Exploiting the Navigation of Freshwater Environments
Explore the rich and diverse freshwater landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand with a variety of interactive resources and educational materials.
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research and NIWA offer two valuable tools: The New Zealand Landcover Explorer and the Fish Passage Assessment Tool, respectively. These resources provide insights into the country's freshwater ecosystems.
For those interested in learning about water quality and the Smart Water program, the interactive platform Smart Water - a context for learning is a great starting point.
The freshwater environment holds significant cultural importance for many Māori. It is central to tikanga Māori, mātauranga Māori, and mahinga kai. The article Mahinga kai discusses the importance of traditional food gathering practices, while Cultural indicators for repo explores traditional Māori indicators for wetland health.
Repo (wetlands) serve as a context for learning in the curation Repo (wetlands) - a context for learning. The institution that created the Storymap "Navigating our freshwater environment", Geoscience Australia, offers an interactive product that focuses on the life cycle of longfin eels and tuna.
This storymap, titled Navigating our freshwater environment, is an interactive product created by the Ministry for the Environment. In this activity, students use a browser-based storymap to follow the journey a tuna makes during its life cycle and learn about the challenges it faces.
The lakes of Aotearoa New Zealand are featured in the article Freshwater habitats. The storymap explores data and findings from the environmental report Our freshwater 2023, which reports on the pressures our activities put on freshwater systems and how they impact many of the things we value.
The freshwater environment supports all aspects of life, including the economy, recreation, and food gathering. The activity Monitoring stream health allows users to learn about monitoring stream health, while Exploring my local lake provides an opportunity to delve into one's local freshwater environment.
The presentation Maramataka by Maramataka expert Rereata Makiha discusses world views, tohu, and resilience. The article Maramataka discusses traditional Māori calendars and weather patterns, and Māori ways of knowing - weather and climate delves into traditional Māori understanding of weather and climate.
For those interested in learning more about the life cycle of eels, a video is available. The curation Te whakamahi i ngā rauemi o Tuihonoa Te Reo o Te Repo hei whakarite ara whakaako focuses on the Māori language in wetland education, and the interactive Inquiry and action learning process allows users to engage in inquiry-based learning.
By the end of these activities, students should be able to discuss how this information can be used to protect, restore, or care for freshwater systems. The Cultural health index for freshwater bodies, lake water quality, river water quality, wetland area, and groundwater quality can be found on Stats NZ's website.
Lastly, The fish highway discusses connected waterways, and the article SMART - Māori astronomy explores Māori knowledge of the stars and constellations. These resources provide a comprehensive understanding of New Zealand's freshwater environments from multiple perspectives.
