Best for
Week 1 mapping walks, follow-up to a manu count, social studies place inquiry, or any lesson where students need to link “where” with “why” before proposing solutions.
Ngā Manu o te Taiao • Place-based inquiry • Years 4-8 • Print-ready drawing space
Manu Habitat Map
Use this template to map where manu, food, shelter, water, and threats appear around your kura or local area. It helps ākonga connect bird observations to place, not just species lists, so later action plans are grounded in real local evidence.
Free mapping core, premium localisation path
This template works as-is. If you want an aerial-photo overlay, a local reserve version, or a junior scaffold with pre-labelled landmarks, Te Wānanga and Creation Studio can adapt it without compromising print quality or writing space.
- Swap the generic legend for species, landmarks, or hazards in your actual setting.
- Create a simplified version with fewer symbols and more sentence frames.
- Save a version for repeated seasonal comparisons in My Kete.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 15 minutes for field sketching, 10-15 minutes for labels and analysis.
- Grouping: Pairs work best so one learner sketches while the other notices details.
- Prep: Decide the map boundary, review any out-of-bounds areas, and gather clipboards or firm backing if students are drawing outdoors.
- Differentiation: Support learners can use a partly pre-labelled map; stretch learners can compare two zones or annotate likely movement paths for manu.
- Neurodiversity support: Offer symbol stickers, chunk the task into “draw / label / reflect”, and allow oral explanation before writing if planning and sequencing are hard.
Resources already provided
- Large A4-safe drawing space with orientation marker
- Bilingual legend ideas for habitat supports, manu sightings, and threats
- Observation prompts to turn the map into usable inquiry evidence
- Space for follow-up action thinking
- Linked curriculum companion for kaiako planning
Everything named in the activity is here or linked directly, so the task can run tomorrow without building a separate map sheet first.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to describe a place using maps, symbols, and labels.
- We are learning to notice which habitat features help or harm local manu.
- We are learning to connect observations of place with future kaitiakitanga action.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can show where key habitat features are on my map.
- I can identify one strong habitat area and one challenge for manu.
- I can suggest one realistic improvement for the place I mapped.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the companion page to connect this map with place-and-environment social studies and early spatial mathematics. The resource is strongest when students talk about who uses the place, what matters there, and how location affects bird life.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Place-based learning matters because manu respond to actual landscapes, not abstract diagrams. A matauranga Maori lens reminds us that places carry relationship, memory, and responsibility. When students map where food, shelter, wai, noise, and people intersect, they begin to see how care for place supports care for life.
Map my place
Draw your school edge, garden, field, stream edge, reserve, or another agreed site. Use the legend to mark where manu were seen, heard, fed, or disturbed.
Legend / Kupu tohu
Rakau
Trees or taller shelter
Trees or taller shelter
Food plants
Seeds, berries, or nectar sources
Seeds, berries, or nectar sources
Wai
Water source or damp area
Water source or damp area
Manu sighting
Where a bird was seen or heard
Where a bird was seen or heard
Threat
Noise, rubbish, glass, or predators
Noise, rubbish, glass, or predators
Whare
Buildings, fences, or hard surfaces
Buildings, fences, or hard surfaces
Best habitat
Most welcoming area for manu
Most welcoming area for manu
Action idea
Where we could improve the space
Where we could improve the space
Map reflections
Best habitat area
One place that felt unsafe or difficult for manu
How I know this from my map
One change our school or community could make
Support: label the map with single words and arrows. Core: add full labels and one written explanation. Stretch: compare how two different groups might view or use this place.
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.
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 investigate the ecological roles of ngā manu o te taiao — the birds of the natural world — within local habitats, drawing on both science and mātauranga Māori to understand why native birds are taonga and what kaitiakitanga requires of us in their protection.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ I can describe the ecological roles of at least three native New Zealand birds and their habitat needs.
- ✅ I can explain threats facing native manu and evaluate conservation strategies used by kaitiaki.
- ✅ I can connect traditional Māori knowledge of manu to contemporary ecological understanding.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide illustrated species cards with key facts for entry-level learners. Offer extension tasks requiring students to design a habitat restoration plan using ecological principles and mātauranga Māori knowledge systems.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key science and te reo Māori vocabulary for native species. Use visual supports — photographs, recordings of bird calls, and habitat diagrams. Allow students to label and describe in home language first.
Inclusion: Use sound recordings of native bird calls, outdoor observation activities, and tactile materials. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured observation journals and clear inquiry sequences. Ensure field-based tasks have accessible alternatives.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Explore Māori relationships with manu as tohu — birds as environmental indicators and messengers carrying cultural meaning. Connect to traditional ecological knowledge about seasonal patterns of bird behaviour (maramataka), the use of manu feathers in taonga (e.g. kahu huruhuru), and the role of specific birds such as kiwi, huia, and kōkako as taonga species with deep whakapapa significance. Kaitiakitanga of manu is both practical and spiritual.
Prior knowledge: Best used after introductory ecology concepts. Connects well to science food webs and biodiversity units.
Curriculum alignment
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems can affect the distribution and abundance of organisms; changes in one part can affect the balance and wellbeing of the whole system.