External Resources

Hands-on Science

Opportunities to engage with actual science programmes.

Zooniverse; Real science online
The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. This research is made possible by volunteers — more than a million people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers. Our goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research community, and many publications.
For a general overview Go here

As a volunteer on these websites, both educators and their students can become citizen scientists and citizen researchers, participating in real science and other research. For more on Education in the Zooniverse go here.

There are many projects within the category Space, Galaxy Zoo probably being the most well-known. But at this time there is a lot more to particpate in. Find out here.
The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0
The Virtual Telescope Project makes remotely controlled robotic telescopes available online through the Internet for your very own astronomical experience. No matter your skills, our project will make easy for you to get outstanding, real images of the sky or scientific data, also offering amazing tours of the Cosmos. Go here.

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

The resources are curated under topics and concepts, such as astronomy and microscopes and telescopes. You can also search for specific content. There is a range of resources including multimedia files, classroom resources based on the requirements of the New Zealand science curriculum. Go here.

Citizen Science
The Science Learning Hub now also has a Citizen Science area that allow science teachers to make their teaching more relevant. There is a growing number of topics, e.g. in the category "Night Sky". Go here. Educators also read the Tips for planning your science programme.
SLOOH online observatory (not free)
As "Your Interface to Space" SLOOH provides tools to explore space by sharing a view through powerful telescopes trained on the sky. By the end of 2019, they had 17 online telescopes on three continents covering more than 20 hours per day. Based on a variety of individual and group memberships it is a communal exploration of the universe, where you can also learn from what other members do with the telescopes.SLOOH shares the view with schools throughout the world and your membership supports this educational outreach. Go here.

Science for Kids
New Zealand based Science Kids is the home of science & technology on the Internet for children (Primary level) around the world. Learn more about the amazing world of science by enjoying their fun science experiments, cool facts, online games, free activities, ideas, lesson plans, photos, quizzes, videos & science fair projects. Go here

Galileo Teacher Training Program
The Resources section contains hands-on activities for use in the classroom. Go here

Eyes on the Solar System
This NASA/JPL site is a 3D virtual environment full of real NASA mission data. Go here

NASA Interactive Features
Interactive modules to explore about missions and systems. Go here