NCEA Level 3 Biology · Internal

Lesson 7: Stakeholder Perspectives & Socioeconomic Impacts

Demonstrating understanding of biological responses and human implications in a socio-scientific issue.

🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions

🧠 Students will know:

Key stakeholder perspectives: commercial biotechnology developers, agricultural exporters, conservationists, indigenous groups, healthcare patients, and regulatory bodies (EPA / HSNO Act).

🪶 Mātauranga Māori — handoff required (named here as a category, not carried as a position). This lesson lists “indigenous groups” as one stakeholder among six, beside healthcare patients and regulatory bodies. For gene drives, GM and taonga species that is not a stakeholder category — it is a Te Tiriti relationship, and iwi and hapū hold different positions on it rather than one. No iwi or hapū position is supplied here, and none should be invented to fill the gap. Ask: which iwi or hapū hold a position on this specific organism or technology, who must be approached before naming it, and can the class reach a real source rather than a summary of one? Until that is answered, teach the gap honestly — say that positions exist, that they differ, and that this unit does not yet carry them.
✏️ Students will demonstrate:

Construct a stakeholder values grid, analyse economic motives vs public health priorities, and map conflicting societal interests.

🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold

Stakeholder Analysis & Socioeconomic Priorities

Video Clip: “New Zealand’s gene technology rules”. Watch 0:00-1:59.

🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)

Why do organic farming exporters and biotechnology researchers hold fundamentally incompatible stances on GM legislation?

👁️ 2. After the Clip (Work With a Job)

  • Kōrero: Map financial investment vs public good motives across commercial and academic research labs.
  • Kōrero: Analyse trade brand impacts ('Clean Green NZ' organic status vs biotech innovation leadership).
  • Kōrero: Evaluate regulatory compliance costs under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act.

🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)

Kaiako Move: Assign student pairs specific stakeholder roles (e.g., Fonterra dairy exporter vs EPA regulator vs Forest & Bird advocate).

Immediate Task: Complete Section 7 of your Biology Portfolio: Comprehensive Stakeholder Values & Impact Grid.

⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Socio-Scientific Concept Recall (10 mins)

Who has a stake, and who has a say? Write two lists for your issue, quickly.

Two minutes: they will not match. Note every party that appears on the first list and not the second, and every party with decision-making power but little exposure to the outcome. That mismatch is where most of the conflict in socio-scientific issues actually lives.

📖 Activity 1: Biological Evidence & Ethical Analysis (25 mins)

Build the matrix (15 min). Construct a stakeholder matrix for your issue: each party's position, their evidence, their underlying value, and what they stand to lose. Include the regulator (EPA under the HSNO Act) as a party with its own constraints, not as a neutral referee.

Argue the one you disagree with (10 min). Choose the stakeholder whose position you like least. Write their strongest argument — the version they would recognise as fair. If your version is easy to knock down, you have written a caricature and you will lose marks for it in the real report.

📝 Activity 2: Level 3 Biology (Internal) Report Drafting & Merit/Excellence Scaffolding (20 mins)

Report — Section 7. Submit: (1) your stakeholder matrix including the regulator; (2) your stake-versus-say comparison naming the mismatches; (3) the steel-manned argument for the stakeholder you disagree with, in their terms.

🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes

Lesson 7 kaiako focus: Test each stakeholder account by asking its author to steel-man the position they oppose; iwi and hapū interests must be sourced specifically and treated through the relevant Te Tiriti relationship, not collapsed into one stakeholder label.

Other teaching approach: Portfolio Mastery Course →