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Teacher’s notes

• About the Science IS activities

Integrated strands

Science concept

• Species require suitable environmental conditions to reproduce.

Nature of Science Theme

Science interacts with other cultures…

Traditional cultural knowledge and Western science knowledge can be complementary.

DSSA Investigation Focus

Any student investigation may involve a variety of skills…

Student investigation may involve focusing and planning, for example, background reading on a topic.

Activity

Definition of terms

Rahui: ban or prohibition on collecting resources; harvest ban. When a rahui is placed on a river, lake, forest, or harbour, people are banned from using some resources. For example, a rahui might ban people gathering shellfish from a beach, for various reasons. Many Māori tribes use the practice of rahui to conserve or replenish a resource.

What you need

• Access to information about:
  • resource bans (rahui)
  • the life cycle of the mussel.

Note: Supporting activity resources are provided below.

Focus

• What is a rahui? What do we know about it?
• How would a rahui help the survival of green-lipped mussels?
• Why do we need to preserve natural resources?
• What conditions are needed to keep species surviving?
• What happens to natural resources that are not protected?
• Where do traditional ideas and customs related to the preservation of a natural resource come from?
• Where do science ideas and practices related to the preservation of a natural resource come from? What is the same and what is different about these two types of knowledge?
• Can traditional knowledge and science knowledge work together?

Exploration

1. Get students to prepare for their investigation into rahui and mussels by undertaking background research. For example, they could:
   • investigate reasons for imposing rahui
   • use kōrero/interviews with people involved in imposing rahui
   • research web resources.
2. Have students use their research to create a consequence map (see activity resources below) of positives and negative outcomes of placing a rahui (or specifically placing the rahui mentioned in the article above).

Extension

• What other living things and resources would benefit from conservation procedures such as the mussel rahui?
• Investigate the species that exist in more than one form at different stages in their life cycle. The example used in this activity is the green-lipped mussel. What conditions will allow the mussels to reproduce most successfully?

Reflection

• In what ways can traditional Māori knowledge about the organisms living in an ecosystem help scientists understand that ecosystem?
• Where/how could you find out about traditional Māori knowledge?
• Where/how could you find out about scientific knowledge?
• How can these knowledge systems support and enhance each other?
• How might over-harvesting of one or more living member(s) of an organism affect the balance of the whole ecosystem?
• How can we find out about the state of balance within an ecosystem?

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