Useful websites

Introduction

New Zealand websites and environmental education providers that support conservation teaching and learning.

Education Outdoors New Zealand

EONZ supports education outside the classroom (EOTC) and learning experiences in the outdoors. Their vision is that all people in Aotearoa New Zealand have lifelong opportunity for meaningful experiences and learning in the outdoors for individual, community, and environmental wellbeing.

Experiencing Marine Reserves

Experiencing Marine Reserves is an experiential learning programme about marine conservation. It empowers schools and communities by providing the equipment and expertise for hands-on learning experiences in the ocean.

Forest and Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club | Hakuturi Toa

Forest & Bird’s Kiwi Conservation Club | Hakuturi Toa connects Kiwi kids to New Zealand’s amazing wildlife and wild places. 

Kids Greening Taupo

Nature connectors – a collection of simple ideas and activities for nature connection in local green spaces, backyards, or schools anywhere in Aotearoa.

Online nature classroom – Each conservation theme is broken down into five days of activities. Each unit contains hands-on activities, inquiry questions, informative videos, and a fantastic read aloud book with a follow up activity.

LEARNZ

LEARNZ virtual field trips are an engaging, curriculum-linked opportunity for students to experience some of New Zealand's special places. They take students to remote and unique places where they meet and get to know people with fascinating careers in conservation and industry.

LEARNZ is free for teachers registered with the New Zealand Education Council teaching at state, integrated and registered private schools.

Marine Metre Squared

Marine Metre Squared (Mm2) is an easy way for anyone to survey the plants and animals living on their local seashore and a great opportunity to get citizen scienceinto the classroom.

Mm2 is free and easy to sign up to and as a registered member, you can get full access to the Mm2 database to add your data and compare with others in New Zealand. Registered members also get free access to the fantastic primary and secondary teaching and learning resources as well as North and South Island specific 'sandy and muddy' and 'rocky' shore guides available in both English and Te Reo Māori.

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research have a range of resources to support learning about and identifying plants and animals.

They also have resources to support schools to participate in the Garden Bird Survey.   

National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa)

The Topic Explorer helps you find quality, curated resources on a range of topics to support and inspire inquiry. Each topic features a carefully selected set of national and international resources, including websites, images, videos, books and more.

AnyQuestions is a free online reference service for all New Zealand school students via live text based chat. It is staffed by librarians across New Zealand between 1pm-6pm weekdays. Students can log on and ask a real librarian questions to help with a school topic.   

New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE)

NZAEE's mission is to connect and inspire educators, ākonga and communities to learn, collaborate and take action for Papatūānuku.

They have a collection of:

Predator Free New Zealand Trust

The Predator Free New Zealand Trust works to inspire all New Zealanders in the predator free movement. You can find local predator free groups and access information about predator control on their website.   

They have created a schools toolkit to get young people involved and interested in nature and its conservation.

Pūtātara – a call to action

Pūtātara encourages schools and teachers to create learning opportunities that expand learners’ understanding of complex issues and take action for change. The resource is aligned to best practice in local curriculum design, education for global citizenship, and environmental education.  

Science Learning Hub

The Science Learning Hub is a place to find out more about New Zealand science. Watch scientists in action with short video clips, find out what questions are being asked, and explore some of the key ideas. There are loads of free, quality-assured resources and online teacher PLD to support school science learning.

Sir Peter Blake Trust>

Each year BLAKE aims to inspire thousands of young New Zealanders to care for the environment through activities and adventures that encourage environmental awareness and leadership, and instil a deeper sense of kaitiakitanga within them.

  • BLAKE Inspire: a week-long residential leadership development programme for 100 passionate, young environmental leaders across Aotearoa.
  • BLAKE Inspire for teachers: the programme brings together teachers from all over Aotearoa who are keen to develop a deeper understanding of environmental issues and how to apply environmental education across all subjects.
  • BLAKE Ambassadors: Through BLAKE’s partnerships with NIWA, the Department of Conservation, Antarctica New Zealand and GNS Science, 11 young New Zealanders will be given the opportunity to take part in important science and conservation projects.
  • BLAKE NZ-VR: Through virtual reality (VR) technology NZ-VR allows students to experience the rich biodiversity that exists below the surface of the ocean, as well as the damage that has been done to the ecosystems.

Sparklers

Sparklers is a wellbeing toolkit full of activities to help young people be calmer and ready to learn.

They have a range of activities that encourage young people to connect with nature, through using our senses and noticing the world around us.

The Toimata Foundation

The Toimata Foundation (formerly known as the Enviroschools Foundation) is a charitable trust which currently supports two programmes available to schools, kura and early childhood centres across New Zealand – Te Aho Tū Roa and Enviroschools. Their programmes are collaborative, empowering and action-focused.

Whitebait Connection

The Whitebait Connection is a national, non-profit community conservation education programme. It's action-based and offers concrete and specific ways in which all New Zealanders can come to understand and become involved with our local freshwater environments.

After discovering their local freshwater environments, students and their communities are encouraged to take action for their local catchment with activities like riparian restoration, fencing, and stream monitoring.

WWF

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is one of the world's largest conservation organisations. The website has a collection of resources, environmental education success stories and information about funding available for schools and community groups.  

Young Ocean Explorers

Young Ocean Explorers have created a huge range of videos and online quizzes to inspire kids to love our ocean.

The Young Ocean Explorers 21 day challenge is an integrated curriculum teaching resource that links to the New Zealand Curriculum at levels 1–4, but can be adapted for use at various levels. Participants join thousands of students across Aotearoa as they simultaneously participate in this 21 day guided inquiry, created by teachers for teachers.

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