Education at the National Aquarium

The National Aquarium of New Zealand offers students a unique and stimulating educational experience outside of the classroom. Students have the opportunity to come face-to-face with aquatic animals, Kiwi, Penguins, Tuatara and Alligators!

EOTC Programmes for the New Zealand Curriculum

Educational programmes are created and delivered by a fully trained and enthusiastic teaching team. In all programmes students will be involved in interactive, hands-on and inquiry-based activities. The two-hour programmes have been developed in line with the New Zealand Curriculum framework and cater for all education levels, focusing primarily on the Nature of Science and Living World achievement aims in the Science learning areas. Aquarium experiences provide real, authentic contexts that make connections between learning areas and key competencies.

Education Visit Structure

Please allow two hours for primary, secondary or tertiary student visits. Exact session times are flexible to suit your timetable so please ask one of our team to book a day and time. However, whenever you come make sure you structure your visit around the aquarium's feeding times, as they really are a highlight for children of all ages.

The National Aquarium Education Team can accommodate groups of up to 70 students for each two-hour session. Groups are divided into smaller subgroups with 30min rotations of various aquarium activities including lessons, games, puzzles and worksheets. Also, consider factoring in extra time for self-guided activities and experiments, at your own pace.

The National Aquarium holds an LEOTC contract with the Ministry of Education for primary and secondary education programmes.  Schools participating in these programmes benefit with special education prices and as a result certain conditions must be met.

National Aquarium Education Facilities

• East Coast LAB.
• Laboratory for upper primary and secondary school students.
• Joan Wiffen dinosaur bone collection.
• Behind the scenes technological areas.
• The Colenso shell collection.
• Reference library.