All about īnanga

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Date:

Worksheet illustration of īnanga and a river habitat

Page 1: Meet the Whitebait

WALT: We Are Learning To find facts and make inferences from an information text.

Success criteria: I can find key details, explain new words, use evidence from the text, and describe ways people can protect whitebait habitats.

Read the text

Whitebait are tiny, see-through young fish found in Aotearoa New Zealand. The word whitebait is a collective name for the juveniles of five native fish species: īnanga, kōaro, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu and shortjaw kōkopu. Īnanga are the most common whitebait species.

Adult īnanga lay their eggs on grassy riverbanks during high tides. These places are called spawning areas. When the next high tide covers the eggs, they hatch into tiny larvae. The larvae are carried out to sea. After about six months growing in the ocean, the young fish swim back into freshwater rivers. They grow into adults and live in freshwater.

People catch whitebait with fine mesh nets near river mouths, where rivers meet the sea. The main whitebaiting season is from 1 September to 30 October. Fishing is allowed only during daylight hours, and nets must not cover more than one quarter of the river’s width. These rules help protect native fish.

People can also help whitebait by keeping waterways clean. Rubbish, oil, paint, chemicals and other pollutants should never be tipped into drains because many drains lead to streams and rivers. Plants and grasses on stream banks help protect spawning areas, hold the soil in place and provide shelter. People should avoid damaging these plants. Removing barriers, such as blocked culverts or small dams, can maintain fish passageways so fish can travel between the sea and freshwater. Caring for spawning areas, clean water and riverbanks helps whitebait survive.

1. Name two native fish species included in the word whitebait.

2. When do adult īnanga lay their eggs, and where are the eggs laid?

3. What happens to the young fish after about six months in the ocean?

4. Match each word with its meaning.

1. Juvenile

2. Īnanga

3. River mouth

4. Habitat

5. Pollutant

A. The most common whitebait species

B. A young or immature animal

C. The natural place where an animal lives

D. The place where a river meets the sea

E. Something that makes air, soil or water dirty or unsafe

5. Why do you think nets must not cover more than one quarter of the river’s width? Use evidence from the text.

6. Name two actions people can take to help protect whitebait and their habitats.

Differentiation: Work with a partner to highlight facts about the whitebait life cycle and protection actions. Use the word meanings in Question 4 to support new vocabulary.

Extension challenge: Explain how one protection action helps īnanga at a particular stage of their life cycle.

Page 2: Supported Learning

WALT: We Are Learning To retell information and write clear sentences about caring for a habitat.

Success criteria: I can use the word bank, put events in order, identify helpful actions, and write a sentence with a capital letter and full stop.

Support: Read the text with a partner. Use the picture clues and word bank to help you. Say your sentence aloud before writing it in your book.

Word bank

eggs sea rivers daylight īnanga nets clean plants drains passage

7. Complete the life cycle using words from the word bank.

Adult fish lay _________ on grassy riverbanks. The tiny larvae are carried to the _________. After about six months, young fish swim back into _________. People catch them with fine mesh _________ during _________ hours.

8. Look at the picture clues. Circle the best answer.

🌱 Riverbank ➜ 🌊 Ocean ➜ 🐟 Freshwater river

The fish move from riverbanks to the ocean and back to rivers.

The fish stay in the ocean forever.

9. Circle the actions that help whitebait.

Plant grasses and native plants beside streams.

Tip paint or chemicals into a stormwater drain.

Keep rubbish out of waterways.

Help keep fish passageways clear.

Damage grassy spawning areas.

10. Write one sentence about how people can help whitebait. Use one word from the word bank.

Extra support: Begin with: People can help whitebait by...

Differentiation: Draw a helpful action before writing about it. Use the sentence starter and word bank, or tell your sentence to a partner first.

Extension challenge: Write two connected sentences explaining why pollutants should not be put down drains.

Page 3: Extension Investigation

WALT: We Are Learning To compare ideas and support explanations with evidence.

Success criteria: I can identify a similarity and a difference, use information from the text, explain how human actions affect habitats, and suggest a realistic solution.

11. Compare whitebait with another fish species you know. Write one similarity and one difference. Include at least two facts from the text about whitebait.

12. Explain why protecting riverbanks, clean water and fish passageways is important for future generations.

13. Imagine that a stream near your school has rubbish, bare banks and a blocked fish passageway. Suggest three actions people could take to improve the habitat. Explain how each action would help whitebait.

14. Choose one action: keeping waterways clean, protecting stream-bank plants, preventing pollutants from entering drains, maintaining fish passage, or caring for spawning areas. Create a short message encouraging people to take that action.

Extension challenge: Organise your ideas into a short paragraph using because, also and however. Include a fact from the text and your own inference.

Differentiation: Use a cause-and-effect plan: problem → action → how it helps īnanga. Learners may explain their ideas orally before writing. Advanced learners can rank the actions from most to least important and justify their ranking with evidence.