Years 7-10
Strongest teaching range
Inquiry
Primary curriculum fit
Teacher-only planning note
Kaiako should treat this handout as a science-process scaffold, not a substitute for a real
investigation. Te Mātaiaho asks students to question, observe, gather evidence, and explain how
they know. Mātauranga Māori strengthens this work when it is used to
discuss local noticing, intergenerational observation, and responsibility to place, rather than as
a token add-on.
Strong fit
Science inquiry teaching in Aotearoa should help students ask useful
questions, plan fair tests, gather observations and measurements, and explain what their evidence
does and does not show.
How this handout aligns
The planning scaffold makes students name variables, predict relationships, and decide how they
will collect evidence before they begin. That moves inquiry from vague activity to purposeful
investigation.
Nature of Science
Fair testing
Evidence
Use this as the pre-practical organiser before students touch equipment.
Strong fit
Students build stronger scientific understanding when they can compare
question, method, observation, and conclusion rather than treating “the experiment” as one blurred
event.
How this handout aligns
The cycle and reflection prompts separate the stages of inquiry clearly, which supports planning,
reporting, and later moderation conversations for kaiako.
Inquiry cycle
Reporting
Reflection
Especially useful for junior classes who need explicit structure before
independence.
Aotearoa lens
Place-based science in Aotearoa is strengthened when students learn
that careful observation, local knowledge, and kaitiakitanga all shape how questions are asked and
why they matter.
How to teach this well
Use the mātauranga Māori prompts to discuss who holds knowledge,
what patterns have been noticed over time, and how investigation choices affect whenua, species,
and community relationships.
Mātauranga Māori
Kaitiakitanga
Ako
Keep the comparison respectful: knowledge systems can speak to each other
without being forced into sameness.
Puna Kōrero — Sources
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2021). Te Mātaiaho: The Refreshed New Zealand Curriculum. Ministry of Education.
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2021). Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners. Teaching Council.