Years 7-10
Strongest teaching range
Evidence-based prioritisation
Primary teaching fit
Teacher-only planning note
Ranking cards work best when students are required to justify each ranking with evidence from the
audit walk, not just instinct. The urgency / feasibility / kaitiakitanga axes are deliberately
different dimensions — a problem can be urgent but not feasible for students to address, or highly
feasible but low impact. Push groups to notice when these dimensions conflict. That tension is
where the most productive discussion happens.
Strong fit
SCIENCE-761cb83512: Evaluating ways humans can positively impact
ecosystems and communicating actions that support kaitiakitanga (e.g. planting trees, composting,
recycling, growing food, planting native species).
How this handout aligns
Each problem card asks students to evaluate impact, feasibility, and kaitiakitanga
connection. That three-part evaluation is a structured version of what this curriculum
statement requires: not just identifying positive impacts but evaluating them and deciding
which are worth communicating and acting on.
Evaluating impact
Kaitiakitanga
Action prioritisation
This is the clearest fit because the ranking task is explicitly about
choosing which action to pursue and why, which is the essence of evaluating positive human
impact.
Strong fit
SCIENCE-8a287729e7: Representing ecological data using tables and
graphs to interpret patterns and draw conclusions about ecosystem dynamics.
How this handout aligns
When groups use their audit observations as input data for ranking, they are practising the
move from raw field evidence to interpreted conclusion. The ranking itself is a form of
data display — ordering issues by severity and feasibility is pattern interpretation
applied to ecological data.
Data interpretation
Ecological patterns
Drawing conclusions
Useful for connecting the ranking activity to the scientific inquiry
skills that run through the rest of Unit 9.
Aotearoa lens
In te ao Māori, prioritising
environmental action is not just a technical decision but a relational one. Which issue most
threatens the wellbeing of wai, whenua, or tangata? That question adds a dimension that
urgency and feasibility rankings alone do not capture.
How to use this resource well
After groups share their rankings, ask: "Did any group rank something differently because of
the kaitiakitanga axis? What did that change?" That question surfaces the value of having
a relational dimension in what might otherwise be a purely technical prioritisation.
Relational prioritisation
Wai and whenua
Kaitiakitanga axis
This stops the ranking from becoming purely a logistics exercise and
keeps it connected to the environmental ethics that run through the unit.
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.