Social SciencesFreePrintable

Te Taiao Year 9 Quiz

A free social sciences worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Te Taiao Year 9 Quiz

Read the Aotearoa New Zealand field notes, then answer the questions. Use evidence from the notes and your knowledge of te taiao.

A catchment under pressure

A catchment is an area of land where rain drains into the same stream, river or lake. In this fictional Aotearoa catchment, native forest covers the upper slopes. A stream flows through a wetland before reaching the coast. The wetland slows floodwater and traps some sediment before it travels downstream. Native plants provide food and shelter for wildlife. Introduced predators such as rats and stoats can prey on native birds and their eggs. Possums browse native trees and can compete with native species for food. In the field notes, a native forest bird eats native plants and seeds, as well as wētā. Kaitiakitanga is the responsibility and practice of caring for the environment, guided by knowledge, values and relationships with the natural world. Restoration can include protecting habitat, controlling pests and planting appropriate native species.

Investigate the catchment

Use the field notes to solve each task.

1.Which option best explains te taiao in this catchment investigation?

The natural environment and the relationships within it
A plan for building new roads
A type of introduced tree
A single species of native bird

2.A team finds rats near nesting sites in the forest. Which action would most directly reduce the risk of rats eating native bird eggs?

Targeted predator control and monitoring
Draining the wetland
Planting only exotic trees
Adding more roads through the forest

3.From the field notes, name one service provided by the wetland and explain how it benefits people or the wider environment.

4.A community is helping plan a local restoration project. Which choice best reflects kaitiakitanga?

Work with mana whenua and the community to care for the catchment over time
Choose the fastest option without considering effects on wildlife
Remove the wetland to make more room for development
Plant any available species without checking whether they suit the site

5.According to the field notes, what are the native forest bird’s two food sources?

6.The field notes state that a native forest bird eats wētā. If wētā numbers fell sharply, name one organism that could be affected and explain why.

7.True or false: Removing one species from a food web can affect other species in that web.

TrueFalse

8.Match each term with the best description. Write the correct letter beside each number.

1. Catchment
2. Kaitiakitanga
3. Predator control
4. Restoration planting

D. Establishing suitable plants to improve habitat
A. Caring for the environment as a responsibility
B. Land area that drains to a shared waterway
C. Managing introduced animals that prey on native wildlife

9.A community has funding for one first step to improve the catchment. Suggest one practical action and explain which environmental problem it could address.

10.In two or three sentences, explain why protecting both the native forest and the wetland is more effective than focusing on only one habitat.