Handout: Schoolyard Ecosystem Audit
Investigating the living and non-living things in our own backyard.
Your Audit Zone
Location: _________________________
Description: (e.g., Under the big pōhutukawa tree, the corner of the field)
_________________________________________________________
Component Checklist
In your audit zone, find and record examples of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors.
Biotic (Living) Factors
- Plants: ____________________
- Insects: ___________________
- Birds (seen or heard): ________
- Worms/Slugs: ______________
- Fungi/Mushrooms: __________
- Other: _____________________
Abiotic (Non-Living) Factors
- Sunlight (sunny/shady): _____
- Water (puddles, damp soil): __
- Soil/Dirt type: ____________
- Rocks/Stones: ______________
- Temperature (warm/cool): ____
- Other: _____________________
Interactions
Describe one interaction you observed between a biotic and an abiotic factor.
Example: I saw a worm (biotic) burrowing into the damp soil (abiotic). This helps mix the soil.
_________________________________________________________
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Kaitiakitanga Question
What is one thing we could do in this area to be good kaitiaki (guardians)?
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📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to build understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand's ecosystems, biodiversity, and the role of kaitiakitanga in environmental stewardship.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain key concepts from this resource using their own words.
- ✅ Students can connect the content to real-world environmental contexts in Aotearoa.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, word banks, or graphic organisers to scaffold access for students who need it. Offer entry-level and extension tasks to address a range of readiness levels.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary and provide bilingual glossaries where available. Allow students to respond in their home language first.
Inclusion: Use accessible formats. Neurodiverse learners benefit from chunked instructions and choice in how they demonstrate understanding.
Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson sequence. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement.
Curriculum alignment
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Carbon, nitrogen, and water cycle through living and non-living parts of ecosystems (see Year 9, Earth Systems):forests and oceans store carbon and help cycle itthe carbon and…
- Chemical Reactions — Knowledge: The rate of a chemical reaction can be increased with temperature, concentration, surface area, and catalysis.
- Ecosystems — Knowledge: Biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems can affect the distribution and abundance of organisms; changes in one part can affect the balance and wellbeing of the whole system (…
- Body Systems — Practices: Designing and conducting investigations into water movement through plant tissues under varying conditions
- Body Systems — Practices: Linking data to the observed disruptions in hormonal control that can lead to conditions like Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes