If you are a secondary school teacher you may want to get your senior biology students involved in a Marine Metre Squared Project called the NZ Seashore Transect Survey. This is a project for senior biology students from NZ secondary schools to map and monitor their rocky shore communities as part of their Level 2 Biology programme.
The NZ Seashore Transect Survey has been developed for Secondary Schools as a meaningful environmental science project that supports the revised New Zealand Curriculum and assessment for NCEA Level 2 Biology. It provides protocols and resources for students to investigate zonation in rocky shore communities which can be used as a valid context for Achievement Standard 91158: Investigate a pattern in an ecological community, with supervision. This survey data could tell us so much about the rocky intertidal zones of New Zealand, yet it is rarely put to use outside the classroom.
The aims of this project are aligned with several of the Key Competencies, Principles and Values of the revised New Zealand Curriculum as well as the Nature of Science (NOS) strand. For example, the project enables students to participate and contribute to a meaningful, future-focused, environmental study that encourages ecological sustainability and community engagement at both a local and national level.
You can use our supporting teaching and learning resources (available to registered Users only) to help you plan your visit to your local rocky shore including species identification guides, data sheets, and a classroom reading resource Ecology of the NZ Rocky Shore Community.
You will also be able use the online database to submit, store, view and graph your survey data, as well as display and compare your results with the survey data from other times and sites around NZ. You will get full access to our online community to get help with species identification and connect with other NZ schools.