Recently, the Year 13 NCEA Biology classes visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum to participate in a hands-on learning experience and lecture on Evolution and Speciation in New Zealand. This sought to make real world connections between evolutionary processes and their impacts upon endemic flora and fauna. Our unique biota has been shaped by New Zealand’s geological history and its relative isolation in the South Pacific.

The Museum Education specialist explained the adaptations and curious biological origins of many of New Zealand’s iconic species; including weta, kaka, kea, takehe and pukeko, and especially the extinct moa and now threatened kiwi, both of which belong to the Ratite lineage.

Students were able to handle and inspect fossils and bones of these birds, making comparisons to other living species. These tactile opportunities were invaluable, especially as some of the rarer and more delicate remains are seldom available for such up close analysis.

This trip also allowed the students the opportunity have a look at the galleries, all of which engender an appreciation for biology and education more generally. Of especial interest was the natural history photographic exhibition which captured animals from around the world in a series of arresting images. These serve to remind us of the fragility of our ecological circumstance, and how we humans have a responsibility for the preservation of the environment and the ongoing survival of those life forms with which we share this Earth.

With thanks to Mr Simon Walker, HOD Biology

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