Year 7: communicate the evidence and its limits
Ākonga present findings to an audience including what the survey CANNOT establish — sample size, single season, observer effect.
- Year 7 move: Findings presented with stated limitations
- Evidence it produces: A report naming at least two limitations of its own method
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 5: Communicate
Students refine their advocacy tools, ensuring their message is powered by data and community voices. Through peer review and rehearsals, they prepare to launch their kaitiaki actions.
Focus Question
How can we make our message convincing for our community?
🎥 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Media Anchor: Communicating a Species Story
Watch: Study how story, science, and emotion are combined to motivate conservation support.
- What communication technique in this video would strengthen your PSA or poster?
- Write one sentence that connects evidence with an emotional call to action.
Ngā Mahi - Week 5 Activities
1. Content Deep-Dive (10 mins)
Activity: Final check of evidence. Every student/group must verify they have their Week 2 tally data and Week 3 quote integrated into their work.
- Data check: Is the bird count prominently displayed?
- Quote check: Is the community voice clearly attributed?
- Visual check: Does the design support the message or distract from it?
2. Final Polish & Rehearsal (25 mins)
Activity: Work time to finalize posters or PSA scripts. Followed by a "Pitch Practice" where students rehearse their core message in pairs.
- Work time: Adding colour, correcting spelling, and final assembly
- Pitching: 30 seconds to explain the problem, the data, and the action
- Self-Assessment: Using the Success Criteria to check for missing parts
3. The Feedback Loop (15 mins)
Activity: A structured "Gallery Walk". Students place their work on desks and circulate to provide "Two Stars and a Wish" using the Poster Rubric.
- Stars: Identify specific strengths in data use or design
- Wish: Suggest one small improvement (e.g., "Make the headline bigger")
- Action: Students make one final revision based on their "wish"
💡 Differentiation Strategies
- scaffold support: Use sentence starters for peer feedback (e.g., "Your use of data is effective because...")
- Support: Individual check-ins for students struggling with data placement or bilingual vocabulary
- Extension: Create a 'Teaser' digital announcement for the school newsletter or social media page
🛠️ Preparation for Action Day
Confirm all logistics for Week 6. Ensure materials (plants, tools, signage bases) are ready, follow up any unanswered whānau notes, and assign students roles for Evidence Capture (photographer, interviewer, data recorder).
📋 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: A structured report frame with a mandatory limitations section. Extension: present to an audience that will push back.
ELL / ESOL: Rehearse the limitations paragraph specifically; it is the part ākonga skip.
Inclusion: Mode is free; the limitations section is not optional in any mode.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Manu feathers in taonga such as kahu huruhuru carry obligation as well as beauty — they are held, not owned. If ākonga communicate about taonga species this week, they should say who holds that knowledge rather than speaking for them.
Prior knowledge: Best used after introductory ecology concepts. Connects well to science food webs and biodiversity units.
Curriculum alignment
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems can affect the distribution and abundance of organisms; changes in one part can affect the balance and wellbeing of the whole system.