Ngā Mahi — Assessment Period
Portfolio Review — Select Your Best Evidence
20 minWork in pairs to review everything collected across Weeks 1–5 and curate your strongest evidence.
- Lay out your Environmental Detective Checklist (Week 1) — what was the problem you identified?
- Select 3 key pieces of evidence that best show your investigation — one from field data, one from NIWA/climate data, one showing Mātauranga Māori understanding
- Identify the moment across the 6 weeks when your understanding shifted — what changed, and why?
- Write a single sentence: "We investigated [problem] and found [key finding]."
Action Impact Statement
25 minWrite a clear, specific statement of the action your group would take (or has planned), grounded in your evidence. This is the core assessment task.
- The action: What specifically would you do? Where, when, with whom? (Be concrete — not "clean the stream" but "remove invasive crack willow from a 20m stretch of [stream name]")
- Scientific rationale: What does your NIWA data, biodiversity count, or water quality data show that makes this action the right one?
- Mātauranga Māori rationale: What tohu, ecological indicators, or kaitiakitanga principles guide this approach? (Name them — don't just say "Māori values")
- How you'd measure success: What would you measure, using which method from Week 1, to know the action worked?
- Biggest risk: What could go wrong, and what is your mitigation?
📄 Action Impact Statement Template
We investigated [problem] at [site]. Our evidence shows [key finding]. We would [specific action] because [scientific rationale]. Mātauranga Māori informs our approach through [specific connection]. We would know it worked by measuring [indicator] using [method]. The biggest risk is [risk], and we would address it by [mitigation].
Peer Review — "I Notice / I Wonder / I Suggest"
15 minIn groups of 3–4, each person shares their Action Impact Statement. Listeners give structured feedback — no open-ended chat, use the protocol.
- Presenter: Read your statement aloud (2 min). No explaining or defending — just read it.
- Listeners respond with the protocol:
🗣️ Feedback Protocol (90 sec per person)
I notice... something specific and observable in the statement
I wonder... a genuine question about the evidence or reasoning
I suggest... one specific, actionable improvement
- After feedback: presenter has 1 minute to revise one thing in their statement
- Rotate until everyone has presented
Whakakapi — Closing Reflection
10 minWhole-class closing circle. Teacher facilitates — no hands up, just voices going around the room.
- What is the most important thing you learned across these 6 weeks? (Not a fact — a realisation.)
- What would you do differently in your investigation?
- What does kaitiakitanga mean to you now, compared to Week 1?
- If you had one more week — what would you actually do?
💡 Differentiation
Provide a completed Action Impact Statement template with sentence starters. Allow oral presentation instead of written. Pair students for the portfolio review — two students, one statement.
Write a letter to the local council or DOC based on their findings. Design a long-term monitoring plan with scheduled data collection dates. Identify a second connected environmental problem their action would partially address.
Invite students to present their Mātauranga Māori rationale in te reo Māori. Connect the action plan to a specific iwi or hapū environmental initiative. Ensure the closing karakia is chosen by Māori students, not assigned by the teacher.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot Kaiako / Teacher
Why This Version?
Use this lesson when the full half-day Action Day (week-6.html) is not feasible — timetable constraints, site permissions pending, or weather. This period achieves the same summative assessment goals without requiring outdoor access or extended time.
The two versions are intentionally different in format, not just in length. If you run the Action Day, you don't need this one — the action itself is the assessment evidence. If you run this period, students produce an Action Impact Statement that can be assessed against the same criteria.
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will synthesise their 6 weeks of evidence into a clear, reasoned proposal for environmental action — demonstrating that scientific inquiry and Mātauranga Māori can operate as genuinely complementary frameworks, not as a box-ticking exercise.
Assessment Focus
The Action Impact Statement is the artefact. Look for: specificity of the problem statement (is it grounded in actual data?), integration of Mātauranga Māori (named concepts, not generic "Māori values"), realistic measurement plan (method matches the Week 1 tools), and honest risk analysis.
Facilitation Notes
Portfolio review (Activity 1): Some students will have disorganised or incomplete work from previous weeks. Resist the urge to rescue this — incompleteness is useful evidence for reflection in Activity 4. Do not let the review run over 20 minutes.
Action Impact Statement (Activity 2): Circulate actively during this time. Your role is to ask probing questions ("What data specifically tells you that?", "How did the kaumātua's knowledge change your approach?") rather than help write the statement.
Peer review (Activity 3): The protocol prevents unhelpful vagueness. Enforce it. If a student says "it's good", ask: "What specifically is good? Use the protocol."
Mātauranga Māori Lens
The closing whakaaro circle is not an add-on — it is the pedagogical structure by which Māori communities traditionally close significant shared work. Give it its full 10 minutes. The karakia whakamutunga should acknowledge the taiao (environment) and the kaitiaki relationships formed across the unit.
Hononga Marautanga — Curriculum Alignment
- Ecology — Living World: Understand how biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems affect the distribution and abundance of organisms; and how changes in one part can affect the balance and wellbeing of the whole system.
- Place and Environment — Social Studies: Understand how people's management of resources reflects their values — and how mātauranga Māori provides a framework for kaitiaki responsibilities to the natural world.