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Week 2 mātauranga Māori integration — connecting traditional seasonal observation to current local environmental patterns as a knowledge-building tool for the action project.
Environmental Mātauranga • Unit 9 Week 2 • Years 7–10 • Mātauranga Māori
Maramataka Creation
Build a local seasonal observation calendar. The maramataka was a dynamic knowledge system for reading the taiao across the year — this is your version, rooted in your place.
Free maramataka scaffold, premium localisation path
If you want this scaffold adapted to include specific seasonal markers from the iwi of your rohe — including local star lore, awa cycles, and traditional harvest times — Te Wānanga can localise it for your context.
- Add locally authenticated seasonal markers from iwi mātauranga Māori.
- Integrate real-time environmental observation data from your school site.
- Save seasonal observations in My Kete to build a longitudinal record across the year.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 45–60 minutes, ideally across two sessions — one for research/interview and one for construction.
- Grouping: Pairs or small groups. A whole-class maramataka wall display makes an excellent visual summary of combined observations.
- Prep: Source at least one local maramataka reference — LEARNZ, Te Ara, or local iwi websites. Where possible, arrange a kaumātua visit or video connection beforehand. Note that specific maramataka knowledge is tapu — students should record what they observe and learn, not make claims about tradition.
- Differentiation: Entry groups complete two seasons; on-level groups complete all four; extension groups add a kaitiakitanga action recommendation for each season based on their observations.
- Neurodiversity support: Allow visual/artistic responses — drawings of seasonal indicators alongside or instead of written descriptions. The visual format of a calendar suits spatial learners.
Resources already provided
- Four-season scaffold with observation categories for each season
- Ecological indicators — species, weather, water, land
- Mātauranga Māori connection prompts for each season
- Kaitiakitanga action connection section
- Reflection question linking seasonal knowledge to the unit action project
- Teacher-only curriculum companion available
All seasonal sections are provided. Students benefit most from completing this after conducting a Kaumātua interview or similar local knowledge-gathering activity. Treat this as a scaffold for observation and reflection, not a comprehensive representation of any iwi's maramataka.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to use the maramataka concept as a framework for sustained, place-based environmental observation across the seasons.
- We are learning to connect what we observe in the taiao to the responsibilities of kaitiakitanga at different times of year.
- We are learning to recognise mātauranga Māori as a living, dynamic knowledge system rather than a historical artefact.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can describe at least three specific seasonal environmental indicators I have observed or researched in my local area.
- I can explain how the maramataka tradition uses seasonal observation to guide kaitiakitanga practice.
- I can identify one kaitiakitanga action that is especially relevant to one of the seasons I have recorded.
Curriculum alignment / Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
This activity connects students to mātauranga Māori as a legitimate knowledge system for environmental observation — bridging Science (ecological indicators, seasonal patterns) with the NZ Curriculum's expectation that students understand and apply te ao Māori perspectives in environmental contexts.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
The maramataka is not a fixed object — it was a living, adaptive system that different iwi refined across generations of careful observation in their specific rohe. It tracked the rise of Matariki, the nesting of kōtuku, the spawning of īnanga, the flowering of certain plants — each a signal for planting, harvesting, resting, or acting. Modern ecological science has only recently begun to formalise the same insight: that timing matters, and that a deep understanding of your specific place across the seasons is irreplaceable. Your maramataka does not need to be perfect. It needs to be yours.
Hōtoke — Winter observations
What do you notice about your local environment during winter? What lives, changes, or disappears?
Environmental indicators (species, weather, water, land changes):
Mātauranga Māori connection — what does this season mean for kaitiakitanga?
Kōanga — Spring observations
What signs of spring have you seen or researched in your rohe?
Environmental indicators (species, weather, water, land changes):
Mātauranga Māori connection — what does this season signal for action?
Raumati — Summer observations
What summer changes are most visible in your local environment?
Environmental indicators (species, weather, water, land changes):
Mātauranga Māori connection — what activities and responsibilities are central in this season?
Ngahuru — Autumn observations
What marks the transition to autumn in your local taiao?
Environmental indicators (species, weather, water, land changes):
Mātauranga Māori connection — what does this harvest season ask of kaitiaki?
Hononga ki te kaupeka mahi / Connection to your action project
Which season is most relevant to your Unit 9 action project, and why?
What does your seasonal observation tell you about the best timing for your intervention?
Entry, on-level, and extension pathway
Entry
Complete two seasons (the current season and the one coming). Record at least two environmental indicators per season and draw a simple visual.
On-level
Complete all four seasons. Add a mātauranga Māori connection for each. Connect at least one season to your action project with a specific recommendation.
Extension
Research the specific maramataka traditions of the iwi of your rohe. Compare your observations to those traditions and identify what has changed in the local taiao. Propose how a modern maramataka for your kura could be sustained as a living document.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Ecological Sustainability
Level 3–4: investigate local environmental issues; understand that communities have responsibilities to protect the environment for future generations; develop the skills to take informed, responsible action.
Science — Living World / Planet Earth
Level 3–4: observe and describe patterns in the local environment; connect scientific observation to environmental decision-making; understand that human activity affects ecosystems and that this impact can be reduced through careful stewardship.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
Maramataka — literally, the turning of the moon — is one of the most sophisticated ecological calendars ever developed. Far more than a planting guide, maramataka encoded fishing seasons, weather patterns, bird behaviour, star positions, and the timing of resource harvests into a living system of environmental knowledge. Each region had its own maramataka, maintained by those with specialist knowledge (tohunga kōrero), and updated through careful observation across generations. It was, in effect, a community-held environmental monitoring programme.
As you build your own seasonal observations today, you are participating in a tradition that predates written science by centuries. The maramataka asks: what do I observe? What does it mean? What action should follow? These are the same questions a scientist asks. The difference is that maramataka embedded the answers in relationships — between people, land, sea, and sky — and in responsibility: if you know the season, you know your obligations to the taiao.