Lesson 4: Caring for Our Earth Together
Indigenous peoples as kaitiaki of the land and sea
Duration: 60 minutes | Year level: Years 7–8 | Subject: Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi
Lesson at a Glance
"Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au" — I am the environment, and the environment is me.
One value we met in Lesson 1 was kaitiakitanga — looking after the land and sea. Indigenous peoples have been carers of their environments for a very long time, and they hold knowledge that still helps today. In this lesson we see how Māori and other peoples care for the earth, and why the world is starting to listen to them.
What We Are Learning (Ngā Whāinga Ako)
I am learning to…
- explain what kaitiakitanga means with an example
- describe one way Indigenous knowledge helps care for the earth
- name a kaitiaki action I could take
I will know I can do this when…
- I can give one real example of caring for the land the Māori way
- I can describe one piece of old knowledge that still works today
- I can finish: "One way I can be a kaitiaki is ______."
Lesson Structure
Do Now: Your patch of earth (10 minutes)
Think of a place in nature you know — a beach, a river, a park, a maunga. What is one way your whānau or community looks after it (or could)?
Share: tell a partner your place and one way to care for it.
Activity 1: Kaitiaki Around the World (20 minutes)
Caring for the environment is a value Indigenous peoples share. Read these real examples with your group and match each to what it protects.
| People | A way they care for the earth |
|---|---|
| Māori (Aotearoa) | Rāhui — placing a temporary ban on taking food from an area so it can recover. |
| Māori (Aotearoa) | Maramataka — the Māori lunar calendar, used to know the best times to plant and fish. |
| Aboriginal peoples (Australia) | Cultural burning — small, careful fires that keep the land healthy and prevent big bushfires. |
| Pacific peoples | Reading the ocean, winds, and stars to fish and travel without harming the sea. |
Group talk: what do all these ways of caring have in common?
Activity 2: Old Knowledge, Still Working (15 minutes)
For a long time, some people thought this knowledge was "just old stories." Now scientists and governments are realising it works — and they are asking Indigenous peoples to help care for the land. That is a big change.
Pair task: pick ONE example from the table above. In two sentences, explain (1) what it does, and (2) why it still matters today.
Whakamutunga — Wrap-up (5 minutes)
Exit ticket — finish these:
- Kaitiakitanga means ______.
- One old piece of knowledge that still works is ______.
- One way I can be a kaitiaki is ______.
Next lesson:
We look at how peoples keep their identity strong by telling their own stories.
Assessment & Differentiation
How to check learning (formative)
- Matching + group talk: can students see the shared idea across the examples?
- Two-sentence task: can they explain one practice and why it still matters?
- Exit ticket: can they define kaitiakitanga and name a personal action?
Differentiation (Years 7–8)
- Need more support: pre-read the table aloud; give the two-sentence task a starter for each part.
- Ready for more: research one more Indigenous environmental practice and add it to the table.
- Local link: if your school has a rāhui, a stream restoration, or a māra, connect the lesson to it.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Fourth lesson of the Years 7–8 Global Connections unit. Students see kaitiakitanga — a value named in Lesson 1 — lived out across peoples, and learn that Indigenous environmental knowledge is increasingly recognised as valuable today. The tone is empowering: Indigenous peoples as leaders and experts, not victims.
Facts this lesson relies on (checkable)
- Rāhui and maramataka are established Māori practices for managing resources and timing planting/fishing.
- Aboriginal cultural burning is a real land-management practice now being adopted more widely in fire management.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Make it local: the strongest version of this lesson connects to a real environmental effort the students can see or join.
Mātauranga Māori lens: frame mātauranga about the taiao as living, tested knowledge — not folklore — and connect it to whakapapa between people and land.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi — Phase 3 (Years 7–8): the relationship between people and environments, and how communities care for places over time. (Verbatim Te Mātaiaho statement to be confirmed by the curriculum verification lane — cited here at learning-area + phase level.)