Best for
Research projects, social studies inquiry, science investigations, speeches, reports, and any task that asks students to find and use information carefully.
English • Years 5-10 • Inquiry and information literacy
Inquiry & Research Skills
Use this handout to help ākonga ask better questions, find stronger sources, and keep notes in their own words. Good inquiry is not just “Googling faster”; it is noticing what you need to know and how to gather it responsibly.
Free inquiry scaffold, premium project-design path
This page already gives the question frame, source checks, and note-making structure. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want the same inquiry scaffold rebuilt around a local case study, a specific age band, or a more guided research sequence.
- Swap in a local issue, taiao topic, or class text.
- Generate a junior support version with fewer source decisions.
- Save the adapted inquiry pack in My Kete and refine it later in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 1 lesson for inquiry launch or 2 lessons with note-making and synthesis.
- Grouping: Whole-class model, then pairs or individual inquiry.
- Prep: Curate 2-4 mixed-quality sources on one shared topic first.
- Support: Give one strong starter question and one source already approved for students who need a lower barrier entry.
Resources already provided
- Question-building frame
- Source-check prompts
- Note-making template
- Own-words summary space
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
If the task mentions inquiry questions, reliable sources, or research notes, the core scaffold is already here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how to ask researchable questions.
- We are learning how to judge whether a source is useful and trustworthy.
- We are learning how to record ideas in our own words.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can write a question that is focused and clear.
- I can explain why one source is more useful than another.
- I can turn notes into a short summary without copying.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
The companion page links this resource to English expectations around selecting information, supporting ideas with evidence, and using sources thoughtfully when crafting a text.
Research with integrity
Strong inquiry work asks, “Who is speaking, what do they know, and how do I know this is useful?” Students need to learn that a source can be interesting without being reliable, and detailed without being respectful.
In Aotearoa, inquiry should also honour mātauranga Māori and local knowledge. That means students should not treat community stories, iwi knowledge, or taonga as content to extract without context, permission, or care.
Start with a better question
A strong inquiry question is:
- clear enough that you know what information to look for
- broad enough to learn something meaningful
- not answerable with one word
My topic:
My inquiry question:
Check the source before you trust it
Who made it?
Is it written by a named person, group, organisation, or community voice?
Why was it made?
To inform, persuade, advertise, entertain, or provoke a reaction?
What evidence is used?
Look for facts, examples, quoted voices, dates, or clear references.
What is missing?
Ask whose perspective is absent and whether context has been left out.
Notes in your own words
Source title or link:
Important facts or ideas:
What this source helps me answer:
If copying is a barrier, say the idea aloud to a partner first, then write the shortest version that still keeps the meaning.
Turn notes into a short summary
Use this frame if you need help:
This source explains ...
The most useful evidence is ...
This matters for my inquiry because ...
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Investigate social, cultural, environmental, and economic questions; gather and evaluate evidence from diverse sources; communicate findings and reasoning clearly for different audiences and purposes.
English — Communication
Level 3–4: Read, interpret, and evaluate information texts; write clearly and purposefully for specific audiences; apply critical thinking skills to evaluate sources and construct well-reasoned responses.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource sits within a kaupapa that recognises mātauranga Māori as a living knowledge system with its own frameworks, values, and ways of understanding the world. The New Zealand Curriculum calls for learning that reflects the bicultural partnership of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which means every subject area has an obligation to engage authentically with Māori perspectives — not as cultural decoration but as substantive contributions to how we understand our topics. The concepts of manaakitanga (care for others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) provide a values framework applicable across all learning areas, and all are relevant to the work in this handout.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to apply systems thinking to real-world civic and community challenges — analysing feedback loops, leverage points, and emergent properties within social, environmental, and governance systems in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can identify system components and their interactions within a real-world context.
- ✅ Students can apply indigenous systems thinking principles to analyse and propose community action.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide systems mapping templates and sentence starters for entry-level access. Offer extension tasks asking students to identify a second-order effect or design an intervention at a leverage point within their chosen system.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach systems thinking vocabulary (feedback loop, leverage point, emergence, interdependence) using visual diagrams. Allow students to annotate systems maps in their home language first.
Inclusion: Use visual, spatial, and collaborative formats wherever possible — systems maps are inherently accessible for diverse learners. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured inquiry steps and chunked analysis tasks. Ensure group roles are clearly defined.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Systems thinking has deep resonance with Te Ao Māori. Whakapapa is a relational map of systems — tracing connections between people, place, and time. Kaitiakitanga frames our responsibility within systems. Mauri provides a measure of system health. These indigenous concepts enrich Western systems thinking frameworks.
Prior knowledge: Students should have completed foundational systems thinking lessons (phases 1–2) before engaging with phase 3 inquiry tasks. No specialist prior knowledge required for standalone resources.
Curriculum alignment
- Understand: Systems shape how people and groups organise themselves — rights, responsibilities, power, and fairness in Aotearoa and globally.
- Do: Explore perspectives, use evidence to form conclusions, and share ideas — compare systems, map decisions, present new solutions.
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation: Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges.