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Te Taiao Year 9 Quiz

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Te Taiao Year 9 Quiz

Explore how people and the natural environment are connected in Aotearoa New Zealand. Read the case study, interpret the data, and answer each question. Use evidence where asked.

Case study: Te Awa o Kōwhai

Te Awa o Kōwhai is a fictional stream flowing from a forested hill through farmland and a small town before reaching an estuary. Tūī and kererū use the forest, while native invertebrates and fish live in the stream. The town’s mana whenua, residents and council are working together as kaitiaki. They are planting native trees beside the stream, checking water quality and using traps to reduce introduced predators. After heavy rain, farm soil and nutrients can wash into the water. The group wants to protect biodiversity and keep the stream healthy for future generations.

Investigate the catchment

Use the case study to answer Questions 1–5.

1.In the case study, what does kaitiaki mean in practice? Choose the best description.

Taking responsibility for caring for the environment and its future
Using natural resources as quickly as possible
Keeping people completely separate from nature
Managing only the town’s roads and buildings

2.Name two groups working together to care for Te Awa o Kōwhai.

3.Explain one way native planting beside the stream could improve the ecosystem.

4.Trace one possible cause-and-effect chain from heavy rain to a problem for stream life.

5.Which statement best explains why protecting biodiversity matters in this catchment?

A variety of species supports connected food webs and healthy ecosystem processes
Biodiversity is useful only when every species can be sold
A catchment is healthier when it contains only one species
Native species do not depend on their habitats

Read the monitoring data

A volunteer group measured water clarity at three sites. A larger visibility depth means the water was clearer on the day of measurement.

Site

Visibility depth (cm)

Upstream forest

Below farmland

Town bridge

6.Which site had the clearest water in these measurements? Give the visibility depth as evidence.

7.How much lower was visibility depth below farmland than upstream? Show or state the calculation.

8.Does this small data set prove that farming caused the lower water clarity? Explain what it can and cannot show.

Make a kaitiakitanga plan

Apply your understanding to a practical decision for the catchment.

9.Choose the best next step for the volunteer group if it wants to find out whether streamside planting is helping. Which plan would produce the most useful evidence?

Measure the same water-quality indicators at planted and unplanted reaches repeatedly, using the same method
Ask one visitor whether the stream looks healthy
Measure only once at a different site after planting
Count the number of trees planted and assume water quality has improved

10.Suggest two realistic actions the community could take to reduce harm to the stream. For each, say what problem it could help address.

11.State one ecosystem service that a healthy catchment can provide, and explain how people benefit from it.

12.A social media post claims, “The stream is definitely safe because it looked clear yesterday.” Give one reason this is not enough evidence and name one reliable source or method for checking local water quality.