SAMPLE LEARNING CONTEXTS

• Plate tectonics
• Space exploration
• Geology of the local area
• New Zealand's geological history
• New Zealand's rocks
• Information skills in science
• Science fiction
• Nga pukapuka pakiwaitara o putaiao
• Sewage disposal
• Marine reserves
• Industrial waste
• Space stations
• Space travel

POSSIBLE LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Students could be learning by:

• investigating factors contributing to the pollution of a local stream or beach;
• investigating the impact on the environment of a ski-field development in a local mountain area;
• investigating rates of crystal formation in laboratory conditions and exploring possible links between the findings and the formation of crystals occurring naturally in igneous rocks;
• designing a technique for measuring or assessing the relative clarities of different water samples;
• carrying out an investigation into sea-level changes and/or climate changes;
• drawing a sequence of maps showing New Zealand's changing shape over the last 200 million years;
• working in groups to prepare a pictorial representation of geological time;
• preparing a wall chart which sets ideas about the rise and fall of life forms which are of high interest to them against the geological time scale;
• debating 'Money on space exploration is well spent' to highlight an issue involved in space exploration;
• preparing a cost-benefit analysis for some aspect of space technology;
• collecting newspaper and magazine articles relating to space exploration and grouping and summarising these;
• attending a local government hearing where submissions are being considered about granting a permit to mine a local mineral, develop a marina, or modernise an existing sewage disposal system;
• preparing a submission for a local government hearing on one of the above issues.

ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES

Teachers and students could assess the students':

• investigation and interpretation skills, when the students carry out an investigation into the factors affecting the rate of crystal formation and make possible links between their findings and the properties of named minerals;
• ability to communicate effectively the key evidence used to support the currently held theory of plate tectonics, when the students prepare a seminar on Gondwanaland for presentation to a form 5 class;
• understanding of geological time, when they describe the main features of a poster representing the sequence and characteristics of major events in Earth's geological past;
• ability to present a balanced argument, when the students write an article for a local paper outlining the reasons for and against the setting up of a marina in a local estuary;
• ability to solve problems, when the students present a group report defending the establishment of a human colony on the Moon;
• awareness of space exploration issues, when the students decide, in groups, on a code of behaviour for disposal of space rubbish;
• ability to appreciate the uncertain nature of scientific theories, when the students explain in their own words how earlier astronomical theories were shown to be incorrect;
• willingness to keep abreast of current events, when the students give seminars on current astronomical events or discoveries.