Learning from the Tangata Whenua

This Connected article is based on an interview by Susan Paris with environmental scientist Dr James Ataria (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa). James’s work focuses on the impact of toxic chemicals on the natural world. The interview shows how James’s identity both as Māori and as a scientist contribute to the way he undertakes research.

Cultural knowledge – and knowledge from local people – is very important in my work.

Dr James Ataria

Use this article to help students understand how scientific, cultural and local knowledge can all help to find solutions to issues such as pollution.

Rights: Crown 2015

Connected article: Learning from the tangata whenua

An article in the 2015 Level 2 Connected journal, Have You Checked?’ published by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

Photograph courtesy of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.

The interview covers the work that James undertook looking into the pollution of the Ahuriri Estuary – both identifying what was causing the pollution and how serious it was. A rāhui had been placed on the estuary and local Māori provided James and his team with important information about the changes at the estuary over time and the best places to find flounder and cockles to study.

This article supports the science capability 'critique evidence' – encouraging students to evaluate the quality of scientific data.

Nature of science, key concepts and science capabilities

The Understanding about science substrand of the nature of science is the curriculum context for this article.

Key nature of science ideas profiled are that scientists:

• evaluate the trustworthiness of data by asking questions about investigations carried out by others
• undertake more than one trial to provide sufficient evidence to support a theory
• replicate investigations to critique the evidence or data provided by other scientists
• check that there are enough samples to reliably establish a conclusion or theory
• look carefully at the way data has been collected when they consider investigations done by others.

Rights: Dr James Ataria

James collecting samples

Dr James Ataria collects samples from the Ahuriri Estuary to measure the pollution levels.

Image is from the collection of Dr Ataria and used with permission.

Key science ideas within the article cover how:

• the quality of water affects all animal and plant life
• water quality can be investigated by analysing the chemicals in it.

Check your school library for the article from the 2015 level 2 Connected journal ‘ Have You Checked?’, download it as a Google slide presentation from Tāhūrangi or order it from the Ministry of Education.

Rights: Crown 2015

2015 Connected Have You Checked?

The cover of the 2015 Level 2 Connected journal, ‘Have You Checked?’ published by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand. This issue includes the articles Why do our muscles get tired?, Operation duck pond, Learning from the tangata whenua and Heat it up.

Skateboarding image by William Warby, CC BY 2.0.

Teacher support material

The teacher support material (TSM) can be downloaded from Tāhūrangi (Word and PDF files available).

There are two learning activities that support the science aspects of the New Zealand Curriculum. These can be adapted to support your students’ learning needs.

• Working together to solve problems – focuses on the idea that the world today faces some complex and significant problems that cannot be solved without the collaborative expertise of a range of stakeholders. Examples include climate change and the obesity epidemic. These are often referred to as wicked problems.
• Learning from mātauranga Māori – explore further the idea that human activity can have an impact on the land in ways we may not expect. Ideas for extension learning are included.

Literacy strategies also support students to understand, respond to, and think critically about the information and ideas in the text.