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The Briefing | Issue No. 25 - Bay Science Newsletter

  • 1 day ago
  • 10 min read

Aotearoa NZ's home of science education news.

Rātapu, te 6 o Hepetema 2026


In the spirit of Bird of the Year, we have renewed our Tara Iti website for another year. Designed for Level 2 Chemistry Structure and Bonding, Tara Iti can generate over one million permutations of exam questions for each of Lewis Diagrams, Shapes of Molecules, and Polarity of Molecules.
In the spirit of Bird of the Year, we have renewed our Tara Iti website for another year. Designed for Level 2 Chemistry Structure and Bonding, Tara Iti can generate over one million permutations of exam questions for each of Lewis Diagrams, Shapes of Molecules, and Polarity of Molecules.

Kia ora koutou


Earlier this month, our 1:1 scale replica of the Little Bush Moa skeleton debuted under Bay Conservation Alliance at the first ever National Endangered Species Conference in Kirikiria. We're also delighted to hear that the moa has reached 400+ students through BCAs education programme -- if you teach in the Bay of Plenty area, get in touch with Bay Conservation Alliance to find out how they can work with the students at your school: https://bayconservation.nz/


Also... if you haven't already, get your vote in for Bird of the Year.


Looking ahead, Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is coming up later this term. Check our their resources here, which includes guidelines on how to create your own merch: https://www.reomaori.co.nz/


Think globally; act locally. Kia kaha,

Lian and Vicki info@bayscience.nz

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  • Closing Soon: Rongoa Workshops | Kawhia, Tauranga, Tāmaki Makaurau, Northland Titoki Education has organised a range of Rongoa Workshops with Pā Ropata (Rob McGowarn) and Donna Kerridge from August - November. https://titokieducation.co.nz/workshops/

  • Happening Next Weekend! Free MakerFest 2026 tickets available! STEM Wana is proud to announce the inaugural MakerFest, a two-day sustainable technology festival taking place on 12–13 September 2026. Discover the secrets to big savings and a cleaner future. Early bird tickets are now sold out, but general tickets are still free! events.humanitix.com/makerfest-2026-innovate-and-electrify

  • Tomorrow: Webinar for secondary PAT Testing! (NZ Council of Education Research) Want to know why scale scores are much more valuable than stanines? Secondary kaiako Y9-10 are being invited to join NZCER for a free introductory PAT webinar. This is aimed at APs, DPs, HoDs and any kaiako interested in understanding how they can use PATs for literacy and numeracy at Y9 and Y10. https://www.nzcer.org.nz/news-and-blogs/upcoming-webinars-secondary-pat-testing

  • Friends of Tauranga Museum Photography Competition Capture the people, places, landscapes, traditions and moments that tell the story of Tauranga. Entries close October 31. https://tauranga.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_42644jWndHJDRMW

  • BLAKE Awards NZ Nominations for the 2026 BLAKE Awards are currently open until September 24, 2026, celebrating New Zealanders working toward a sustainable future. Categories include science, education, communication, community, young leaders, schools and business.

    https://blakenz.org/programmes/blake-awards/

Our full calendar is available here. Let us know how we can help promote your event.

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CONFERENCE WATCHLIST (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)



The following have been added to our Experiences page and Resources directory. While we may share resources here, directory only saves items which are free and which do not require a login.


  • EATucation NZ

    EATucation provides ready-to-teach curriculum-aligned teaching resources from Years 0-13, empowering teachers to give learners the gift of food literacy. Note: requires signup, but free trials/visits are available.

    https://eatucation.co.nz/

  • KIDOGOnz The KIDOGOnz YouTube channel has a collection of NZ On Air Tamariki shows. https://www.youtube.com/@KIDOGOnz/playlists?view=1&sort=dd&shelf_id=11

  • Climate US An independent, non-profit website launched by former U.S government scientists to enable public access to climate data. Note; the tabs along the top also include "Teaching Climate". https://www.climate.us/

  • University of Otago Outreach Resource Genetics on the GO is a resource created by the Genetics Otago Research Centre in collaboration with the Genetics Programme at the University of Otago. Modules include: Who Killed the Kiwi, Inheritance and Pedigree Analysis, STR Analysis, Restriction Digest of Plasmid DNA and Cloning, and Rare Disease Genetics. https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/go/genetics-on-the-go/

  • Landslides Online Field Trip Tātai Aho Rau Core Education has an online field trip where expert geoscientists guide you to explore different types of landslides, their causes, how to prepare for them, and what engineers do to manage their impacts. https://www.learnz.org.nz/landslides263

  • Snowline Secrets Launching on September 14th, the newest LEARNZ virtual fieldtrip - Snowline secrets - supported by Earth Sciences NZ is now open for enrolment. Sign up below to receive an email of the trip details on launch day! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7FVKqcqEW8QsTmDNxM8jLsFFW7ckGUKrfRVcATjCEY4LxLg/viewform

  • Tara Iti NZ Bay Science has renewed Tara Iti for another year. Tara Iti pulls from 15 years of past exam questions and molecules for Chemistry 2.4 Structure and Bonding to generate over one million permutations of exam-style questions and answers for each of Lewis Diagram, Shapes, and Polarity exam question archetypes. No AI, just code.

    https://taraiti.nz/


  • Applications Open: Inspiring Explorers Expedition Ross Sea 2027

    Applications are now open for young people aged 18 to 30 to join a once in a lifetime expedition to Antarctica’s Ross Sea region in January 2027 to step inside the iconic expedition bases of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton. Applications close October 5th.

    https://inspiringexplorers.co.nz/

  • ScratchPad School Holiday Prorammes (Auckland & Christchurch) ScratchPad's Auckland and Christchurch-based programme is now available for booking. https://scratchpad.co.nz/after-school-coding-programmes/school-holiday-programme/


REMINDERS


  • STEAM-ED Holiday Programme (Tauranga)

    September and October 2026 holiday programmes are now available for booking at the STEAM-ED website. See lineup here. https://steamed.nz/holiday-programmes/


REMINDERS:

  • New Zealand Association of Science Educators


    • Reminder: NZASE has developed contextual units for Body Systems, Matter, and Papatūānuku & Ranginui. Kura should familiarise themselves with the August 12 science curriculum to check for changes in coverage.

  • Earth and Space Science Educators NZ

    • Reminder: The ESSENZ conference and AGM is coming up in the Term 3 holidays. Tuesday 6th-Friday 9th October 2026. The cost of attending ESSENZ three-day conference will be $350, which includes access to activities and workshops, accommodation in Christ's College on the 6th October (including breakfast and dinner) as well as transport to and from Tekapo. Click here to register for this awesome conference


I mōhio koe? (Did you know?)


Whakaaro which may be relevant to us as science educators.


  • Happening Tomorrow: Webinars for secondary PAT Testing! (NZ Council of Education Research) Want to know why scale scores are much more valuable than stanines? Secondary kaiako Y9-10 are being invited to join NZCER for a free introductory PAT webinar. This is aimed at APs, DPs, HoDs and any kaiako interested in understanding how they can use PATs for literacy and numeracy at Y9 and Y10. https://www.nzcer.org.nz/news-and-blogs/upcoming-webinars-secondary-pat-testing

  • Who am I becoming? Identity development in career change student teachers (NZ Association of Research in Education). Career change teachers (CCTs) form around 60% of students in New Zealand secondary teacher education, but paradoxically they are twice as likely to leave teaching as first career teachers. Previous work by some of our team identified that some CCTs found it difficult to leave their prior professional identities behind and struggled to develop a teaching identity. Thus, CCTs face a unique career identity transition within the teaching profession, starting with their initial teacher education programme. https://nzareblog.wordpress.com/2026/09/03/career-change-teachers/

  • Reminder: Can you help? Masters' student Surandini Siriwardhana from the Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Tauranga is looking for teacher participants for their study 'Inquiry-Based Learning in Science teaching'. https://www.bayscience.nz/post/invitation-to-participate-in-research-on-inquiry-based-learning-in-science-teaching

  • Reminder: The international launch of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 report Don't miss the launch of the PISA 2025 results. The world's largest international education survey evaluates how over 760,000 15-year-olds from 91 countries and economies apply their knowledge in reading, math, and science to everyday problems. https://www.oecd.org/en/events/2026/09/the-launch-of-the-oecd-programme-for-international-student-assessment-pisa-2025-report.html

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Bay Science is an unincorporated national teachers association standing for progressive and inclusive science education. Our channels serve as the most comprehensive noticeboard of science education news and events across Aotearoa New Zealand. The Briefing is a free weekly email newsletter for members. Sign up below. If your organisation has a kaupapa, event, or opportunity to share with the science education community, we’ll happily share it here.


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© 2025-2026 Lian Soh and Vicki Alderson-Wallace

info@bayscience.nz

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