Squawkzilla
Squawkzilla is a giant parrot that lived in New Zealand 19 million years ago. Its bones were dug up in 2008, but it was not correctly identified for another ten years.
About this resource
Series: Connected 2020 Level 2 – Digging Deeper
Category: Non-fiction
Strand: Geometry and Measurement, Nature of science, Living world
Squawkzilla
Words by Sophie Fern
This article tells the story of Squawkzilla’s discovery. It demonstrates how scientists work and how it is possible to make educated guesses about what life used to look like millions of years ago. It shows that scientific “discoveries” often take time and require careful observation and teamwork.
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Connected 2020 Level 2 - Digging Deeper
In this Connected series there are four articles ("Squawkzilla"; "City of Bugs"; "Whakaotirangi and Her Kete of Kūmara"; "Making Scents").
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This article recounts an important story from the oral tradition of Tainui. It tells of how the iwi’s ancestor, Whakaotirangi, brought kūmara and other plants to Aotearoa and describes the techniques she used to plant, grow, and store them.
2 of 4City of Bugs
This article follows a science project conducted by students in three Dunedin schools. The topic – investigating which inner city ecosystem supports the most insects and invertebrates – should appeal to most students.
3 of 4Making Scents
This article follows a class project that students conducted after their teacher challenged them to find out how the smell gets into a scented candle. In the process, they learned about distillation, states of matter, and what it takes to become scientists and technologists.
4 of 4
