori use whakapapa relationships between all life for nutrition and sustainability.
Half day. Time spent making ink and chew cards, running through the physiology/behaviours of introduced and endemic species, and control methods. Links in well to the ‘Controversy in Conservation’ session.
Half-day workshop. In pre-European times the seas around Aotearoa were the main food source for most Māori. But having recently arrived, the earliest Polynesian settlers were used to spearing fish in clear tropical waters. In Aotearoa the murky seas must have been initially frustrating. Māori went on to develop the fishing hook beyond any other culture on the planet.
This session will look at examples of hooks, lures, traps, nets and aquaculture, looking at design, manufacture, functionality, and explore some of the tikanga and science around traditional Māori fish harvesting and enhancement methods. This content links to NZ Histories.
Half-day workshop. New Zealand/Aotearoa is the envy of many countries, being the only country in the world with a quota-managed fisheries resource for all commercial species. In the long term, how sustainable is commercial and recreational fishing in this country?
We will look at Commercial Fish harvesting and the controls and strategies employed to do the job efficiently. How does this compare with Aquaculture? Is aquaculture going to be the answer to supplying consumer demand for seafood? Where will we end up? How will climate change affect the marine environment and the way it works? What effects will be seen on species we are used to having in our waters. Includes a Mussel dissection and a demonstration of mussel water filtering.
Half day. Looking at how schools can investigate/discover what’s going on below the surface. Exploring the undersea world can be problematic. That can either put you off trying or it can create a worthy challenge to try and come up with simple solutions to find out what is going on down there. Low-tech answers can lie in using inexpensive action cameras in smart ways, taking bottom samples, video transects, light traps, plankton sampling, water sampling (temp/salinity/pH etc), sediment deposition and using ROVs. Much of this gear can be designed by students and built in a school’s technology suite. Getting real-world data from the real world, is life experience stuff and its value cannot be underestimated.
A workshop covering the development of the light pollution issue over the last few decades and the response that NZ had taken starting with Tekapo/Takapō and how this has also been implemented in New Zealand. We will look at the impact of light pollution on a range of issues including the effect on pollinators, birds and humans. We will show how the science around the impact of light pollution has developed and the role that citizen science has played in getting a better understanding of this global problem. This will be an indoor based workshop with a ‘ virtual field trip’ component in our inflatable planetarium to view the Moon garden and planting that promotes pollinators.
Half day. This workshop will examine the atmospheric column on Venus, Earth and Mars and how energy is moved around the atmospheres of these planets and the impact this has on the surface. We will also look at the movement of energy in the Sun and how this radiates out to the planets. The workshop will cover concepts such as pressure, heat transfer, the electromagnetic spectrum and gravity. It will be mainly based inside but we will observe the Sun through a Solar Telescope and make observations of sunspots and other prominent solar features. We will also look at an experiment to measure total solar flux (depending on the weather).
Half day. The movement of the Earth around the Sun and the Moon around the Earth is translated into the apparent movement of the celestial bodies as viewed from the Earth. This has been used by humans for thousands of years to mark the passage of time and for assisting with navigation. This workshop will utilise our portable planetarium to demonstrate how the apparent movement of the stars, Moon and Sun can be used to help navigate. We will look at both Pacific and modern techniques in navigation and how these have developed over time. This will be an indoor workshop mainly in the planetarium but also using a range of navigation devices outdoors.
Half day. In this workshop we will look at how observing celestial occurrences has helped us build an understanding of the universe. Using scientific investigative approaches and examining scientific method we will look closely at the moons of Jupiter to determine the mass of Jupiter. This workshop will look at how we can measure distances in space, angular distances using telescopes and calculating basic relationships. To finish the workshop we will have a session in the planetarium to view both Jupiter and Saturn and try and measure the distance from one of the moons to the planet.
Half day: Head out to Ruamāhanga Farm near Martinborough and experience different ways of embedding literacy into nature based learning. This will be a hands-on and reflective morning, including science, literacy and mindfulness activities designed to develop young people’s language capacity, confidence with written and spoken word and personal wellbeing. Alongside planting wetland trees and grasses, you will engage in sitting still, storytelling, I, We and the Planet word gathering and free-fall writing.
