Mātauranga Māori is a modern term for the combined knowledge of Polynesian ancestors and the experiences of Māori living in the environment of Aotearoa. The term takes many forms, such as ...
Wayfinder navigators always look for signs of weather at sunrise and sunset. This is when they try to predict the weather for the next 12 hours. One of the easiest ways to predict weather is to ...
Historical artefacts like moa bones can be dated using a technique that measures the activity of the radioisotope carbon-14 still present in the sample. By comparing this with a modern standard ...
Māori ancestors possessed a wealth of astronomical knowledge that they referred to as tātai arorangi. The knowledge was important for many aspects of daily life, from growing crops, fishing and ...
Our great forests of Tāne-mahuta hold a treasure trove of life that is mostly found only in Aotearoa. Fungi are among Tāne’s descendants, along with plants and animals. Certain kinds of fungi ...
Rongoā is the traditional Māori healing system. Rongoā is a holistic practice that often includes using the medicinal properties of New Zealand native plants. Early Māori and rongoā Although ...
Whakataukī (proverbs and sayings) are important in Waikato-Tainui oral traditions. They often identify important places or symbols. For example, the following whakataukī helps to identify the ...
In this video, educator Angela Schipper demonstrates how to build a model of an aquifer – a layer of rock or other material that carries water underground. This is an excellent activity that ...
Teachers often ask what Māori content is available on the Science Learning Hub. We have a wide range of resources including articles, teaching and learning activities and videos. The Hub also has ...
Like the Sun, stars rise in the eastern horizon and set in the western horizon. Navigators who know the direction and position in which the stars rise and set can use the horizon as a compass ...
Moths are members of the order Lepidoptera, but these mostly nocturnal creatures are often in the shadow of the brighter, day-flying butterflies. New Zealand has fewer than 20 butterfly species ...
The Science Learning Hub has a selection of resources that have been translated into te reo Māori and a number of resources that feature both te reo Māori and English. Our webinar Opportunities ...
Knowledge about the apparent movement of the Sun, Moon and planets across the celestial sphere is important for wayfinding. You can estimate position and direction by observing, for example ...
Estuaries are extremely valuable. They: are nurseries – breeding grounds for fish and birds maintain the health of coastal fisheries and waters are a buffer between land and sea – protecting the ...
The ancient craft that carried the first settlers to New Zealand were probably double-hulled – rather like two canoes side by side. They are called waka hourua. In the 1970s, the Polynesians ...
Recently, there has been renewed interest in understanding how Polynesian peoples navigated the Pacific. Teams of people have built waka (canoes) using traditional designs and sailed them long ...
Due to the geographical isolation of New Zealand, pre-European Māori had little contact with neighbouring islands. Trade and commerce were internally based so there was no need for a precise ...
In this activity, students learn about star constellations and that various cultures have their own names and legends about them. They will appreciate that identifying constellations and ...
Taewa are traditional potato varieties grown by early Māori settlers in New Zealand. Find out how researchers are now developing unique food products from taewa. Taewa were introduced to New ...
Navigator Jack Thatcher commanded the two waka hourua that sailed from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to Rapanui (Easter Island) and back. Te Aurere and its supporting vessel Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, known ...
The traditional concept of kaitiakitanga is part of a complex, social, cultural, economic and spiritual system that has been established through long association of iwi and hapū with land and ...
In this activity, students learn the cardinal points of the compass. They also learn how to use the Sun and star constellations – the Southern Cross and the Pointers – to identify the cardinal ...
Norman Hill (Rāhui Pōkeka iwi) liaises between Genesis Energy and his iwi of Huntly. He has been researching the Waikato River environment in relation to his people for over 7 years. During his ...
In this activity, students learn about rongoā Māori (medicines that are produced from native plants in New Zealand) through a silent card game. By the end of this activity, students should be ...
