📚 Unit Plans → 📜 Unit 9: Environmental Mātauranga → 📖 Week 2: Water Health Check
Years 9–10 Hauora / Health & PE

Unit 9: Environmental Mātauranga — Protecting Our Taiao

"How Do We Fix What's Broken in Our Environment?" — A 6-week journey where students use both mātauranga Māori and modern science to take real action on local environmental problems.

U Overview
1 Environmental Detective
2 Water Health Check
3 Biodiversity Count
4 Climate Data Analysis
5 Solution Testing
6 Action Implementation
Unit 9 · Week 2

💧 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?

🎯 Learning Intentions

  • Use scientific instruments to measure water quality (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen)
  • Apply traditional Māori indicators to assess water health
  • Document water quality data systematically and accurately

✅ Success Criteria

  • I can safely use water testing equipment and record accurate measurements
  • I can identify traditional indicators of healthy vs. unhealthy water
  • I can compare scientific data with traditional observation methods

🗣️ Kupu / Vocabulary

  • wai (water), pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity
  • indicator, measurement, data, kaitiakitanga

📚 Curriculum Links

  • Science: Chemical and physical properties of water, ecosystem health indicators
  • Mathematics: Data collection, measurement, graph interpretation
  • Mātauranga Māori: Traditional water quality assessment methods

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.

Kaitiakitanga Connection: Traditional Māori observed colour, smell, taste, and living creatures to assess water health. These methods can be more sensitive than modern instruments for some pollutants.

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
Safety Note: Always wear safety equipment, don't drink test water, wash hands thoroughly after handling samples.

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
Traditional Knowledge: Māori also used insect life as water quality indicators - healthy streams had diverse insect communities that fish and birds depended on.

5. Data Comparison & Analysis (15 mins)

Activity: Compare scientific measurements with traditional observations to evaluate water health comprehensively.

Integration Question: Do the scientific instruments tell us the same story as traditional observation methods? Where do they agree or disagree?

💡 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

  • Ecosystems — Knowledge: Indigenous knowledge systems, such as mātauranga Māori, are often founded on long-term observations of environmental patterns. For example, ngā tohu o te taiao can be used to …
  • Ecosystems — Practices: Interpreting data (e.g. graphs, maps) to evaluate how human activity (e.g. agriculture, resource extraction) influences ecosystem stability and biodiversity
  • Matter — Knowledge: Elements are arranged in the periodic table based on their physical and chemical properties.
  • Ecosystems — Practices: Observing local ngā tohu o te taiao, such as flowering of certain plants or bird migrations, and explaining why these indicators can be used to understand and predict other en…
  • Ecosystems — Knowledge: Marama Muru-Lanning (Contemporary) explores mātauranga Māori as environmental knowledge, linking Indigenous perspectives to ecological science.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will explore environmental mātauranga — traditional Māori ecological knowledge — alongside contemporary science to understand Aotearoa's environmental challenges. This unit develops students' capacity to apply both knowledge systems to real environmental issues, building towards informed, culturally grounded kaitiaki action.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ I can explain key environmental concepts using both scientific and mātauranga Māori frameworks.
  • ✅ I can investigate a local environmental issue and present evidence-based findings.
  • ✅ I can describe what kaitiakitanga means in practice and apply it to a real environmental context in my community.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide structured investigation templates and sentence starters for entry-level access. Offer extension tasks requiring students to independently design an environmental inquiry and present recommendations to a community audience.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key environmental and te reo Māori vocabulary. Provide bilingual glossaries. Allow students to respond in home language first and provide visual supports for all key concepts.

Inclusion: Offer multimodal entry points — field observation, visual analysis, oral discussion. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured inquiry processes with clear milestones. Ensure outdoor or field-based components are fully accessible with alternatives available.

Mātauranga Māori lens: This unit centres mātauranga Māori as a valid and valuable knowledge system. Explore concepts such as mauri (life force of ecosystems), tohu (environmental indicators), mahinga kai (food gathering practices as ecological knowledge), and the role of the maramataka in environmental monitoring. Frame the unit through the lens of whakapapa — understanding ecological relationships as a genealogy of interconnection.

Prior knowledge: Best used as a capstone or integrative unit. Benefits from prior exposure to both science and social studies ecological content.