Best for
Wayfinding inquiry, Matariki follow-through, integrated maths/social studies learning, and lessons where ākonga need a structured way to talk about direction and navigation.
Te Ao Māori • Wayfinding and direction • Years 6-10 • Ready to use tomorrow
Māori Astronomy and Navigation
Use this handout to show ākonga that wayfinding is a knowledge system, not just a list of facts about stars. It connects celestial cues, environmental noticing, direction language, and purposeful decision-making in Aotearoa and across the Pacific.
Free classroom scaffold, premium localisation path
This handout is ready to print and teach. If you want a version adapted to a local harbour, coastline, maunga, awa, or school inquiry focus, Te Wānanga can rebuild it while keeping the mātauranga Māori and direction-language framing intact.
- Swap in local landmarks, coastlines, or school camp destinations.
- Create a simpler support version or a senior extension route-analysis version.
- Save the adapted resource and reopen it later in My Kete or Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 20-35 minutes as a focused handout lesson, or longer if students sketch routes and compare navigation systems.
- Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then pairs for route reasoning and explanation.
- Prep: Choose whether to anchor the lesson in local landmarks, open-water voyaging, or comparison with digital navigation tools.
- Teaching move: Keep emphasising that navigators used multiple cues together, not stars in isolation.
Resources already provided
- Wayfinding cue bank
- Direction kupu and compass-language support
- Two route reasoning tasks
- Sketch and explanation workspace
- Curriculum companion for teacher planning clarity
If your lesson refers to direction words, cue prompts, or navigation explanation frames, they are already supplied here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how celestial and environmental cues support wayfinding.
- We are learning to use direction language to explain movement and place.
- We are learning to justify route choices using evidence and reasoning.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can name more than one cue a navigator could use.
- I can use direction language to describe a route or location.
- I can explain why one route or cue might be better than another in context.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the linked curriculum companion to make the direction-language, wayfinding, and mātauranga Māori inquiry explicit in teacher planning and reporting.
Wayfinding is relational knowledge
Māori and wider Pacific navigation traditions bring together stars, winds, currents, clouds, birds, landmarks, and memory. This makes navigation an excellent classroom context for showing how mātauranga Māori works through careful observation and relationship with place.
Wayfinding cue bank
Celestial cues
Stars rising and setting, the position of key star groups, and what the sky tells a navigator about direction and timing.
Environmental cues
Wind, swell, cloud build-up, bird behaviour, and changing light can all help orient a traveller or confirm a route.
Land cues
Maunga, coastline shape, awa mouths, and remembered landmarks help people connect route knowledge to place.
Kupu for direction
- Raki = north
- Rāwhiti = east
- Tonga = south
- Uru = west
- Haere ki te rāwhiti = go east
- Huri whakamaui / whakatau = turn left / turn right
Use the kupu orally first so ākonga hear direction language in action before writing it down.
Route reasoning task
Scenario: Your group must travel from a sheltered bay to a point south-east of your starting place before dark.
- Which direction is the destination from your starting point?
- What celestial cue could help you hold that direction?
- What environmental cue would you also watch?
- What might make you change the route?
Compare two navigation systems
System 1: Traditional wayfinding using stars, winds, swell, and landmarks.
System 2: GPS or map-based navigation.
What each system does well:
Sketch your route
Draw a simple route from one local landmark to another. Label the direction and two cues a navigator could use.
Explain your choice
Complete this sentence frame in your own words: The best route is ... because ... and I would also watch ...
Support, core, and stretch
Support
Use the direction kupu bank, talk through the route aloud, and complete one question at a time so the reasoning stays chunked.
Core
Complete the route task, label the sketch, and explain one route choice using both place and direction language.
Stretch
Compare how traditional wayfinding and digital navigation solve the same problem differently and identify where each system is strongest.
Neurodiversity and inclusion note: allow oral rehearsal, partner mapping, and alternative response modes before expecting a full written explanation.
Teach this tomorrow
Print or share
- One copy per learner
- Optional local map, coastline, or camp route image
Decide before class
- Which local route or scenario makes the task feel real
- How much explicit direction-language modelling your group needs
Good progress looks like
- Students use more than one cue in their reasoning
- Direction language is tied to place, not copied as isolated words
Natural continuation
- Move into bearings and angles with the maths companion
- Adapt the route for your local inquiry in Te Wānanga
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.