Strong fit
Early living-world teaching should help students notice that living and
non-living things work together in places rather than learning separate lists in isolation.
How this handout aligns
The sorting table and habitat language keep the core idea visible: ecosystems are relationships
between living things and their conditions.
Habitats
Observation
Junior science
Strong as the entry point before more complex ecology work.
Strong fit
Younger learners benefit when science vocabulary is paired with doing:
sorting, drawing, and naming visible features of a real place.
How this handout aligns
The combination of table work and drawing gives kaiako more than one way to see whether the core
idea has landed.
Vocabulary
Drawing
Concept building
Useful for mixed-readiness classes because it supports oral and visual response.
Aotearoa lens
Local science is more meaningful when students learn to notice the living
systems around them and connect those places to care, belonging, and kaitiakitanga.
How to teach this well
Use a school garden, stream edge, beach, or ngahere patch if possible. Ask what lives there, what
it needs, and how people should care for that place.
Kaitiakitanga
Local place
Taiao
That is where this page becomes genuinely useful rather than generic starter material.