💧 Week 2: Water Health Check — Testing Our Wai
Students conduct scientific water quality testing while learning traditional Māori indicators of healthy wai. They combine modern testing methods with mātauranga Māori to assess water health at their school.
Focus Question
How can we tell if water is healthy using both science and traditional knowledge?
🎥 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Video: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous Science
- How does mātauranga strengthen your water-health interpretation this week?
- Which water indicator matters most for your local awa and why?
Ngā Mahi - Week 2 Activities
1. Hook: Traditional Water Assessment (15 mins)
Activity: Show two water samples - one clear and one murky. Ask students to assess which looks healthier without any equipment.
2. Scientific Water Testing (35 mins)
Activity: Use the Water Testing Protocol to scientifically test water samples from around the school.
- Test pH levels using pH strips or digital meters
- Measure water temperature with thermometers
- Check dissolved oxygen levels (if equipment available)
- Record turbidity (cloudiness) using turbidity tubes
- Document all measurements in data tables
3. Stream Health Assessment (25 mins)
Activity: Use the Stream Health Assessment to evaluate local waterways using visual and biological indicators.
- Observe and document stream flow, bank stability, and vegetation
- Look for signs of pollution (foam, unusual colours, dead fish)
- Collect and identify macroinvertebrates (pollution-sensitive insects)
- Compare findings with healthy stream characteristics
4. Macroinvertebrate Study (20 mins)
Activity: Use the Macroinvertebrate Field Guide to identify water quality indicator species.
- Collect water samples with fine nets or white trays
- Identify mayfly nymphs, stonefly nymphs (high quality water indicators)
- Look for worms, leeches (pollution-tolerant species)
- Count and categorize different species found
- Calculate stream health score based on indicator species
5. Data Comparison & Analysis (15 mins)
Activity: Compare scientific measurements with traditional observations to evaluate water health comprehensively.
💡 Differentiation Strategies
- Support: Provide pre-labeled data tables, pair students for equipment use, focus on one testing method per student
- Extension: Research international water quality standards, investigate pollution sources, design improvement solutions
- Cultural connection: Interview kaumātua about traditional water assessment, research local iwi water management practices
🔄 Assessment & Next Steps
Formative Assessment:
- Completed Water Testing Protocol sheets with accurate measurements
- Stream Health Assessment with detailed observations
- Successful identification of macroinvertebrate indicator species
Preparation for Week 3:
- Teams analyze their water quality data for patterns and problems
- Identify potential pollution sources affecting local water
- Prepare to investigate biodiversity as another environmental indicator
Curriculum alignment
- Body Systems — Knowledge: Respiration is a process in cells where sugar (glucose) is broken down using oxygen, to release chemical energy.
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Abiotic (physical) factors include air, water, temperature, light, and minerals.
- Materials — Knowledge: Signs a chemical reaction has taken place include colour change, temperature change, production of electricity or light, and appearance of new solids or gas bubbles.
- Materials — Practices: Note: Observations can be qualitative and quantitative at this level.
- Matter Interactions and Energy — Practices: Investigating and comparing the density of water in solid and liquid states, using measurements and observations
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to explore how mātauranga Māori and Western science offer complementary frameworks for understanding and responding to environmental challenges — learning to read landscapes, ecosystems, and ecological change through both indigenous and scientific lenses.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain how mātauranga Māori environmental knowledge provides insights that Western science alone may miss.
- ✅ Students can apply both indigenous and scientific frameworks to analyse a local environmental issue in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide dual-lens analysis frameworks (mātauranga Māori lens | Western science lens) for entry-level comparison tasks. Offer extension challenges asking students to investigate a real environmental monitoring programme in Aotearoa that integrates both knowledge systems — for example, iwi-led water quality monitoring using both traditional indicators and scientific sampling.
ELL / ESOL: Environmental and scientific vocabulary (ecosystem, biodiversity, indicator species, sustainability, kaitiakitanga, taonga species) benefits from visual glossaries with images of local species and environments. Allow students to discuss environmental observations from their home countries as valid comparative contexts. Oral field observation is a powerful entry point that reduces language barriers.
Inclusion: Outdoor and field-based learning naturally supports diverse learners — sensory, kinaesthetic, and place-based engagement complements classroom tasks. Neurodiverse learners often thrive in structured outdoor inquiry. Ensure physical accessibility is considered for field components. Indigenous and Pacific students may bring family knowledge of traditional environmental practices — create space for this knowledge to be honoured, not just acknowledged.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Mātauranga Māori environmental knowledge is not folklore — it is centuries of systematic observation, classification, and adaptive management. Ngā tohu o te rangi (signs of the weather), ngā tohu o te taiao (signs of the natural world), and the detailed ecological knowledge encoded in place names all represent sophisticated environmental science. Kaitiakitanga is not simply "conservation" — it is a dynamic, relational ethic of guardianship that recognises humans as part of, not separate from, ecosystems. Marama Muru-Lanning and other contemporary mātauranga Māori researchers are demonstrating how this knowledge enriches environmental science.
Prior knowledge: Students benefit from foundational understanding of ecosystems and environmental science concepts. No specialist mātauranga Māori knowledge required — the unit builds this knowledge through inquiry.
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.