The New Zealand Physics Teachers’ Resource Bank provides suggestions, instructions and advice for teachers seeking to include more physics classroom demonstrations, experiments and activities for their students. The activities cover the National Curriculum (Physical World), relevant to students from intermediate school to university level. Many have a distinctly New Zealand flavour, local contexts, kiwi accents and many links to materials in Te Reo as well as English.
Our Unique Approach
One of the biggest difficulties with teaching science in New Zealand is that many of our students see science as something that is done by other people in other places. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact New Zealand is a physics powerhouse per capita. Our unique approach seeks to dispel this myth while supporting teachers. We do not have scientists showing physics to the school students. Instead, some of our resources feature New Zealand university and secondary school students doing and obviously enjoying physics. The secondary school students and New Zealand University students explain the physics to other New Zealand students!
Experienced teachers have kindly shared teaching suggestions, schemes and pedagogical content knowledge which directly support particular NCEA standards.
The resource bank is administered by the New Zealand Institute of Physics. Ongoing development is provided by New Zealand physics teachers through NZIP. It was originally developed by physics educators at the Victoria University of Wellington. Some of the resources posted on this website were developed as part of the Te Reo Maori Physics Project.
Experienced teachers have kindly shared teaching suggestions, schemes and pedagogical content knowledge which directly support particular NCEA standards.
Safety
Individual teachers are responsible for safety in their own classes. Even familiar demonstrations should be practised and safety-checked by individual teachers before they are used in a classroom.