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Climate Modelling

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Climate Modelling

Using a free online climate model tool, students explore how environmental factors — such as temperature, rainfall, or habitat change — influence ecosystems. This supports the NZC emphasis on Science Capabilities and Using Evidence to Support Ideas. Schools can also opt into an advanced, self-funded module where students design and test their own models, deepening understanding of systems thinking and data literacy.

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Description

Using a free, interactive online climate model, students explore how environmental factors — such as temperature, rainfall, and habitat change — influence ecosystems and biodiversity. Through inquiry-based learning, they discover how small changes in climate systems can create big effects on living things.

This course supports the New Zealand Curriculum focus on Science Capabilities, particularly Using Evidence to Support Ideas, Understanding About Science, and Interpreting Representations.

Teachers can select between:

  • Free version — students explore a guided online climate model and interpret results.
  • Advanced version (cost applies) — a six-session, project-based module where students design and test their own models to explore real environmental challenges.

Learning Goals

By completing this course, students will:

  • Explore how climate variables (temperature, rainfall, carbon levels) affect ecosystems.
  • Use evidence from digital models to explain observed changes.
  • Connect biodiversity, climate, and human activities through scientific reasoning.
  • Apply systems thinking to predict outcomes and propose solutions.
  • Communicate findings through presentations or a class Modelling Expo.

Curriculum Alignment

  • Learning Areas: Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Social Sciences, Technology
  • Science Strands: Living World | Planet Earth and Beyond | Nature of Science
  • Key Competencies: Thinking | Using Language, Symbols and Texts | Participating and Contributing
  • Values: Ecological sustainability | Inquiry | Community participation

Students use a free, browser-based climate simulator to experiment with variables such as temperature, precipitation, or vegetation cover. They observe how these changes affect biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystem balance.

Learning Focus:

  • Understand how climate systems interact with living environments.
  • Build data literacy by interpreting model outputs.
  • Develop curiosity and critical thinking about real-world environmental change.

What You Get

  • Access to an easy-to-use online model tool.
  • Classroom guide and student worksheets.
  • Professional cost applies

A deeper, hands-on experience where students become climate researchers, guided by Mr. Tuatara’s Blue Penguin model and supported by Greenfield facilitators. Students explore cause-and-effect relationships between human activities, biodiversity, and climate systems through structured sessions.

Session 1 – How Science Works: From Mr Tuatara’s Third Eye to Your Own Model

Focus: How scientific models help us understand and predict climate impacts on ecosystems.

Activities:

  • Explore Mr Tuatara’s Model: learn how to present the climate change impacts on tuatara using approaches such as a before–during–after model, cause-and-effect diagrams, or digital storytelling.
  • Discuss what makes a scientific model useful or limited.
  • Identify local issues (e.g. traffic, waste, trapping, coastal change, school energy use) and decide how they connect to climate change.
  • Begin building their own digital models using simple online tools.

Curriculum Links:

  • Nature of Science – Understanding About Science
  • Science Capabilities – Using Evidence to Support Ideas
  • Key Competencies – Thinking & Participating and Contributing

Session 2 – Connecting Biodiversity and Climate Change

Focus: How temperature, rainfall, and habitat shifts affect ecosystems.

Activities:

  • Examine tuatara–insect–bird–predator relationships under climate scenarios.
  • Add biodiversity elements (plants, prey, predators) into their models.
  • Compare data on native and introduced species responses.

Curriculum Links:

  • Living World – Ecology
  • Science Capability – Interpreting Representations

Session 3 – Understanding the Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Effect

Focus: How energy and carbon move through Earth’s systems.

Activities:

  • Model the carbon cycle between air, ocean, and land.
  • Simulate the greenhouse effect and its impact on biodiversity.

Curriculum Links:

  • Planet Earth and Beyond – Earth Systems
  • Science Capability – Gathering and Interpreting Data

Session 4 – Rising Sea Levels: Does Melting Matter?

Focus: Causes and consequences of sea-level rise.

Activities:

  • Test how melting land vs. sea ice changes water levels.
  • Investigate effects on tuatara nesting habitats and coastal ecosystems.

Curriculum Links:

  • Planet Earth and Beyond – Earth Systems and Change

Session 5 – Ocean and Climate Change: Food Webs and Future Risks

Focus: How ocean changes affect land–sea connections.

Activities:

  • Explore ocean acidification and its effect on marine food webs.
  • Model how ocean changes influence tuatara indirectly through food supply.

Curriculum Links:

  • Living World – Ecology and Evolution
  • Science Capability – Using Evidence to Support Ideas

Session 6 – Student Climate Modelling Expo

Focus: Communicating science with evidence.

Activities:

  • Present climate models to peers or community.
  • Reflect on how climate change affects Aotearoa’s biodiversity.

Curriculum Links:

  • Nature of Science – Communicating in Science
  • Key Competencies – Relating to Others & Participating and Contributing

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will:

  • Understand how climate factors influence biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • Apply systems thinking to explain interactions between climate, habitat, and species survival.
  • Use evidence and data to test and communicate scientific ideas.
  • Build digital literacy and collaboration skills.
  • Recognise how science connects to Aotearoa’s natural environment and daily life.

Customise This Project for Your School

This project can be tailored to suit your school’s needs and budget.

Get in touch to request a quote or arrange a meeting to discuss what works best for your school.

Request a Quote

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