Best for
Junior science, habitat introduction, and first ecosystem lessons where students need simple, printable, write-on support.
Science • Years 3-6 • Junior living-world starter
Ecosystems Starter
Use this handout to introduce habitats, living and non-living parts of ecosystems, and simple food-chain thinking in a way younger learners can actually use tomorrow.
Free starter page, premium custom-topic pathway
This page already contains the vocabulary, sorting task, and drawing space. If you want it rebuilt around your school garden, local awa, ngahere, or beach, Te Wānanga can generate a class-specific version with the same structure.
- Swap the example habitat for your own local place.
- Create an icon-heavy support version for younger learners.
- Save the adapted page in My Kete for future reuse.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 25-40 minutes.
- Grouping: Whole-class vocabulary model, then pairs and independent drawing.
- Prep: Optional pictures of a local habitat or a quick outside observation.
- Teaching move: Keep examples concrete. Younger learners understand ecosystems best when they can picture a real place.
Resources already provided
- Key vocabulary cards
- Living/non-living sort
- Habitat comparison prompts
- Food-chain drawing box
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
The page already contains the structured writing and drawing space needed for the lesson.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning what an ecosystem is.
- We are learning how living and non-living things work together in a habitat.
- We are learning how to show a simple food chain.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can name parts of an ecosystem.
- I can sort living and non-living things correctly.
- I can draw and label a simple food chain.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
Use the companion page to connect this starter handout to early living-world teaching, vocabulary development, and observation tasks. This is strongest as a low-floor entry point before more complex ecology work.
Start with a real place
Young learners understand ecosystems best when they can picture a real place such as a school garden, a beach, a stream, or a patch of ngahere. That turns “ecosystem” from a definition into something students can observe and talk about.
Kaitiakitanga can begin here too: if a place supports life, what does good care for that place look like?
Key words
Habitat
The place where a plant or animal lives.
Living
Things that grow, need energy, and are alive.
Non-living
Things such as water, rocks, air, and sunlight that still matter in the system.
Living or non-living?
| Thing | Living or non-living? | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Seaweed | ||
| Rock pool water | ||
| Worm | ||
| Sunlight |
Draw a simple food chain
Choose one habitat and draw a simple food chain with arrows. Label what is first, second, and third.
Support, core, stretch
Support
Start with one habitat and three simple examples: plant, animal, and non-living feature.
Core
Complete the table and draw one labelled food chain correctly.
Stretch
Add a decomposer or explain how the habitat would change if one part was removed.
Students may respond with pictures, labels, oral explanation, or short written sentences depending on age and confidence.
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.
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.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on what you have learned today. 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.