📎 Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako
Know | Mōhio
- That coordinate geometry enables real-world spatial planning — used by architects, conservation managers, and urban designers.
- That Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) can be expressed through mathematical decisions about space, area, and animal welfare.
- That all four unit skills (coordinates, quadrants, navigation, scale) integrate into professional-level spatial reasoning.
Demonstrate | Whakaatu
- Design a new conservation enclosure on the zoo coordinate grid with at least 4 specific coordinate-pair corners.
- Calculate the perimeter and area of the enclosure using scale (1 unit = 20 m).
- Plan the access pathways (compass directions + distances) from the entrance to the new enclosure.
- Write a 3-sentence kaitiakitanga justification for the enclosure location and size.
📐 Curriculum Alignment
Find areas of rectangles and volumes of cuboids by applying multiplication.Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Mathematics and statistics achievement objectives, Level 3.
Understand how people make decisions about access to and use of resources.Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Social sciences achievement objectives, Level 3.
🌿 Whakatūwhera
Hutia te rito o te harakeke, kei hea te kōmako e kō?
"If you pull the heart of the flax bush, where will the bellbird sing?" This whakataukī reminds us that destroying habitat destroys life. As Kaitiaki Architects today, every coordinate decision carries ecological responsibility.
🎤 Kaiako Hook (5 min)
Show images of Zealandia — Wellington's restored predator-free sanctuary. Ask: "What mathematical decisions went into designing this space? How did planners know how big to make it? How many animals it could hold?"
Today students face the same challenge — as Kaitiaki Architects for Hamilton Zoo's newest conservation enclosure.
📚 Lesson Content — Capstone Design Challenge
The Brief
🏗 Kaitiaki Architect Brief
Hamilton Zoo is opening a new Kiwi Sanctuary dedicated to Apteryx mantelli (North Island brown kiwi). Your job:
- Choose a location on the zoo coordinate grid that is: (a) away from loud enclosures, (b) near existing nocturnal houses, (c) accessible by a direct pathway from the main entrance.
- Design a rectangular or L-shaped enclosure with at least 4 coordinate-pair corners.
- Calculate the real-world perimeter (metres) and area (m²) using our scale.
- Plan two access pathways (one for visitors, one for keepers) using compass directions and distances.
- Write a kaitiakitanga justification: Why this location? Why this size? What ecological features does it protect?
Design Requirements (Assessed)
| Requirement | Standard Achieved | Merit | Excellence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinate corners listed | At least 4 correct ordered pairs | All corners in correct quadrant, verified by peer | L-shape or complex boundary using 6+ corners |
| Scale calculation | Correct perimeter OR area | Both perimeter and area correct | Area justified against a researched kiwi habitat requirement, with the source named (e.g. Save the Kiwi or Department of Conservation guidance) |
| Pathway design | One correct compass-direction route | Two routes (visitor + keeper) with total distances | Optimal routes compared and shortest chosen with justification |
| Kaitiakitanga justification | 1–2 sentences about location choice | Connects ecological needs to mathematical decisions | References specific kiwi habitat requirements with evidence |
Work Time (40 min)
Students work individually or in pairs. Kaiako circulates, prompting deeper thinking:
- "Why that quadrant rather than this one?"
- "What happens to the kiwi if visitor noise is too close — which direction minimises that?"
- "Can you optimise your keeper pathway to be shorter than 8 grid units?"
Gallery Share (15 min)
Students do a gallery walk — designs displayed around the room. Peers leave sticky notes: one mathematical strength, one question about the design. Class votes on the Most Kaitiaki-Inspired Design — the enclosure that best balances animal welfare with mathematical efficiency.
✅ Assessment | Aromatawai
🧑🏫 Unit Completion Checklist
By the end of this unit, every student should be able to:
- ☐ Plot and read ordered pairs in all four quadrants.
- ☐ Identify which quadrant a coordinate belongs to by sign pattern.
- ☐ Calculate grid distance (horizontal, vertical, or total path distance).
- ☐ Use a scale ratio to convert grid distance to real-world metres.
- ☐ Calculate area of a rectangle using scale.
- ☐ Describe a route using compass directions and grid distances.
- ☐ Connect coordinate geometry to at least one real-world and one Mātauranga Māori application.
📎 Lesson Resources
- 🗺 Class Zoo Grid Map (Lesson 1) — the four-quadrant grid this design brief uses
- 🗺 Traditional Architecture & Design Handout — a shared Te Kete Ako handout; its own page names the lesson Creative Problem Solving with Design Thinking as its parent. Linked here as optional background for the sanctuary design task.
- 🗺 Hamilton Zoo Grid Navigation Worksheet (A–F letter-grid practice — a different reference system from the class grid)