Wellington Girls' College/NIWA Hotshots

Phil Kendon, a science teacher and 2005 NZ Science, Mathematics & Technology Teacher Fellow invited a group of Wellington Girls' College students and CWA New Media to come and learn more about the work of scientists at NIWA where his fellowship was based.

Over three days the students were introduced to the video medium through a CWA New Media Hotshots Workshop. The students learnt how to use a camera, how to interview professionals, and the importance of research and planning prior to filming.

The students then went into production on location at NIWA in Evans Bay, Wellington. The students filmed interviews with scientists talking about their careers, and filmed the scientists working with specialist equipment used to measure greenhouse gases such as the gas chromatograph. The shoot culminated in a filming at the NIWA Atmospheric Research Station at Baring Heads on the isolated Wellington Coast.

Using their video footage, the girls learnt how to edit videos and created a number of video clips to share what they had learnt about measuring greenhouse gases. The students concluded their work by getting feedback from the NIWA scientists to ensure that all the information in their clips was accurate and factually correct.

Hotshot clips

A Teacher Fellowship at NIWA: Learning about climate change (v0219)

Climate change meets science and chemistry.
Duration: 1:38
Careers: Measuring greenhouse gases - from icicles to cows (v0220)

Dominic Ferretti's research involves measuring greenhouse gases. Here he describes what he likes most about his job at NIWA and why he became a research scientist.
Duration: 1:05
Careers: The challenge of chemistry (v0221)

Anitra Fraser from NIWA explains how she became a scientist and what she likes most about her job.
Duration: 1:30
Collecting air samples from Baring Heads (v0222)

New Zealand Science, Maths and Technology Teacher Fellow Phil Kendon explains how NIWA collect air samples and transport them back to the lab for analysis.
Duration: 1:30
What is a gas chromatograph? (v0223)

NIWA scientists use gas chromatography to analyse and record the levels of greenhouse gases in the southern hemisphere.
Duration: 2:35