Week 1 Lesson 1: What Makes a Society?
Systems Thinking Foundation - Identifying Components & Relationships
Students explore the essential components that every society needs to function, using systems thinking tools to map relationships and understand how human communities organise themselves to survive and thrive.
Te Taiao o te Hapori - The Ecosystem of Community
Every human society, from small whānau to vast nations, must solve the same fundamental challenges: How do we organise ourselves to meet everyone's needs? How do we make decisions that benefit the collective while respecting individual rights? These questions have been answered differently across cultures and time, but the underlying systems remain remarkably similar.
"He waka eke noa - We are all in this together"
Understanding society as a system helps us see how individual actions affect the whole community.
Ngā Whāinga Ako - Learning Intentions
Students Will Understand
- Society as a system with interconnected components
- Universal needs that all societies must address
- How relationships and connections create social structure
- The balance between individual and collective needs
Students Will Apply
- Systems mapping tools to analyse society components
- Compare different approaches to organising society
- Identify relationships between social institutions
- Design solutions for basic societal challenges
🎥 Media Anchor (9 mins)
Video: What Is Sociology?: Crash Course Sociology #1
- What system component did this video help clarify for your “what makes a society” model?
- How does a kaitiaki lens change choices about rules, resources, and responsibilities?
Ngā Mahi - Lesson Activities (75 minutes)
1. Society Component Stations - Essential Elements Investigation (25 mins)
Setup: Students rotate through 4 stations exploring the fundamental components every society needs. Each station focuses on a different essential element, with hands-on investigations and real-world examples.
Station 1: People & Social Organisation
- How do people organise into groups (families, communities, nations)?
- What roles do different people play in society?
- How do age, skills, and relationships affect social position?
- Map your own social networks (family, school, friends, community)
- Compare how different cultures organise social roles
- Analyse population data: Who makes up our community?
Station 2: Rules & Governance Systems
- Why do all societies have rules and laws?
- Who gets to make decisions that affect everyone?
- How are rules enforced and conflicts resolved?
- Compare school rules, family rules, and national laws
- Design rules for a new community from scratch
- Investigate traditional Māori justice systems vs modern courts
Station 3: Resources & Economic Systems
- What does every society need to survive and thrive?
- How are resources gathered, produced, and distributed?
- What happens when resources are scarce or abundant?
- Map the resource flows in our school community
- Compare different economic systems (sharing, trading, markets)
- Design a resource distribution system for 100 people on an island
Station 4: Culture, Values & Identity
- What beliefs and values hold societies together?
- How do traditions, language, and customs shape identity?
- What happens when different cultures meet?
- Explore cultural values in our class (individualism vs collectivism)
- Compare celebration traditions across different cultures
- Investigate how Te Ao Māori values influence NZ society
2. Society Systems Map - Connecting the Components (20 mins)
Collaborative Mapping: Students create visual maps showing how the four society components connect and influence each other.
Systems Mapping Template Instructions:
- Draw four circles: People, Rules, Resources, Culture
- Add specific examples in each circle from your station work
- Use different colours for each component type
- Draw arrows showing how components influence each other
- Label connections with specific examples
- Use thick arrows for strong influences, thin for weak
Systems Thinking Insight:
When you change one component of a society, it affects ALL the other components. This is why social change is complex!
3. Island Society Challenge - Applying Systems Knowledge (25 mins)
Scenario: 100 people from diverse backgrounds are stranded on a large island with abundant resources. They need to create a functioning society to survive and thrive long-term.
Your Challenge:
Working in groups of 4-5, design the basic structure for this new society. You must address all four components and show how they connect.
People Questions:
- How will you organise into groups?
- What roles do people need to fill?
- How will you handle conflicts?
Rules Questions:
- Who makes important decisions?
- What rules are absolutely essential?
- How will you enforce agreements?
Resource Questions:
- How will work be organised?
- How will goods be distributed?
- What if someone can't contribute?
Culture Questions:
- What values will guide decisions?
- How will you celebrate diversity?
- What traditions will you create?
Presentation Format:
Each group creates a visual poster showing their society design and presents their key decisions to the class. Focus on how your four components work together as a system.
4. Gallery Walk & Systems Reflection (5 mins)
Comparative Analysis: Students examine all group solutions and identify patterns in how societies address universal needs.
Reflection Questions:
- What solutions appeared in multiple group designs? Why might these be universal?
- Where did groups make completely different choices? What does this tell us about values?
- Which society components seemed most challenging to design? Why?
- How did groups handle the tension between individual needs and group needs?
Te Ao Māori Connection:
Compare your island society designs with traditional Māori social organisation. How did iwi and hapū balance individual needs with collective wellbeing? What can we learn from indigenous approaches to community organisation?
Cross-Curricular Applications
History
Analyse how ancient civilizations organised their societies and compare with modern approaches
Geography
Investigate how environment and resources shape society development
Mathematics
Use statistics to analyse population data and resource distribution patterns
English
Research and present on different cultural approaches to social organisation
Aromatawai - Assessment
Formative Assessment
- Station Investigations: Quality of observations and questions asked
- Systems Mapping: Accuracy of connections identified between components
- Island Society Design: Demonstrates understanding of all four components
- Reflection Responses: Shows systems thinking development
Success Criteria
- Beginning: Identifies society components but struggles to connect them
- Developing: Shows how some components connect and influence each other
- Achieving: Demonstrates clear understanding of society as interconnected system
- Excelling: Applies systems thinking to predict consequences of changes
Whakamutunga - Lesson Reflection
Today we discovered that every society, no matter how different it appears on the surface, must address the same fundamental challenges. Understanding society as a system helps us see why changes in one area (like new technology or economic shifts) affect everything else. This systems thinking will help us analyse government systems, understand social issues, and eventually design our own ideal society.
"He waka eke noa - We are all in this together"
Every society is like a waka where everyone's contributions matter for the collective journey.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to apply systems thinking to real-world civic and community challenges — analysing feedback loops, leverage points, and emergent properties within social, environmental, and governance systems in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can identify system components and their interactions within a real-world context.
- ✅ Students can apply indigenous systems thinking principles to analyse and propose community action.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide systems mapping templates and sentence starters for entry-level access. Offer extension tasks asking students to identify a second-order effect or design an intervention at a leverage point within their chosen system.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach systems thinking vocabulary (feedback loop, leverage point, emergence, interdependence) using visual diagrams. Allow students to annotate systems maps in their home language first.
Inclusion: Use visual, spatial, and collaborative formats wherever possible — systems maps are inherently accessible for diverse learners. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured inquiry steps and chunked analysis tasks. Ensure group roles are clearly defined.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Systems thinking has deep resonance with Te Ao Māori. Whakapapa is a relational map of systems — tracing connections between people, place, and time. Kaitiakitanga frames our responsibility within systems. Mauri provides a measure of system health. These indigenous concepts enrich Western systems thinking frameworks.
Prior knowledge: Students should have completed foundational systems thinking lessons (phases 1–2) before engaging with phase 3 inquiry tasks. No specialist prior knowledge required for standalone resources.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Social Sciences · Phase 3 (Years 7–8) · Civics and Society (Knowledge): “A constitution sets out the rules for how a country is governed.”
- NZC (2007) · Social Studies · Level 4: “Understand how formal and informal groups make decisions that impact on communities.”