📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 Antarctica & Climate → 📖 Lesson 5: Community Solutions
Years 9–10 Pūtaiao / Science

Community Solutions

Lesson 5 of the Antarctica unit: ākonga study real Aotearoa community climate responses as case studies through a kaitiakitanga lens, trace how local carbon sinks connect back to the warming Southern Ocean, and create an artifact that raises awareness of how Antarctica is being affected by climate change.

🕘 Lesson at a Glance | Te Hōtaka

Do NowThe place we thought was safe⏱ 5 min 1 · Kaitiaki lensThree questions to judge a solution⏱ 15 min 2 · Real case studiesWhat's working in Aotearoa⏱ 30 min 3 · Make it knownCreate an awareness piece⏱ 15 min ExitQuick check⏱ 5 min

Lesson Overview | Tirohanga Whānui

For a long time, scientists thought Antarctica was the resilient one — too cold, too vast to change quickly. They were wrong, and that changes the question for us: if even the ice isn't safe, and we can't go there to fix it, what can a community here actually do? This lesson ākonga meet real Aotearoa communities already acting as kaitiaki — restoring forests, harbours, mangroves and soils — study them as case studies through a kaitiakitanga lens, and trace the science that ties this local mahi back to the warming Southern Ocean. They finish by creating something that makes Antarctica's plight known to others.

Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako

  • Use three kaitiakitanga principles — whanaungatanga, tiakitanga, utu — to judge whether a climate solution is genuinely sustainable.
  • Analyse a real Aotearoa community climate solution as a case study, and explain how it connects back to the global carbon system warming Antarctica.
  • Create something that raises awareness of how Antarctica is being affected by climate change, pointing to a local kaitiaki response.

⚡ Do Now

⏱ 5 min

For decades, the models said Antarctica was the tough one. They were wrong.

  1. Notice (2 min): in your book — Lesson 4 you designed a campaign to ask someone with power to act. Today the focus narrows to us. Many early climate models treated Antarctica's huge ice sheet as the stable, resilient part of the planet. Then ice shelves the size of cities began breaking apart faster than anyone predicted (the Larsen B shelf collapsed in just weeks in 2002). Write one word for how that lands with you.
  2. Wonder (3 min): we can't fly to Antarctica and refreeze the ice. So what can a community in Aotearoa actually do that matters — and how would anyone even know to care? Jot two ideas.

Teacher: collect a few "what can we do?" ideas on the board — you'll return to them in Activity 3. This bridges from Lesson 4 (asking the powerful to act) to Lesson 5 (communities acting for themselves), and sets up the lesson's quiet engine: local action we can do, made known to others.

Activity 1 · The Kaitiakitanga Lens

⏱ 15 min

What it is: Not every "climate solution" is a good one. A kaitiakitanga lens gives ākonga three sharp questions to judge whether a solution truly cares for a place over the long term — the analytical tool they'll use on the real case studies in Activity 2.

Whanaungatanga — relationships

Who is in relationship with this place — people, species, ecosystems? Good solutions strengthen those relationships rather than cutting across them, and they involve the community, not just experts.

Tiakitanga — responsibility

Who holds responsibility for this place, and for how long? Kaitiaki take on sustained responsibility — to those who came before and those still to come — not a one-off tidy-up.

Utu — reciprocity, balance

What does the environment give us, and what do we give back? Utu here means restoring balance: taking without returning drains the mauri of a place; real solutions give back what was taken.

Run it — sharpen the lens

  1. Define together (5 min): as a class, put each principle in your own words. Test it on something small — does the school's recycling system show whanaungatanga, tiakitanga and utu, or only one of them?
  2. Predict (10 min): in pairs, write the one question you'd ask of any climate solution to check it against each principle. Keep these three questions in front of you — they are your marking key for the case studies next.

🪶 Mātauranga (frame with care): these are widely-taught, public meanings of kaitiakitanga concepts — not iwi-specific or sacred knowledge. Local hapū may hold richer or different understandings of utu and tiakitanga for their own rohe; if those connections are available, invite them in on their own terms rather than treating this lens as the final word.

Activity 2 · Real Aotearoa Case Studies

⏱ 30 min

What it is: The heart of the lesson. Researching an intervention means studying something real people are actually doing — what it does, how it works, and what it changes. Each group takes one real Aotearoa community climate response, analyses it against the kaitiaki lens, and reports what's working and what could be stronger.

Watch with a job (first ~5 min): this is a hapū- and community-led restoration in Te Tai Tokerau. As you watch, jot two things — (1) who is actually doing the mahi (whose relationship with this place drives it), and (2) one thing the restoration gives back. You're gathering evidence for the kaitiaki lens, not just watching.

🐦 Predator Free 2050 — biodiversity & carbon

A national effort to remove introduced predators (rats, stoats, possums). It's a climate solution too: when possum browse stops, native forest regenerates and sequesters carbon; birds like kererū and tūī return as seed dispersers. Predator Free Wellington has involved thousands of volunteers, and Ngāi Tahu and many hapū lead control on their rohe.

🌿 Wellington Harbour restoration

Iwi-led coastal restoration around Te Whanganui-a-Tara. The Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust works with the city council integrating mātauranga Māori; native plantings cut erosion, and seagrass meadows restored in the harbour are significant carbon sinks. Community planting days bring hundreds together with mana whenua.

🌊 Northland mangrove & estuary restoration

In Te Tai Tokerau, attitudes to mangroves have shifted from clearance to protection. Mangroves trap sediment, buffer rising seas, and store carbon at several times the rate of dry-land forest. Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua and others partner with Northland Regional Council; the Kaipara Harbour programme is one of the Southern Hemisphere's largest coastal restorations.

🌾 Regenerative farming — Waikato & beyond

Agriculture is roughly half of Aotearoa's greenhouse emissions (mostly methane). Diverse pastures (plantain, chicory, clover) can cut dairy methane, riparian planting along waterways stores carbon and cuts runoff, and Māori land trusts are pioneering regenerative models — caring for the soil of Papatūānuku as the foundation.

🧊 Back to the ice — why this local mahi reaches Antarctica

Every one of these is a carbon sink: regenerating forest, restored seagrass, mangroves and rebuilt soils all pull carbon dioxide out of the air. That's the same CO₂ that warms the Southern Ocean and thins the ice shelves we met in Lesson 1. No community can refreeze Antarctica — but drawing down carbon at home acts on the very system that's melting it. Local action, global reach. (This is the carbon cycle from Lesson 1 — matter moving between Earth's spheres — playing out in your own rohe.)

Run it — He Tātaritanga Tauira (analyse a case study)

  1. Watch & note (5 min): as a class, watch the Predator Free Pēwhairangi Whānui clip above — each ākonga jots their "watch with a job" notes.
  2. Analyse (18 min): in groups of 3–4, take one case study (from the cards above, or one from your own rohe) and answer the worksheet — what is the solution and how does it work ecologically; what evidence shows it's working; who in the community leads it; and which kaitiaki principle (whanaungatanga, tiakitanga, utu) is strongest — and which is weakest? Then: does it work on the carbon system (mitigation), build resilience to change already coming (adaptation), or both?
  3. Share (7 min): each group reports one thing the solution does well and one thing that would make it stronger. As a class, build a short "what makes a real solution" list to draw on in Activity 3.
Sources (verified): Predator Free 2050 Ltd & Predator Free Wellington · Department of Conservation, native forest & carbon · Northland Regional Council / Kaipara Moana Remediation · Ministry for the Environment, agricultural emissions profile · NIWA / blue-carbon research on seagrass and mangroves. Carbon-storage comparisons are approximate and vary by site — treat as order-of-magnitude, not exact figures.

You'll need: Community Solutions case-study worksheet (Part A is the case-study analysis — one per group), devices for quick research.

Activity 3 · Make It Known

⏱ 15 min

What it is: We can't go to Antarctica — but we can make sure others understand what's happening to it, and that there are real responses close to home. Each ākonga (or pair) creates one short awareness piece: it names how Antarctica is being affected by climate change, and points to a local kaitiaki response — a model from Activity 2 — that someone here could join. This is a light, creative build, not a full plan (that comes in Lesson 7).

🎯 One clear message

A single true sentence about Antarctica's plight — e.g. "The ice we thought was safe is breaking up faster than the models predicted." Accurate beats dramatic.

🌱 One local response

Point to a real case study from Activity 2 — restoration, regen farming, predator-free trapping — that draws down carbon here. Show the link: local mahi → the carbon system → the ice.

📣 One form, one audience

A poster, a social tile, a 30-second script, a short pepeha-style spoken piece. Who is it for — your school, your whānau, your community? Pick one and aim it.

Run it — Kia Mōhio ai te Iwi (make it known)

  1. Make (11 min): using Part B of the worksheet, draft your awareness piece — your one Antarctica message, the local response it points to, the form, and the audience. A rough sketch or script is enough; it's the thinking that matters today.
  2. Gallery glance (4 min): leave your piece on your desk. Do a quick walk past three others; on a sticky note, leave one thing that landed and one question. Keep your draft — Lesson 7 turns these into the class Kaitiaki Action Plan.

You'll need: Community Solutions case-study worksheet (Part B — the awareness planner, one per ākonga or pair); paper, devices, or whatever your makers prefer.

Exit · Quick Check — He Aha i Mau i a Koe?

⏱ 5 min

On a slip or in their book, each ākonga finishes these three sentences before they leave:

  1. One real Aotearoa solution I'd tell someone about, and the kaitiaki principle it shows best:
  2. How that local mahi connects back to the warming of Antarctica:
  3. My awareness piece's one message is… and it's aimed at…:

Teacher: a quick read shows who can name a specific solution and make the carbon-cycle link back to the ice (not just "we should care about the planet"). Close with the whakataukī "Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini" — my strength is not that of one, but of many. Next lesson: the numbers behind it — Aotearoa's carbon footprint, and a harder look at the science that overturned the "Antarctica is resilient" story.

🎯 Curriculum Links | Te Hononga ki te Marautanga

This lesson's focus: Ākonga research real interventions as case studies — Predator Free, harbour and mangrove restoration, regenerative farming — exploring the practicalities and outcomes of each through a kaitiakitanga lens, then create an awareness piece. The emphasis on case studies and local examples of solutions is the heart of the statement below (the unit's curriculum map assigns this statement to Lessons 5 & 7).

Ecosystems — Core Connection (Phase 4 | Years 9–10)

"Researching interventions that address specific ecosystem disruptions, using case studies or local examples to explore the practicalities and outcomes of different solutions (e.g. conservation strategies, sustainable technologies)"

📑 View the full verified Te Mātaiaho curriculum alignment for this unit → — Phase 4 · Years 9–10 (statements pulled verbatim from the live curriculum).

📦 Materials & Resources

📋 Handouts & what you'll need

  • Community Solutions case-study worksheet — Part A (analyse a case study) used in Activity 2; Part B (awareness planner) used in Activity 3
  • Student books; devices for quick research; paper or making materials for Activity 3

🔗 Research starting points

  • Predator Free 2050 / Predator Free Wellington (volunteer trapping)
  • Kaipara Moana Remediation; Northland Regional Council estuary restoration
  • Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (regenerative farming, blue carbon)

🎥 Media

📊 Assessment Framework

This is a single lesson, so assessment here is formative — reading for learning as it happens. The unit's summative assessment sits at the end of the unit, not in this lesson.

What to look for, mapped to the learning intentions

  • The kaitiaki lens (LI 1): in Activity 1 and 2, can ākonga use whanaungatanga, tiakitanga and utu to judge a solution — not just define the words?
  • Case study + the ice (LI 2): can they explain how a real solution works and make the carbon-cycle link back to the warming Southern Ocean — the lesson's spine?
  • Make it known (LI 3): is the awareness piece accurate about Antarctica, pointed at a real audience, and tied to a genuine local response — not a vague "save the planet"?
Quick exit read: the three exit sentences show who can name a specific solution, make the Antarctica connection, and aim a clear message — that's who is ready to feed the Lesson 7 Kaitiaki Action Plan.
🚀 Extension & Mahi

📣Finish the Awareness Piece

Self-directed, optional. Take your Activity 3 draft and finish it properly — a real poster, social tile, or recorded 30-second piece you could actually share. Keep the Antarctica message accurate.

Bring back: your finished piece — it strengthens your Lesson 7 plan.

🔍Local Solution Research

Find a community climate or restoration project in your own rohe. What do they do? Who leads it? Email or message them one question: how can rangatahi get involved?

Deliverable: a short summary to share back.

🧊The Resilience Myth

Research one piece of evidence that overturned the idea Antarctica was "safe" — the Larsen B collapse (2002), the Conger ice shelf (2022), or the Thwaites Glacier. What changed scientists' minds?

Reflect: why does getting the science right matter for an awareness piece?
🔗 Unit Progression & Next Steps

This is Lesson 5 of the 8-lesson Antarctica unit — from individual campaigns to community-scale solutions. Where it sits:

← Lesson 4: Youth Climate Action

Asking those with power to act — designing a campaign with a clear ask and a decision-maker.

→ Lesson 6: Carbon Footprint

The numbers — Aotearoa's emissions profile, our own footprint, and the science that overturned "Antarctica is resilient."

Into Lesson 7: the awareness pieces and case-study analyses from today are raw material for the class Kaitiaki Action Plan. Keep them safe — Lesson 6 (carbon footprint) sharpens the numbers behind the solutions studied here.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ I can use whanaungatanga, tiakitanga and utu to judge whether a climate solution is genuinely sustainable. (LI 1)
  • ✅ I can analyse a real Aotearoa community solution and explain how it connects back to the carbon system warming Antarctica. (LI 2)
  • ✅ I can create an accurate awareness piece about Antarctica that points to a real local kaitiaki response. (LI 3)

Differentiation for this lesson

  • Case-study analysis: give entry-level groups one case study with two of the analysis answers already started; ask extension groups to compare two case studies and judge which applies the kaitiaki lens more fully, and why.
  • Awareness piece / ELL: offer sentence frames for the one Antarctica message and the local-response link; allow the piece to be made in te reo Māori or a first language, or as a spoken/visual rather than written form.
  • Climate anxiety: the lesson is built around agency — the framing is "here is what's already working, and how to make it known," not catastrophe. The Do Now names a hard truth (Antarctica is less safe than we thought) precisely so the rest of the lesson can answer it with real action.

Broader differentiation and the unit-wide mātauranga framing live on the unit overview.