Final Symposium at the Royal Society

A major part of the final symposium at the Royal Society was the sharing time, when all the participants presented a synopsis of their placement to other teachers.  Although we have shared anecdotal stories about our placements along the way, it was very interesting to see the polished versions of everyone's experiences in phase 1.

The start of my presentation

Everyone was presented with a participation certificate on the final day.

There was a formal dinner for all participant teachers and facilitators.

Kawakawa balm that I had made from the kawakawa leaves that we had collected on our first workshop were presented to the facilitators as a personal token of thanks.

My last day at Manaaki Whenua, Auckland

It was poignant cleaning out my work station, as my time at Landcare Research has been pivotal in my growth in scientific thinking; my mentor comments that I am starting to think like a scientist.  Everyone at the Auckland campus has been part of my professional development in some way, and I will always remain grateful of their support and guidance.  I will always think back to this time with great fondness, and look forward to working with scientists at Manaaki Whenua in phase 2 from time to time, when I am back at school.  A special thanks must be extended to Megan Petterson for being my ever patient, inspirational mentor.  

From this . . . 

. . . to this.

Presentation to the Systematics Team

On my last week of phase 1 of STLP,  I gave a presentation about my time at Landcare Research to the Systematics Team at our weekly Monday meeting.  

Safe disposal of plates

One of my last tasks at Manaaki Whenua was to dispose of the plates I had used in the projects that I had been involved with.  It was vital that the plates used to study Q cultures (restricted microorganisms held under the strict controls of a permit, used in the kauri die-back project) were autoclaved as part of the disposal process.  

Plates doubled bagged, ready for the autoclave.

School visits

I undertook a some school visits to observe Science in action.  At St Kents I took a special interest  their butterfly gardens and other student initiatives in horticulture.  At Kings Prep, I observed physics lessons, using lego blocks to build the structures needed to measure and study forces.

One of the many gardens looked after by students at St Kents.

Year 5 students measure the force needed to move blocks down an incline.

Astrobiology teachers' workshop

I was lucky enough to go to the Astrobiology teachers' workshop, which was an adjunct to the Astrobiology Australasian meeting held in Rotorua.

A wide variety of presentations were given, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.  Teacher resources linking up the main concepts to classroom activities were also shared.

Dr Kathy Campbell displayed and talked to a rock collection of specific interest to Astrobiologists.

There were several representatives from NASA who gave presentations.  They also shared information in comic format.  This comic is #6 in the series by NASA and reinforced details from their data shows.

STLP Planning Day

The Royal Society invited members of STLP participant school's senior management teams to a planning day.  The CEO gave an overview of the programme, which was followed by hands-on Science investigations.  The rest of the day was allocated to independent school planning, in preparation for phase 2 which starts in term 3, when participant teachers return to school to start implementing change in their schools's science teaching programme.

Who would have predicted that balls could defy gravity with such ease?

Who would have predicted a mini marshmallow could instantly grow into a BIG marshmallow?

Our deputy principal, year 5 team leader, Science curriculum leader and myself reviewed the school's Science delivery plan, and hatched further Science initiatives for the 2018/2109 phase 2 period.

Workshop 3 at the Royal Society

One of the key activities in our third workshop was to consider ways in which teachers can present key scientific concepts from a Nature of Science perspective.  Students gain understanding and build their knowledge from their own observations and inferences, rather than from handed-down maxims.

Learning that air takes up space

Mushrooms I found in the Wellington Botanical Gardens, set out on our Science Table.

Adding to the ICMP collection

Following the genetic sequencing, which conclusively identifies all the bacteria, 14 bacteria were selected by my hosts for inclusion in the International Collection of Micro-organisms from Plants (ICMP). The bacteria were selected because of their significance to the collection, some were new species and all were robust samples.  

I looked for patterns in my samples.  I compared the bacteria in the three collection sites, and also the two medium, mud and water at each site.  However, comparisons were not valid, as it was not a quantitative study.  The selection process took into account duplication in the collected samples and in the collection itself.  As part of my water microbe study, I want to try to group and categorise these bacteria; that is, find out some of their characteristics, so I can report on what I have found, in a general sense.  

I was proud of the purity of the cultures I have prepared during my water microbe project.  This was vindicated when I was invited by Megan to prepare the bacteria for storage in the international collection.  This will be put to the test when random samples are checked for purity and growth potential in future weeks.  

Images of the 14 bacteria deposited in the ICMP collection with my initials and ICMP code

BB08 - ICMP 21975 - Virbrio sp (diazotrophicus)
BB09 - ICMP 21976 - Shewanella sp. (seohaensis)
BB10 - ICMP 21977 - Psychrobacter sp. (piscatorii)
BB12 - ICMP 21978 - Albirhodobacter sp
BB13 - ICMP 21979 - Aeromonas sp. (bivalvium)
BB16 - ICMP 21980 - Cupriavidus sp. (pampae)
BB19 - ICMP 21981 - Vibrio sp. (alginolyticus)
BB21 - ICMP 21982 - Exiguobacterium sp. (oxidotolerans)
BB23 - ICMP 21983 - Vibrio sp.
BB25 - ICMP 21984 - Pseudomonas sp. (sihuiensis)
BB29 - ICMP 21985 - Novosphingobium sp. (lindaniclasticum)
BB30 - ICMP 21986 - Agromyces sp.
BB33 - ICMP 21987 - Vibrio sp. (litoralis)
BB34 - ICMP 21988 - Pseudomas sp.

These bacteria have been genetically sequenced and will be stored in ICMP,  it is interesting to discover how much work is required to fully describe them so that the non-specific species can be definitively named.  In discussions with Megan and reading previous publications, I understand that this process can take upwards to a year.  There is much pain-staking research involved to work out the specific conditions under which a particular culture will survive and flourish, and how it  is different from another.  

There is a formal process to follow to ascertain the biochemical status of each bacterium.  Taxonomy includes classification (arrangement), nomenclature (naming) and identification (description and characterisation) of bacteria.   Cultures are incubated and closely monitored to ascertain their growth in all kinds of media at all kinds of concentrations, temperatures and light conditions (its energy source). A particular bacterium's morphology (its shape and structure) is ascertained by gram stains (gram- positive or gram-negative) and observation under very high powered magnification (x1000) to ascertain its motility (how it moves).  To scientifically describe a microorganism, scientists have to prove that a particular bacteria is different, and be able to clearly demonstrate how that is so.  Bacteria can be very similar, and only diverge in one tiny aspect, to be dissimilar.

A swab of colonies were mixed in glyercine, inserted into receptacles, then sealed and labelled.  Plastics straws are cut into 4cm lengths and sealed at one end.  They are then autoclaved, ready for use as receptacles for ICMP.

Ten samples are prepared, nine for the collection and a random one to check for purity.  Compliance checks are made before the cultures are finally depositing into the collection.  When filled, these containers are placed in freezers to start the cooling process; later the ICMP cultures are deposited in liquid nitrogen for indefinite storage. 

Enviro Schools cluster meeting

The Enviro Schools cluster of East Auckland meet every term, facilitated by Cate Jessep, the sustainable schools adviser attached to the Auckland Council.  This term the cluster met at Mission Heights Primary School and spent time in the adjacent Tane's forest.  Several people shared their ideas or expertise with the wider group in a collegial atmosphere.   

I was invited to share some resources about fungi.  An interest table was set up with mushrooms collected earlier from the local area, mushroom cultures, books to assist with identification and life histories of fungi, and links to useful, very accessible sites on fungi (see Fabulous Fungi Finds).

It was interesting to show teachers how to identify the mushrooms they find using online resources, either Landcare Research's public database or NZ Nature Watch.

These name badges were a great introduction to a a sustainable initiative.

Part of the meeting was spent in Tane's forest, where we explored the bush from a Maori perspective, starting with a karakia, completed the healthy forest survey and worked collectively on other related activities.

Helen, from STLP2108a, facilitated a group activity to demonstrate the effect of kauri die-back on symptomatic kauri.  Participants sucked water through straws (some of which were pin pricked) to model kauri drawing water up the trunk,

Fabulous Fungi Finds

Scientists from Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research share a great number of resources openly with the wider community, as part of their commitment to Citizen Science.  In addition to the MWLR website,  I have found these resources most useful:

A diagram from the bilingual teachers' guide for Kuru Kaupapa Putaiao (Science) curriculum, shared by Peter Buchanan but also available free from the publisher's website, or click on the link below:

Nga Hekaheka o Aotearoa - teachers guide to fungi

An episode from 'Slouxse and Eve Investigate Science' , a kid-friendly science series on the newly launched TVNZ kids platform called Heihei.  Click on the link below to select from all the episodes:

Siouxse and Eve Investigate Science

Episode 1 features Bevan Weir from MWLC explaining about mushrooms, in particular the stink horn, dog-poo-smelling fungi, that will be of special interest to young children. 

"The Kingdom - How Fungi Made the World' was the winner of the best film at 2018 SCINEMA (International Science Film Festival).  It gives an overview of fungi, with great cinematography.  Click on the link below to watch this video:

The Kingdom - How Fungi Made the World

iNaturalistNZ (formerly Nature WatchNZ) is an interactive database with (at last count) 522,365 observations, 14,567 species, 2,858 identifiers and 9,507 observers.  You can identify fungi (or other organism) either,  by scrolling through the named images until you find a match, or by uploading your own photo from the field, and waiting for someone from the Nature Watch digital community to identify it,  and subsequently verify ID, online.

Nature WatchNZ - sign in