Tangaroa Taonga

Ngohe/Task 1: Tangaroa Stream Intro

Starter rōpū discussions (matapaki):

> Who is Tangaroa? Why might a stream in Waitara have been given this name?

> What do you know about this stream/wai/awa already?

> Find a map that shows the location of the Tangaroa stream, identify on the map the following, Waitara High School, Owae Marae, Waitara awa. Try using the https://geo.npdc.govt.nz/ GIS map viewer

> In te ao Māori freshwater is considered a taonga, why do you think this is?

> Wai/Freshwater, rivers/awa, streams are considered to have mauri, what does this mean?

> Do you know of/can you find any whakatauki that connect to learning about freshwater streams/rivers.

> In te ao Māori views on the environment often talk of the interconnectedness and interrelationship of all living and non-living things. How does this link to how human impacts are affecting our freshwater environments?

Summarise your rōpū answers to the pātai above on your first slide of your Tangaroa Taonga slide show.

Ngohe/Task 2: Background information

Using the google document below (make a copy to use/or use the hardcopy given to you by your teacher).

> Make a Key somewhere on your page - 🟦 Uses of Tangaroa stream.   🟨 Human impacts on Tangaroa stream

> Read through the historical account of the stream and highlight with the appropriate colours when you identify these two things.

Ngohe/Task 3: Water Cycle, Repo & Te ao māori

1) Use the interactive at this link  to help understand how water is recylced, the states of matter we find water in and the ways in which it changes state. You teacher will also go through some detail about each of the states of matter and their properties.

> Complete the worksheet below.

2) After watching the video below, answer the following pātai, record your answers in your books.

> What is a repo?

> What benefits to living things do repo provide?

> What resources could be gathered from repo?

> How did māori utilise repo? What activities were carried out there?

Ngohe/Task 4: Why is freshwater a taonga?

Using the image below you are to answer the following questions about freshwater.

1. Why is freshwater important to other living organisms?

2. How is our culture and wellbeing connected to freshwater?

3. Why are wetlands (areas connected to other waterways) so important to our ecosystems?

4. What are some of the pressures humans are putting on our waterways?

5. Why would many people consider our fresh waterways to be taonga?

Ngohe/Task 5: Te mana o te wai

1. Using the interactive below (Click on the Smart water image). Have a go at thinking about your views & values relating to wai/water. 

2. Discuss these ideas with your peers.

3. Use these ideas to complete the hardcopy worksheet and glue this into your books.

Ngohe/Task 7: Observing waterways

1. Write the following kupu/words in your book - provide translation for them (in relation to Pūtaiao - observing waterways)

Awa

Wai

Taonga

Wānanga

Titiro or Mātaki

Takere or tāheke

Rongo

Pūkohu wai

Tohu

Rakau

2. Using the How Healthy is your waterway resource (see below) we are going to make some initial observations of the Tangaroa stream.

Ngohe/Task 9: Wai Māori

Use the interactive from the site below to get a better understanding of the relationship between Māori and water. It is considered taonga by many iwi, but why?

1) Record the heading Wai Māori in your book 

2) For each of the 6 Key concepts in the interactive write down the heading, click on the heading in the interactive skim and scan through the information then write a short sentence or a couple of kupu/keywords that link to that concept.

Eg. Mahinga kai - Waterways provide food.

3) Select one of the 6 concepts and using the information on the interactive write a short paragraph (a couple of sentences) about why this concept is important to māori.

Ngohe/Task 10: Wai Kupu

Using the Voacabulary list below of words related to wai, waterways, water quality and māori concepts of water answer the following questions.

1. What is an example of effluent?

2. What is the difference between evaporation & Condensation?

3. How is an invertebrate different to a vertebrate?

4. Which stage in an insects lifecycle comes first - Pupa or Larva?

5. What is pH a measure of? And what pH should healthy water be nearest to?

6. What is similar about run off and stormwater?

7. What does turbidity measure?

8. What is the difference between water that would be considered waiora compared to waimate?

9. Why should we not use water that is considered waikino for wai inu?

10. What resources can wai piro offer us?

11. How is waitapu and rahui connected?

12. What is the difference between water clarity and water velocity?

Wai Vocab list

Algae - Small, often microscopic plants.

Aquifer - A large underground space between the rocks where water seeps.

Biodiversity - The range of species found in a particular region.

Catchment - An area of land that provides water to a stream, river, lake or estuary.

Cobbles - Small rocks and stones in the bed of a stream.

Condensation - The process by which a gas or vapour becomes a liquid, for example, when water is cooled, it changes from water vapour into liquid water.

Drainage - Lowering the water table to achieve productive land use for agriculture, horticulture, building etc.

Effluent - Liquid waste material such as sewage or from a milking shed.

Erosion - The wearing down or washing away of the soil and land surface by the action of water, wind or ice.

Eutrophication - The enrichment of water by nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and organic matter such as plants.

Evaporation - The process in which a liquid changes into a gas, usually as a result of heating.

Flocculate - The process in which small particles in a liquid stick together to form clusters. Flocculation agents are used in the water treatment process to gather solids together.

Groundwater - Water that is stored in the spaces between underground rocks and soil.

Habitat - The natural environment in which an organism lives.

headwaters - The upper catchment or origin of a stream or river.

Invertebrate - An animal that does not have a backbone, for example, snails, insects and worms.

Larva - Developmental stage in an insect’s life between the egg and the pupa or adult.

Macroinvertebrate - An organism without a backbone or internal skeleton large enough to be visible to the naked eye.

Mauri - Life force and spiritual life principle.

Non-point source discharge - A discharge that does not come from one specific point or place. It comes from many individual places or a widespread area.

Nutrient - A substance that provides nourishment for growth or metabolism.

Outlet - The point where the water in a stream or river joins another water body. This may be another stream, river, wetland, estuary or the ocean.

pH - A scale of acidity and alkalinity from 0–14. 7 is neutral, with numbers less than 7 representing acidity and those greater than 7 representing alkalinity.

Point source discharge - A source of pollution that can be traced to a particular site or pipe.

Pollution - An unwanted change in the atmosphere, water or soil that can harm living organisms.

Pollution tolerance index (PTI) - A scale by which certain species of invertebrates are identified as living in particular quality of water. The higher the number, the better the water quality required by the animal.

Precipitation - Water falling in a liquid or solid state from the atmosphere to Earth such as rain and snow.

Pupa - A developmental stage in an insect’s life cycle between the larva and the adult stage.

Resource consent - An agreement between a regional council and a person/business/group to carry out an activity using a natural resource.

Riffles - A stretch of a stream where the water is flowing over small rocks and cobbles and the water appears white and bubbly. This process helps to oxygenate the water.

Riparian - A strip of land, which can vary in width, next to a waterway.

Run-off - Water that is not absorbed by soil and drains off the land into lakes, rivers, streams or the ocean.

Sediment - Small bits of soil, plant and/or animal matter that is carried in water.

Silt - A granular material. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in water. It may also exist at the bottom of a water body.

Stormwater - Rainwater that drains off the land, usually from paved areas. Stormwater drain systems usually flow into rivers, lakes or the ocean.

Surface water - Water found in streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands.

Topography - The natural surface features of the land area, its shape and height of the hills and valleys.

Transpiration - The process by which plants release water into the atmosphere.

Turbidity - A measure of water clarity. High turbidity may occur when sediment is disturbed or other particles are suspended in the water.

Vascular plants - Plants that contain vessels that conduct fluid.

Waiora - The purest form of water – a source of wellbeing and life used for cleansing from sickness and to create positive energy. This water can become waitapu.

Wai māori - Water that runs freely and has no particular sacred associations. Ordinary water.

Wai horoi - Water that is used to bathe in or to wash clothes.

Wai inu/wai unu - Water that is used only for drinking. Drinking water is not taken from a source used for washing unless there is no alternative, when it should be taken at a time when washing or bathing is not permitted.

Waikino - Water that has been corrupted or altered to such an extent that it can cause harm or water that conceals hidden danger.

Wai makariri - Cold water, mainly cold freshwater.

Wai piro - Slow-moving water such as in repo (swamps). These waters provide many resources such as rongoā (medicine), dyes for weaving harakeke, tuna (eels) and homes for many living organisms.

Waimate - Water that has lost its mauri or life force. It is ‘dead’, damaged or polluted with no ability to sustain life. It can contaminate other living or spiritual things.

Waitai - The sea, surf or tide. Used to distinguish seawater from freshwater.

Waitapu - Water with a tapu imposed upon it. Water used for special ritual practices – tohi and pure – baptism and purification ceremonies. Water that has a sanction against most activities – also known as a rāhui.

Waipuke - Flood or floodwater.

Water clarity - A measurement of how clear water is – the distance that objects can be seen through the water.

Water velocity - the speed at which water flows.

Ngohe/Task 11: Pūtaiao of the Wai

There are many factors which impact how healthy our awa and the wai in it is. 

> Your job is to create a mindmap of all the key ideas we can use to determine if our awa is healthy or not. 

> Watch the videos and look at the interactives on the Science learning hub site below and think about what indicators tell us about the health of our waterways.

> Look at the example below for ideas on how to create a mindmap.

Vision for the Tangaroa Stream

Clean, clear and flowing/running

Tangaroa used to be a healthy open stream and the reinstatement of that continuous and clean flow is important for the reconnection of the community to the stream.