Unit 11 · Week 1

🤝 Week 1: Whanaungatanga & Awa Stories

Students establish a personal and cultural connection to their local awa through pūrākau (stories), mapping activity, and observing the catchment area.

Focus Question

What is our personal and cultural connection to our local awa?

🎯 Learning Intentions

Name and locate our local awa and key features
Share one pūrākau or story linked to this awa
Map the catchment and identify water users

✅ Success Criteria

I can label features on an awa map
I can explain one local awa story
I can name one way to care for the awa

🗣️ Kupu / Vocabulary

awa (river), manga (stream)
repo (wetland), puna (spring)
catchment, tributary, source, mouth

📚 Curriculum Links

Social Science: Place and Environment
Science: Nature of Science
Te Reo Māori: Whanaungatanga

Ngā Mahi - Week 1 Activities

1. Karanga & Hook (15 mins)

Activity: Opening karakia and mihi to frame the concept of kaitiakitanga. Show two contrasting photos of local awa (one healthy, one degraded).

Discuss: "What differences do you see?"
"Where would you rather swim/gather kai?"
Identify signs of a healthy vs unhealthy awa

2. Pūrākau & Mapping (30 mins)

Activity: Share a local story or play a kaumātua interview clip about the awa's origins. Students sketch the catchment area.

Label features: source, bends, mouth, tributaries
Use te reo Māori terms: awa, manga, repo, puna
Mark the awa's path nearest to home/school

Kaiako Tip: Encourage students to personalize their map by adding significant landmarks they recognize.

3. Synthesis & Exit (15 mins)

Activity: Turn-and-Talk discussion followed by an Exit Ticket activity.

Discuss: "How do we use this awa? How should we care for it?"
Exit Ticket: Write one kupu (word) and one action on a sticky note
Add to the class "Awa Board"

4. Media Anchor (10 mins)

Activity: Use this short clip to ground kōrero about awa health indicators before students complete transcript and mapping tasks.

Pause and discuss: Which visible indicators in the clip help us judge whether a waterway is healthy?
Transfer task: Students add one indicator from the clip to their awa map annotations.

4. External Resources

Explore More:

💡 Differentiation Strategies

Scaffolding: Provide pre-labeled map features and sentence stems
Extension: Research specific local industries using the awa
Cultural connection: Connect to whakataukī: "Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au"

Curriculum alignment

Earth Systems — Knowledge: Note: See Social Science learning area — Geography strand.
Earth Systems — Knowledge: Note: See Social Science learning area — Geography strand.
Earth Systems — Knowledge: Note: See Social Science learning area — Geography strand.
Earth Systems — Practices: Note: See Social Science learning area — Geography strand.
Earth Systems — Practices: Note: See Social Science learning area — Geography strand.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will explore awa (river/water) as taonga, developing understanding of kaitiakitanga through water guardianship — connecting indigenous environmental knowledge with scientific and civic action.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

✅ Students can explain the significance of awa in te ao Māori and their local community.
✅ Students can identify actions that reflect kaitiaki responsibilities for local waterways.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and graphic organisers for inquiry tasks. Offer entry-level observation activities and extension challenges involving community advocacy or environmental data analysis.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key te reo Māori terms (awa, kaitiaki, wāhi tapu, tūrangawaewae). Allow visual and diagrammatic responses. Bilingual glossaries strongly recommended.

Inclusion: Connect to students' own waterways and places of belonging. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured field investigation templates and clear step-by-step inquiry protocols.