📚 Lessons / Ngā Akoranga
1
What is an Ecosystem? Mauri
Biotic and abiotic factors audited outdoors in the school grounds, and the interactions between them read through mauri.
🔍 Schoolyard Ecosystem Audit
🌿 Mauri & Interdependence
2
Biodiversity & Endemism
Why Aotearoa has unique species and what threatens them.
🦎 Tuatara Case Study
🎮 Biodiversity Tagger
3
Field Study - Rangahau Taiao
Conducting real biodiversity surveys and analysing ecosystem health.
🔬 Quadrat Surveys
📱 iNaturalist NZ
4
Human Impact & Conservation
Analysing threats to NZ ecosystems and conservation strategies.
🐨 Possum Impact Lab
⚖️ 1080 Debate
5
Restoration & Kaitiakitanga
Ecological restoration through Māori guardianship principles.
🌱 Planting Project
🎮 EcoRestore Game
6
Guardians of the Future
Synthesising learning into conservation action campaigns.
🎨 Campaign Creation
🗣️ Science Wānanga
📄 Resources / Ngā Rauemi
📝 Handouts
📊 Assessment Rubrics
🎮 Interactive Activities
🌿 Key Māori Concepts
Whakapapa
Genealogy & Connections
Kaitiakitanga
Guardianship
Mauri
Life Force
Rāhui
Temporary Ban for Recovery
Curriculum alignment
- Ecosystems — Practices: Constructing models of species interactions using food webs, nutrient cycles, or habitat maps to explain the interconnected nature of ecosystems
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Ecosystems can usually regenerate naturally, and humans can support this through conservation and restoration.
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Indigenous knowledge systems, such as mātauranga Māori, are often founded on long-term observations of environmental patterns. For example, ngā tohu o te taiao can be used to monitor seasonal changes and ecosystem health.
- Scholar note (not a curriculum statement): Marama Muru-Lanning (Contemporary) explores mātauranga Māori as environmental knowledge, linking Indigenous perspectives to ecological science.
- Ecosystems — Practices: Interpreting data (e.g. graphs, maps) to evaluate how human activity (e.g. agriculture, resource extraction) influences ecosystem stability and biodiversity