🧺 Te Kete Ako

Pre-Colonial Navigation Companion

Pre-Colonial Navigation Companion · Years 7–10

Year LevelYears 7–10
TypeStudent handout — classroom resource

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions

  • Investigate a scientific concept or phenomenon using observation and evidence
  • Apply scientific understanding to explain natural processes and systems
  • Connect scientific knowledge to environmental decision-making and kaitiakitanga
  • Evaluate how both mātauranga Māori and Western science contribute to understanding

Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria

  • I can describe the key concept or phenomenon accurately using scientific vocabulary
  • I can explain how evidence supports my scientific understanding
  • I can connect scientific knowledge to at least one real-world environmental application
  • I can identify where mātauranga Māori and Western science perspectives intersect or differ

Video Companion · Pre-Colonial Navigation Companion

Use this handout before, during, and after viewing.

Before You Watch

Consider: How did Polynesian ancestors navigate across thousands of kilometres of open ocean without modern instruments? What skills, knowledge, and technology might they have used?

While Watching

Observe: (1) What navigation techniques are demonstrated? (2) What scientific knowledge is applied (stars, wind, waves, birds)? (3) How is this knowledge passed down? (4) What does this tell us about the sophistication of pre-colonial knowledge systems?

After Watching

Complete a 3-sentence reflection: "The most impressive science I saw was… / I used to think… now I think… / One question I still have…"

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Navigation science

Describe at least two specific navigation techniques used by Polynesian voyagers. What scientific principles underlie each technique?

2. Mātauranga and science

How does pre-colonial Polynesian navigation demonstrate that mātauranga Māori is a form of scientific knowledge? What makes it scientific?

3. Waka Hourua voyages today

Modern groups have revived traditional waka voyaging. Why is this important? What does it mean for communities to reclaim this knowledge?

Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment

Science — Pūtaiao

Level 3–4: Investigate how living and physical systems work; understand relationships between organisms and their environments; collect, interpret, and evaluate scientific evidence to explain natural phenomena.

Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3–4: Understand how human activity affects natural environments; explore the connection between ecological health and community wellbeing; recognise the role of cultural knowledge in environmental decision-making.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

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

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

Mātauranga Māori is a sophisticated knowledge system built through centuries of careful observation, hypothesis, testing, and refinement — the same processes that define scientific inquiry. Māori knowledge of ecology, weather patterns, seasonal change, and animal behaviour guided sustainable resource management for generations before Western science arrived in Aotearoa. Understanding science through a dual-knowledge lens — bringing mātauranga Māori and Western science into dialogue rather than hierarchy — produces richer, more contextually grounded understanding. The concept of kaitiakitanga reminds us that scientific knowledge carries obligations: understanding how natural systems work means accepting responsibility for how we treat them.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided

  • Kaitiakitanga values framework — connecting environmental guardianship to science inquiry
  • Evidence sorting cards — for comparing scientific and mātauranga Māori data
  • Place-based inquiry planner — for local environmental investigation

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to deepen understanding of Te Ao Māori — exploring whakapapa, tikanga, and cultural identity as living systems that shape who we are in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ Students can explain key concepts from this resource using their own words.
  • ✅ Students can connect tikanga Māori and whakapapa to real-world examples in Aotearoa.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, visual glossaries, or graphic organisers to give entry-level access for students who need additional support. Offer extension tasks that deepen cultural inquiry — for example, exploring local hapū histories or interviewing a kaumātua.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key kupu Māori (whakapapa, tikanga, mana, mauri) with bilingual glossaries where available. Allow students to respond in their home language as a bridge to English expression.

Inclusion: Use accessible formats — clear headings, adequate whitespace, chunked tasks. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured choice in how they demonstrate understanding (oral, visual, written). Acknowledge that students may hold personal connections to the cultural content.

Mātauranga Māori lens: This unit centres Te Ao Māori as a living knowledge system. Whakapapa is not merely genealogy but a relational framework linking people, place, and time. Tikanga grounds behaviour in kaupapa Māori principles. Approach content with aroha and manaakitanga.

Prior knowledge: No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Best used after relevant lesson sequences, or as a standalone introduction to cultural identity.

Curriculum alignment