Lakes380 – a context for learning

Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past, present, future is the largest scientific study ever undertaken on lakes in Aotearoa New Zealand. The programme, jointly led by GNS Science and Cawthron Institute, draws upon both scientific and mātauranga Māori knowledge systems to determine the current and historical health of hundreds of lakes across the country. An understanding of how and why lakes have changed over the past 1,000 years will help ecologists understand future changes and inform protection and restoration efforts.

Introducing Lakes380

Lakes380 is a 5-year project jointly led by GNS Science and Cawthron Institute. The aim is to obtain a nationwide health overview of 10% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s 3,800 lakes.

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Rights: Lakes380

The Hub’s Lakes380 resources provide rich, real-life contexts for developing students’ thinking, visioning and problem-solving skills and an array of science capabilities and competencies. The combination of environmental monitoring with social and cultural components adds a depth of interest and value for educators and ākonga to pursue local and personal cross-curricular learning.

Key concepts and curriculum links

The breadth of the Lakes380 research enables ākonga to explore key concepts in science, mātauranga Māori and social sciences.

Science concepts could include:

understanding how lake origins have created the incredible diversity of lakes in Aotearoa
understanding ecosystem connections and impacts caused by land-use change
exploring how environmental monitoring techniques are used to gather and interpret data and how the data is used to inform action.

Mātauranga Māori concepts could include:

exploring relationships and connections between tangata whenua, their roto and whenua and the value of whakawhanaungatanga between iwi and research teams
understanding how extensive, long-held and ongoing mātauranga is able to inform and guide current and future activities.

Social science concepts could include:

understanding how people make decisions about access to and use of resources
exploring how we view and use places differently
exploring changes to societal thinking about these resources and places.

The resources support science learning in the Nature of Science, Planet Earth and Beyond and Living World strands and social science learning in the Place and Environment and Continuity and Change strands. The activities provide authentic experience with the science capabilities – especially interpreting data and representations. (Lakes380 – writers’ insight explores the changing nature of science and delves more deeply into the collaboration and shared philosophies that underpin the Lakes380 resource suite.)

Opportunities for local curriculum

Local curriculum encourages educators to be responsive to local interests, issues, identity and culture. For Māori, tribal identity is linked to freshwater – each water body has its own mauri. Freshwater systems are also highly valued for recreational, environmental and economic reasons. Although lakes are abundant in Aotearoa, many are in remote locations or out of sight on private land.

Learning about a local lake provides opportunities to build knowledge of:

local mātauranga and concepts including mauri, wairua, wai ora, ki uta ki tai, whakapapa and mahinga kai
science concepts such as lake origins, catchment areas and water quality
social science concepts such as relevant issues, values and the influences of people and place.

Resources to support learning

Following is a list of Lakes380 resources. They are grouped by themes – however, the principles/concepts mentioned above are interwoven among each of the resources.