Bilingual and reo Māori infographics and diagrams
Communicating in science and interpreting representations
Science knowledge is often communicated through visual representations – graphs, diagrams and infographics. Each type of visual representation has literacy components that students may need support to understand.
The science capability ‘Interpret representations’ encourages students to think about how data is presented, what the representation tells us and how it gets the message across.
Visual representations often summarise or illustrate a complex process. Understanding how to read them is an efficient way to learn new information.
When tackling diagrams or graphs, think how
- captions provide information about the illustration/image
- labels often include key content vocabulary
- directionality - the use of arrows, numbers or letters orient the illustration.
The following resources provide helpful background information.
These activities involve creating or interpreting infographics. They have bilingual components.
Manu
The following graphics feature manu and come from resources curated in Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa.
Tipu
The following graphics feature tipu and appear in:
- He aha hoki tērā rākau? ❘ What kind of tree is that?
- Te haenga me te ruinga o te kākano ❘ Pollination and seed dispersal
- Ngā kākano ❘ Seeds
- Ngā rau o te rākau ❘ Tree leaves
- He pūnaha whakarōpū ❘ Classifying and identifying plants
Ngā rākau ❘ Trees includes Word downloads in te reo Māori, which can be adapted for individual kura needs.
Ngā hekaheka
The following graphics feature ngā hekaheka.
Ngā Hekaheka o Aotearoa – kuputaka curates te reo Māori resources from Ngā Hekaheka o Aotearoa.
The Hub features one-off diagrams in reo Māori.

Star compass
This image is found in the article The star compass – kāpehu whetū.

Whakapapa of stone
The graphic featured in the video thumbnail appears in the video.

Wharenui
From the article Early Māori measurement.
Below are links to other websites with other infographics. Please email us, enquiries@sciencelearn.org.nz, if know of any others that could be added here:
- Facts about the whio – posters produced by DOC in both English and te reo Māori.