Kiwrious

Our goal Our vision is to enable young minds to explore, question and discover the magic and wonder of the natural world. To develop skills to tackle the complex problems of the future.

We wish to keep kids curious about science using innovative technology to connect and measure the unseen phenomena around us; such as smells, humidity, and light. We do this by using our Kiwrious sensors to connect to a variety of learning platforms in different learning environments.

Who are we? We are a charity that seeks donations to distribute our Kiwrious Sensors to children in lower socio-economic areas of New Zealand. We aim to inspire the next generation of critical thinkers and innovators regardless of their background. Developed by a global team of scientists and educators at the University of Auckland we want to make science more fun for children. Kiwrious is in use at over 35 schools around NZ. A donation allows us to deliver the Kiwrious Experience to New Zealand schools and create meaningful resources and training for educators and teachers.

Why it matters Children are becoming increasingly disengaged with science and technology, reducing the number of young adults choosing STEM careers. This is more prevalent in the lower socio-economic areas of NZ. We aim to inspire the next generation of critical thinkers and innovators regardless of their background.

How we create change/ make a difference We have developed Kiwrious Sensors which read scientific phenomena around us, such as; humidity, light, smell and temperature. The sensors connect, via a device, to a number of scientific and technology platforms to take measurements. Kiwrious challenges children to make observations, present findings in creative ways and discuss them with their peers. 

Our learning options: Kiwrious Science Experience - Learn.kiwrious.com The Kiwrious Sensors connect to the Kiwrious Inquiry Editor to take readings in a learning environment. We provide Class Kits - a boxed set of six different Kiwrious sensors (20 of each); lesson guidelines; a structured Classroom management system that combines to create a fun and engaging science learning solution. Students formulate scientific inquiries, make multiple observations, represent their findings in creative ways and discuss these findings.

Kiwrious Play - play.kiwrious.com The Kiwrious Play option is a novel extension to the Scratch platform that seamlessly integrates the Kiwrious enabled Sensors to take real-time measurements of environmental data when programming. With Play, children simply connect a sensor to a computer and create animations, games and other projects that react to changes in the real world.

Kiwrious Measure - Measure.kiwrious.com The Kiwrious Sensors connect to collect real-time data for further analysis in a casual or structured learning environment.