Food, Land, and Care

Overview

Students explore how Māori gathered, hunted, fished, grew, and preserved food before European settlement. They use visual evidence and short information cards to compare practices, identify the tools, resources, and environmental knowledge involved, and connect these practices with kaitiakitanga.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify ways Māori obtained and preserved food before European settlement.
• WALT match food practices with the tools, resources, and environmental knowledge they required.
• WALT explain how a practice could show kaitiakitanga, or care for people and the environment.
• WALT use evidence from images and information cards to make a comparison.

Success criteria

• I can describe traditional hunting, fishing, gathering, kūmara cultivation, and food preservation.
• I can correctly match a practice with suitable tools, resources, and environmental knowledge.
• I can explain one way a practice showed care for the environment or future generations.
• I can use an image or information card as evidence for my idea.

Curriculum links

• Māori society before European settlement: food and environment.
• Forest clearance and moa hunting, evidenced by charcoal layers and bone deposits.
• Seasonal seafood diets, evidenced by shell middens, animal bones, and earth oven hāngī pits.
• Kūmara garden cultivation using specialised tools and soil management.
• Understanding how Māori society changed over time.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and prior knowledge. Open with the visual hook and learning intention slides showing a split image of a rich forest/shoreline and a cultivated garden, then ask: “What knowledge would people need to get food from each place?” Students think independently, share with a partner, and contribute ideas without assuming that all Māori communities used exactly the same practices.

2. 5–12 min · Build background. Use the five food-practice slides to introduce hunting, fishing, gathering, kūmara cultivation, and food preservation. Explain that evidence such as tools, garden features, shell middens, bones, charcoal layers, and hāngī pits helps historians learn about the past. Students listen, ask questions, and record one interesting detail on their worksheet.

3. 12–17 min · Model matching and kaitiakitanga. Display the worked matching example using kūmara cultivation. Model thinking aloud: “The practice is growing kūmara; a resource is fertile soil; a tool may be a digging implement; environmental knowledge includes preparing and caring for the soil.” Discuss how careful use of resources, seasonal knowledge, and avoiding waste can demonstrate kaitiakitanga. Students help justify the match using “I think this because…” language.

4. 17–32 min · Pair investigation. Give each pair the visual comparison chart and matching information cards. Students cut or sort the cards, then match each practice with relevant resources, tools, and environmental knowledge. They complete the chart with short notes or labelled drawings. Circulate and ask: “What evidence helped you make that match?”, “Would this practice work in every environment?”, and “How might seasons affect it?”

5. 32–39 min · Pair share and class chart. Return to the comparison chart and discussion prompts. Invite pairs to share one match and one way it could demonstrate kaitiakitanga, such as taking only what is needed, using seasonal knowledge, caring for soil, preserving food, or respecting waterways. Add accurate ideas to a shared class chart and clarify that tikanga and practices varied across iwi, hapū, and local environments.

6. 39–45 min · Plenary and assessment. Show the final reflection prompt: “Choose one practice. What did it require, and how could it show kaitiakitanga?” Students complete the final box on the individual reflection section in one or two sentences, then share with a partner. Collect worksheets as students leave.

Resources

• the food practices and comparison deck
• the visual comparison chart and matching information cards
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Scissors and glue, if cards are cut out
• Pencils, coloured pencils, or crayons
• Large paper or whiteboard for the shared comparison chart
• Teacher reference notes using local iwi or hapū knowledge where available

Assessment

• Listen during partner talk for accurate use of practice, tool, resource, season, and environment ideas; address misconceptions immediately.
• Check each pair’s matches and ask students to explain the evidence behind one decision.
• Use the final reflection to assess whether students can describe one practice and connect it thoughtfully with kaitiakitanga.

Differentiation

• Support learners with the picture-supported cards, a reduced choice of two or three possible matches, oral rehearsal, and sentence starters: “The practice is…”, “It needed…”, and “This showed kaitiakitanga because…”.
• Read cards aloud and pair EAL learners with supportive peers; accept labelled drawings, dictated responses, or oral explanations instead of extended writing.
• Provide larger-print cards, high-contrast images, pre-cut cards, and a quiet working space for learners with sensory, motor, or attention needs.
• Challenge advanced learners to compare two practices, explain how local climate or seasons influenced each one, and identify what archaeological evidence might remain.

Extension

• Students design a small “care for our food environment” action for the school, such as reducing food waste or caring for a garden, and explain how it connects with kaitiakitanga.
• Students research, with teacher guidance and appropriate local sources, one food practice connected to the rohe and add it to the class chart.