Year 7: identification with confidence stated
Ākonga identify manu using features and calls, and record how confident each identification is and why — a misidentification changes the data.
- Year 7 move: Identification with a stated confidence and its basis
- Evidence it produces: An ID record where uncertain entries are marked and justified
Before you plan from this: Te Kete Ako carries three routes through this kaupapa, not two. The lesson body below is currently near-identical to the Years 4–6 route's — this panel describes the intended difference between those two, which is not authored yet, so choose between them on year band rather than on this pitch. The third route sits at this same Years 7–8 band and is genuinely different in shape: noticeably shorter lessons, with its own video anchor for each week. All three are kept; none is being retired.
🦜 Week 1: Meet the Manu
Students connect with their local birdlife through traditional pūrākau, vocabulary building, and by creating an initial habitat map of their surroundings.
Focus Question
Which manu share our space, and why are they important to us?
🎥 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Media Anchor: Why Manu Are Taonga
Watch: Use this source to frame why birds matter in both ecological and cultural systems.
- Identify one idea from the video that changes how you define guardianship.
- Record one action your class can take to support local manu habitats this term.
Ngā Mahi - Week 1 Activities
1. The Hook: Voices of the Forest (15 mins)
Activity: Blind bird call challenge. Play audio clips and have students guess the manu. Follow with a gallery of vibrant local bird photos.
- Listen and guess: Tūī, Bellbird, Fantail
- Discuss: "What features help you identify them?" (Beaks, colour, song)
- Gallery walk: Observe the detail in bird plumage and form
2. Pūrākau & Vocab (25 mins)
Activity: Share a local story (e.g., Māui and the birds). Use the Manu ID Sheet to link stories to specific birds and practice their names.
- Story time: Listen and identify the bird characters
- Vocab blast: Practise saying manu names with correct Māori pronunciation
- Wonder board: Post one question about birds you've always wanted to ask
3. Action: Habitat Mapping Walk (20 mins)
Activity: Outdoor walk to observe and map the "bird infrastructure" around the school using the Habitat Map template.
- Mark key features: Tall trees, berry bushes, water sources
- Note: Where are the birds currently visible/audible?
- Identify potential "bird zones" for future kaitiaki actions
💡 Differentiation Strategies
- scaffold support: Use a buddy system for the mapping walk; provide pre-labelled bird photos
- Support: Focus on 3 core manu names (Tūī, Kererū, Fantail) first
- Extension: Research a rarer local manu (e.g., Kaka or Hihi) and its specific habitat needs
Curriculum alignment
No curriculum statement is claimed for Week 1 on its own. Week 1 builds the identification and observation skill the rest of the unit runs on; the verified, verbatim Te Mātaiaho statements this unit teaches are quoted on the unit overview, and Week 3 is where ākonga meet the first of them directly.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will investigate the ecological roles of ngā manu o te taiao — the birds of the natural world — within local habitats, drawing on both science and mātauranga Māori to understand why native birds are taonga and what kaitiakitanga requires of us in their protection.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
Assess this week against its own criteria above. The unit-wide criteria live once on the unit overview — they are not repeated here, so nobody marks the week against the wrong list.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Species cards WITH a confidence column — ākonga record how sure each ID is and why. Extension: find a case where two sources disagree on range and say which you would trust.
ELL / ESOL: Teach the identification features (bill, size, call, behaviour) as a discriminating set, not as vocabulary.
Inclusion: Where a bird is a taonga species to local iwi, that relationship is theirs to describe — seek it through established mana whenua relationships, do not summarise it.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Manu are tohu — environmental indicators and messengers. That is why this week begins with which birds are actually here and what their presence signals, rather than with a national species list. Kiwi, huia and kōkako carry whakapapa significance that belongs to the iwi who hold it; seek that through established mana whenua relationships rather than summarising it.
Prior knowledge: Best used after introductory ecology concepts. Connects well to science food webs and biodiversity units.