Māori knowledge of animals – comprehending texts
In this activity, students use literacy skills and strategies to locate information across a series of articles that feature Māori knowledge of animals.
The toroa/northern royal albatross
These large, graceful giants are the nomads of the Southern Ocean, spending much of their life soaring above and on the oceans.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
locate information in the text
interpret the information to answer literal and inferential questions
use content vocabulary.
Download the Word file (see link below).
Related content
The following resources provide brief introductions of Māori knowledge about a selected sample of animal species indigenous to Aotearoa:
Ngā manu a Tānemahuta (featuring pīwakawaka, tūī, kererū, rūrū, kōtare, tītī and toroa)
Ngā ika a Tangaroa (featuring makō and tohorā)
Activity ideas
These activities are also literacy based and use the Māori knowledge of animals resources listed above:
Acknowledgement
This content has been developed by Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki), Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Sally Birdsall, University of Auckland, with funding and support from the Ministry for Primary Industries – Manatū Ahu Matua and the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART).
Animals of Aotearoa and animal ethics
Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries and Exploring the Three Rs of Animal Ethics with Māori Ideas were developed with funding from the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The silhouette design was created for this project and is the copyright of Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall.
