Lesson 1: Ecosystems, Biomes & Aotearoa's Unique Biodiversity
Exploring NZ ecosystems, biodiversity, energy flow, invasive pests, kaitiakitanga, and field restoration projects.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
Definitions of ecosystem, habitat, community, population, biotic vs abiotic factors, and why Aotearoa NZ has unique endemic flora and fauna due to 80 million years of evolutionary isolation.
Classify biotic and abiotic components in an Aotearoa native bush ecosystem, explain endemic vs native vs introduced species, and construct ecosystem profile cards.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
Ecosystems, Abiotic Factors & NZ Biodiversity
Video Clip: Aotearoa's unique biodiversity — Department of Conservation (Watch in full — declared full-watch).
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
Why are so many of Aotearoa's native birds (like kiwi, kākāpō, and tui) found nowhere else on Earth?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
- As you watch: Distinguish biotic (living: plants, animals, fungi, bacteria) from abiotic (non-living: sunlight, soil, water, temperature) factors.
- Note: Which endemic species (found only in NZ), native, and introduced species are mentioned?
- Consider: How did Gondwana isolation shape the unique adaptations of Aotearoa's native species?
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: Guide a school grounds mini-blitz identifying native trees (pōhutukawa, harakeke, kōwhai) and soil abiotic factors.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 1 of your Ecology Field Journal: Ecosystem Profile & Biotic/Abiotic Matrix.
📓 Set up the Field Journal now — it is the spine of this unit. There is no printed booklet to hand out: the journal is each ākonga's own exercise book or refill, set up in this first lesson and added to every lesson after it. Have them rule up a contents page and leave two to three pages for each of the nine sections:
- Ecosystem Profile & Biotic/Abiotic Matrix
- Trophic Pyramid & Energy Flow
- NZ Bush Food Web Diagram
- Invasive Pest Impact Matrix & Tracking Tunnel Data
- Kaitiakitanga Case Study
- Field Quadrat Sampling Log
- Stream Health Audit & MCI Score
- Pest Control Methodology Evaluation
- Habitat Restoration Project
Sections 6 and 7 hold field data, so those pages need to survive being taken outside — a hard-cover book or a clipboard and refill both work. The journal is assessed as one piece at the end of the unit, not lesson by lesson.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: What Did You Walk Past? (10 mins)
On your own, list five living things and five non-living things you passed between the school gate and this room. Circle any living thing you think is native to Aotearoa. Pair up and compare: did you agree on what counts as "living"? Keep the list — you will sort it properly in ten minutes.
📖 Activity 1: Grounds Mini-Blitz — Build the Biotic/Abiotic Matrix (25 mins)
- Walk out (5 min): in pairs, claim a patch of school grounds roughly 5 m × 5 m — garden bed, mown field, or under a tree. Different pairs, different patches.
- Record (10 min): list every biotic factor you can see or find evidence of (plants, birds, insects, fungi, droppings, feathers) and every abiotic factor acting on the patch (sunlight, soil type, moisture, wind, temperature).
- Sort (7 min): back inside, rule your list into a two-column biotic/abiotic matrix. Star anything you believe is native or endemic; mark introduced species with an X.
- Share (3 min): each pair reports one interaction they noticed between a living and a non-living factor (e.g. moss growing only on the shaded side of a wall).
📝 Activity 2: Field Journal Section 1 — Ecosystem Profile (20 mins)
Write up Section 1 of your Ecology Field Journal: copy in your biotic/abiotic matrix, then write an ecosystem profile of your patch — what lives there, what non-living factors shape it, and one interaction you observed. Use biotic, abiotic, endemic, native and introduced correctly, and finish with one sentence on the mauri of your patch: does it feel like a thriving system or a struggling one, and what evidence says so?
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Prep: before class, scout three contrasting patches of grounds (garden bed, mown field, under trees) so pairs spread out rather than crowd one spot. Insist on the native/introduced stars in the matrix now — Sections 4 and 9 of the journal reuse them. The journal set-up in the panel above is this lesson's real deliverable; do it in class, not as homework. Curriculum anchoring for the unit sits on the unit page (verbatim Te Mātaiaho statements).