Wheat Sales Profit Calculation
Unit 10 · Week 4 · Kai, Culture and Climate — Surviving Scarcity
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Calculate profit from historical wheat and flour sales using pre-decimal currency
- Convert between shillings, pence, and pounds using historical exchange rates
- Compare the relative economic value of wheat vs. flour production for Māori communities
- Use profit data as historical evidence in the Week 4 debate
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I can correctly calculate total income from bags × price per bag
- I can convert shillings to pounds using the rule: 20 shillings = £1
- I can compare scenarios and explain which represents better value for a Māori community
- I can write a one-sentence economic argument using my calculations as evidence
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Understand how economic decisions are made with limited resources; evaluate the economic outcomes of historical trade decisions.
Apply multiplication and division in authentic historical contexts; work with non-decimal currency systems.
In the 1800s, New Zealand used British currency — pounds (£), shillings (s), and pence (d). This is different from our decimal dollar system today.
= 1 shilling
= £1 (one pound)
= £1 (one pound)
For these activities, prices are given in shillings. Convert to pounds by dividing by 20.
Raraunga Utu Hītori · Historical Price Data (1850s–1860s)
| Item | Price range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bag of wheat (60 lbs) | 8–12 shillings | Price varied by season and harvest quality |
| 1 bag of flour (milled) | 15–20 shillings | More valuable — milling adds value |
| Daily wage (laborer) | 2–3 shillings/day | Comparison point for understanding earnings |
| Pig (live) | ~10 shillings | Another comparison point |
Horopaki 1 · Scenario 1: Small Wheat Harvest
🌾 A Māori hapū harvests 20 bags of wheat and sells them at 10 shillings per bag.
20 bags × 10 shillings = shillings
shillings ÷ 20 = £
£ ÷ £0.15 (3 shillings/day) = days
Horopaki 2 · Scenario 2: Flour Mill Production
🏭 A Māori flour mill produces 50 bags of flour and sells them at 18 shillings per bag.
50 bags × 18 shillings = shillings
shillings ÷ 20 = £
£ ÷ £0.15 = days
Horopaki 3 · Scenario 3: Your Own Hapū
Design your own scenario. Choose how many bags and which price from the table, then calculate the total income.
Product: Number of bags: Price per bag: shillings
Whakataurite · Comparison and Analysis
| Measure | Scenario 1 (wheat harvest) |
Scenario 2 (flour mill) |
|---|---|---|
| Total income (shillings) | ||
| Total income (pounds £) | ||
| Equivalent days of labour | ||
| Income per bag |
Which scenario represents better value for a Māori hapū, and why?
Taunakitanga Taupatupatu · Using This as Debate Evidence
Write one sentence you could use in the flour adoption debate to support either side.
Gain side argument using your calculations:
"Flour adoption was a gain because… [include a specific number from your calculations]"
Loss side counter (what does profit NOT capture?):
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
These calculations tell us what wheat farming earned — but they don't tell us what it cost. A profit calculation captures exchange value in shillings and pounds, but it does not capture:
- The land removed from traditional kūmara cultivation
- The labour redirected from communal food-sharing systems to market production
- The long-term dependence on settler markets and prices
- The cultural shift in how whenua was understood and used
This tension between what is measurable and what matters is at the core of kaitiakitanga as an economic philosophy — value is not only what can be counted.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
Resources already provided:
- Week 4 Māori Flour Mills Reading Guide (companion handout)
- Pre-decimal currency conversion table (on class site)
- Calculator (permitted for this activity)
- Week 4 Flour Debate Preparation handout — bring your profit figures as evidence
Aronga Rerekē · Differentiated Pathways
Tīmata · Entry Level
Complete Scenarios 1 and 2 using a calculator. Fill in the comparison table. You do not need to design your own scenario. Write one debate sentence for the gain side.
Paerewa · On Level
Complete all three scenarios. Fill in the full comparison table. Write both debate sentences (gain and loss sides).
Tūāpae · Extension
Complete all sections. Extension challenge: If a hapū could process their wheat into flour (adding 6–8 shillings per bag in value), and they had 30 bags of wheat, how much more would they earn by milling vs. selling raw wheat? Calculate both scenarios at the midpoint prices. Then explain: if milling was more profitable, why did not all Māori hapū build flour mills?
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to investigate the intersection of kai (food), culture, and climate — exploring how mātauranga Māori approaches to food production, preservation, and distribution offer powerful responses to contemporary food security and climate challenges in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain how traditional Māori kai practices (maramataka, kūmara cultivation, rāhui) embody ecological knowledge and food security principles.
- ✅ Students can connect kai culture and climate scarcity to contemporary community action and food sovereignty movements.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide graphic organisers that map traditional kai practices to modern food security concepts at the entry level. Offer extension tasks asking students to research a specific iwi's traditional food system and evaluate its contemporary relevance, or to investigate a local food sovereignty initiative.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach domain vocabulary (food sovereignty, food security, kaitiakitanga, rāhui, maramataka) using visual diagrams and real-world examples. Draw connections to students' own cultural food traditions — these are valid entry points into the unit's themes. Allow oral or visual presentation of learning as alternatives to written tasks.
Inclusion: Kai is a universal human experience — all students have a relationship with food, seasonality, and sharing. Neurodiverse learners benefit from concrete, hands-on engagement with these concepts (e.g., examining a kūmara, mapping seasonal foods). Acknowledge diverse economic circumstances sensitively when discussing food security. Choice in how students demonstrate understanding (written, visual, oral) supports inclusive assessment.
Mātauranga Māori lens: The maramataka — the Māori lunar calendar — is one of Aotearoa's most sophisticated environmental data systems, encoding centuries of ecological observation about planting, harvesting, fishing, and weather patterns. Kūmara cultivation in pre-colonial Aotearoa was a feat of agricultural knowledge adapted to a new climate. Rāhui (temporary resource restrictions) is indigenous resource management — conservation before conservation. Kaitiakitanga frames the relationship between people and kai not as extraction but as reciprocal guardianship. These are not historical curiosities — they are living solutions to contemporary problems.
Prior knowledge: Students benefit from foundational understanding of climate change and food systems. No specialist mātauranga Māori knowledge required for entry-level engagement — the unit builds this knowledge progressively.
Curriculum alignment
- Place and Environment — Social Studies: Understand how people's management of resources reflects their values and their view of sustainability — and how mātauranga Māori frameworks provide models for sustainable resource management.
- Ecology — Living World: Understand how human activities and natural factors affect the distribution and abundance of organisms; evaluate the impact of changes on ecosystem health and food systems.