Using Water & Atmosphere in your classroom
One of NIWA’s aims with this magazine is to contribute to science education in New Zealand. To this end we distribute Water & Atmosphere without charge to New Zealand high schools. Articles are assigned ‘Curriculum Connections’ to indicate which of the NZ NCEA Achievement or Unit Standards they can complement as a classroom resource. These links are assigned by Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Fellows who are working during the year with NIWA scientists.
The magazine and the Curriculum Connections are also available online at www.niwa.co.nz/pubs/wa/ There you’ll find an archive of back issues beginning with September 2000 (vol. 8, no. 3). All online articles include a pdf of the printed version and the articles are indexed via the website’s search engine. The Curriculum Connections are compiled at www.niwa.co.nz/pubs/wa/resources/
Curriculum connections for this issue
| Pages | Article | Relevant NCEA Achievement Standards (AS) and Unit Standards (US) | Brief summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-11 | From emissions to exposure: are our transport choices making us ill? | Geography Level 1 AS90207, Level 2 AS90336, Level 3 AS90706 Science Level 2 US6352, Level 3 US6355 |
New research is tracking exposure to vehicle emissions for people in cars, buses, trains, and city streets. |
| 12-13 | Natural purification of groundwater | Biology Level 2 US6309, US6310, AS90714,Level 3 AS90713 Environmental Sustainability Level 2 AS90814 Science Level 3 AS90728 |
Aquifer-dwelling crustaceans play an important role keeping bacterial contamination in check. |
| 14-17 | Ecodiagnostics: biomarkers of shellfish health in urban estuaries | Biology Level 2 US6308, US6312, AS90461, AS90769, Level 3 US8933 Environmental Sustainability Level 2 AS90811 |
Biomarkers in cockles are revealing exposure to chemical and metal contamination. |
| 18-19 |
Harnessing the power of sunlight and nanoparticles to combat biofouling |
Biology Level 3 US6320, AS90714 Chemistry Level 3 US6340 |
The search for nontoxic coatings to combat marine fouling is finding the answer in nanotechnology. |
| 20-21 | Biology Level 2 US6309, Level 3 AS90713 Chemistry Level 3 US6340 Environmental Sustainability Level 2 AS90814 |
Surveys are filling in the knowledge gaps about how commercially important fish species depend on different vulnerable habitats. | |
| 22-23 | Improving projections of Antarctic ozone recovery | Calculus Level 3 AS90635 Chemistry Level 3 US6340 Statistics and Modelling Level 3 AS90641 |
Scientists are incorporating atmospheric chemistry into global climate models to focus on the future of the Antarctic ozone hole. |
| 24-25 | Linking the world’s oceans: the Antarctic Circumpolar Current | Biology Level 3 US6319, US90714 Environmental Sustainability Level 2 AS90811, AS90814 Geography Level 3 US5098, US5099, AS90701 Science Level 3 US6355, US21613, AS90728 |
New measurements of the ACC are helping to detect changes due to global warming. |