Lesson 1: Celestial Navigation: Star Compass (Kāpehu Whetū) & Waka Physics
Exploring physical phenomena—waves, forces, vectors, optics, and relativity—through traditional Polynesian navigation and ocean science.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
How Polynesian navigators use celestial coordinates (rising/setting azimuths), the 32-house star compass (Kāpehu Whetū), and zenith stars (e.g. Hokule'a / Arcturus).
Construct a model star compass, identify key navigational constellations (Southern Cross / Te Waka o Tama-rereti, Matariki, Orion / Tautoru), and calculate latitude from star altitude.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
How Did Polynesian Wayfinders Navigate the Pacific Ocean? — TED-Ed
Video (5½ min, TED-Ed): An animated explainer on how Pacific navigators crossed thousands of kilometres of open ocean using the stars, the sun, ocean swells and wildlife — with no instruments. Short enough to watch in full.
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
How did Polynesian navigators cross thousands of kilometres of open Pacific Ocean without magnetic compasses or GPS? Write down two cues in nature you think they might have used.
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
Watch the full 5½-minute clip. In your logbook, record the evidence the wayfinders read from each natural system:
- Stars: how the rising and setting points of known stars act as a remembered compass of directions.
- Sun: how its daily arc gives a bearing when stars are not visible.
- Ocean: how swell and wave patterns carry directional information and hint at nearby land.
- Living signs: which birds or other wildlife signal that land is close.
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: The TED-Ed clip frames the Pacific-wide tradition; connect it home to Aotearoa's Kāpehu Whetū (Māori star compass). Use a star dome or night-sky simulator to model how a star's rising and setting points give a repeatable bearing.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 1 of your Navigation Physics Logbook — turn the cues you recorded into a labelled Kāpehu Whetū star-compass map for tonight's sky.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Find South Without a Phone
Two minutes: write down every method you can think of for working out which way is south from where you are sitting, using nothing electronic.
Now count how many of your methods need a clear night sky. Navigators crossing the Pacific worked under the same constraint and built a system that handled it. That system is the kāpehu whetū.
📖 Activity 1: Build the Star Compass, Then Read the Sky
Construct it (13 min). Build your model kāpehu whetū: a circle divided into houses, cardinal points fixed first. Mark where one named star rises on the eastern side and where it sets on the western side. Those two positions sit symmetrically about the north-south line, and that symmetry is what makes the whole system usable.
Locate them (12 min). Using a star chart or planetarium app set to tonight, find the Southern Cross and its pointers, Matariki, and Tautoru. Measure one star's altitude above the horizon and use it to estimate your latitude. Record which names your source used — star names and their associations differ between iwi and across the Pacific, and noting your source is part of doing this accurately.
📝 Activity 2: Navigation Physics Logbook & Problem Solving (20 mins)
Portfolio Section 1. Submit: (1) your model star compass with at least eight houses named and one star's rising and setting positions marked; (2) three constellations identified with the date and time observed or simulated; (3) your latitude estimate from star altitude with working and an honest estimate of your error — plus a note of which naming tradition your source followed.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Year 10 Curriculum Alignment: NZ Curriculum Science Phase 4 — Physical World & Earth/Space Systems. Integrates traditional Polynesian wayfinding (Mātauranga Waka) with foundational NCEA Level 1 Physics mechanics, wave behaviour, and optics.