Science and Social Sciences • Years 7-10 • Ready to use tomorrow

Māori Navigation and Wayfinding

Support ākonga to investigate how traditional navigators read stars, winds, waves, birds, and place. This handout gives a complete scaffold for discussing wayfinding as observation-rich science and mātauranga Māori, not just a historical curiosity.

Best for

Years 7-10 science, social sciences, local inquiry, Pacific voyaging, and mātauranga Māori contexts.

Kaiako use

Use as the student-facing scaffold inside the flagship navigation lesson, or as a stand-alone discussion and comparison sheet for wayfinding knowledge.

Ākonga use

Students can sort navigation cues, explain how they work, and compare traditional wayfinding with GPS from the same page.

Free wayfinding scaffold, premium localisation path

This handout is ready to print and teach as-is. If you want local stars, a local harbour context, a lower-reading-level version, or a class-specific comparison task, Te Wānanga can generate a new version while keeping the mātauranga Māori lens and teaching sequence intact.

  • Swap in navigation examples from your rohe, moana, awa, or local coastline.
  • Generate a simpler or more advanced version for mixed-ability groups.
  • Save the adapted handout and reopen it later in My Kete or Creation Studio.
Adapt this in Te Wānanga Open Creation Studio Compare paid workflow options

Kaiako planning snapshot

  • Use length: 20-30 minutes as a cue-sorting and comparison handout, or a full period if students complete the reflection and application tasks.
  • Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then pairs or small groups for cue sorting and comparison writing.
  • Prep: Decide whether you will pair this with a video, map, or local place discussion before students begin.
  • Teaching move: Emphasise that wayfinding combines observation, memory, pattern recognition, and collective knowledge rather than “luck” or mystery.
🧭 Observation and systems 🌊 Place and voyaging knowledge

Resources already provided

  • Wayfinding cue sort and explanation frame
  • Traditional navigation versus GPS comparison scaffold
  • Vocabulary bank for direction, observation, and navigation language
  • Quick reflection and application prompt
  • Linked astronomy and navigation mathematics handouts
  • Curriculum companion for planning/reporting

If the lesson mentions cue cards, comparison frames, or reflection prompts, they are already provided here so kaiako can pick up and go.

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions

  • We are learning to identify the natural cues traditional navigators used to travel safely.
  • We are learning to explain why observation and local knowledge matter in navigation.
  • We are learning to compare traditional wayfinding with modern GPS without treating one as “primitive” and the other as automatically superior.

Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria

  • I can name several wayfinding cues and explain how they help a navigator.
  • I can compare traditional navigation and GPS using evidence rather than assumptions.
  • I can explain why this knowledge matters in a Māori and Pacific context.

Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment

This handout works best when the curriculum story is explicit. Use the linked companion page for planning, moderation, and reporting around systems, observation, mātauranga Māori, and place-based inquiry.

🔬 Science and observation 🌍 Social sciences and place 🧭 Mātauranga Māori
Open curriculum companion

Why wayfinding matters

Traditional navigation across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa drew on deep knowledge of stars, currents, winds, birds, clouds, and coastlines. This was not guesswork. It was careful observation, memory, testing, and intergenerational teaching — the kind of knowledge system many classrooms recognise too late as science.

Using a Māori and Pacific lens helps ākonga see navigation as relational knowledge: people moving with the ocean, sky, weather, and whenua rather than trying to dominate them.

Wayfinding cue sort

Sort these cues into groups

  • Stars and the movement of the night sky
  • Wave patterns and swell direction
  • Cloud build-up over islands or land masses
  • Bird behaviour and migration
  • Wind direction and change
  • Colour or texture changes in the water

Possible groups: sky cues, ocean cues, living-world cues, weather cues.

Explain one cue in your own words

  1. The cue is: ________________________________________________
  2. It tells a navigator: ________________________________________
  3. This works because: __________________________________________

Traditional navigation and GPS comparison

Navigation approach What it relies on Strengths Limits or risks
Traditional wayfinding Observation, memory, star paths, ocean cues, local knowledge
Modern GPS Satellites, devices, power, digital maps

Aim for evidence-based comparison, not “old versus new” stereotypes.

Language bank

  • Navigation terms: horizon, bearings, direction, route, landmark, orientation, wayfinding
  • Māori and Pacific concepts: whakatere, waka, tohu, whakapapa, mātauranga
  • Sentence starters: This cue matters because... / A navigator could infer that... / GPS is useful when..., but traditional navigation...

Reflection and application

Prompt: Why is the revival and teaching of wayfinding important for Māori, Pacific communities, and Aotearoa learners today?

Use these ideas if needed:

  • identity and cultural continuity
  • respect for knowledge systems
  • environmental observation and sustainability
  • resilience when technology fails

Tautoko / Support

  • Model one completed cue explanation before students work independently.
  • Use the cue groups provided rather than asking learners to invent categories from scratch.
  • Keep the reflection short and sentence-framed if writing stamina is low.

Whakawhānui / Extend

  • Link this handout to the astronomy handout and ask students which star knowledge would be most useful at night.
  • Ask students to apply the comparison frame to another technology-versus-traditional knowledge context.
  • Turn the reflection into a short speech or infographic for younger students.

Whānau and hapori connection

Invite ākonga to ask whānau which environmental signs they notice before weather changes — cloud, wind, sea, bird, or river patterns. This helps connect classroom discussion to local observation practices and everyday knowledge.

Build the next teaching step

Teach directly from this handout tomorrow, or use it as the student scaffold inside the full navigation lesson. If you want a version adapted to your local harbour, coastline, or community story, generate it in Te Wānanga and refine it in Creation Studio.

Open the linked lesson Open the astronomy companion handout Open the mathematics companion handout

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.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?

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 build understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand's ecosystems, biodiversity, and the role of kaitiakitanga in environmental stewardship.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ Students can explain key concepts from this resource using their own words.
  • ✅ Students can connect the content to real-world environmental contexts in Aotearoa.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, word banks, or graphic organisers to scaffold access for students who need it. Offer entry-level and extension tasks to address a range of readiness levels.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary and provide bilingual glossaries where available. Allow students to respond in their home language first.

Inclusion: Use accessible formats — clear font, adequate whitespace, structured tasks. Neurodiverse learners benefit from chunked instructions and choice in how they demonstrate understanding.

Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson sequence. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement.