Primary students get their hands on climate change

House of Science volunteers explain the science kits to teachers. Photo: Daniel Hines.

Tauranga primary school teachers gathered at the regional House of Science headquarters to discuss and learn about the climate change kit.

The new kit will be put into schools around the region next term, and it is a timely release with the recent attention given to climate change in New Zealand.

Primary school students across the country do not often get a chance to learn science as it isn't funded by the Ministry of Education, therefore the House of Science provides resources to enable younger students to take part in science based activities.

House of Science Tauranga General Manager Pam Bassett says the idea was to get the teachers involved and to give them advice on how get the most out of the kits.

'The launch is about unpacking the kits, having a look about what's in them, having a play and an experiment so that when the kits arrive at school they are very well aware of what exactly how to use them.”

Pam says throughout the kits there is an endless supply of information.

'The climate change kit has earth system jenga, ocean acidification, the kit covers it all. Key vocabulary is introduced, and students learn about the importance of plants.”

The climate change resources also introduces the greenhouse effect, and all activities aim to leave students informed and empowered to care for the planet.

Primary teachers from Otumoetai, Te Puna and Welcome Bay attended the climate change launch, as well as the House of Science teachers to discuss what is in the kit and to find the best ways to educate the students.

Pam says the science kits are being well used in schools throughout the region.

'We get schools telling us all the time how amazing they are, how easy they are to use, because schools aren't funded to teach science, so having these resource kits and the experiments in them are ready to go for the teachers.

'Everything the teachers need to deliver good science lessons in the kit.”

Pam describes the House of Science as a library system, where schools are members.

'Schools and teachers can go online and book the kit that they would like, and then our volunteer drivers deliver the kits to school on a Monday, then on a Friday we have volunteer drivers again that go and collect all the kits from the school.

'On a Saturday morning we have people to restock the kits so they are good to go again on a Monday.

'At House of Science Tauranga we go as far as Waihi, to Te Puna, to Te Puke, our area is the western Bay of Plenty.”

You may also like....