
Exploration
Levels 1 and 2

NZC Achievement Objectives

Te Mātauranga o Aotearoa
Science Investigations: Carry out classifying and identifying; exploring; looking for patterns and modelling; fair testing; problem solving; making/building an object or a system.
Ngā Momo Tūhuratanga: Ka oti te whakarōpū me te tautohu, te torotoro, te rapu tauira me te whakatauira, te whakamātau tika, te whakaoti rapanga, te hanga i tētahi mea, i tētahi pūnaha rānei.

Learning Intentions

Integration Ideas
Learning Intentions are from the Ministry of Education
Integration ideas are from the Ministry of Education
Coming Soon!
English (Oral Language): Prepare and present an oral report following a visit to a site in the local environment.
Health and Physical Education: Developing movement concepts and motor skills in the environment
Mathematics and Statistics (Number and Algebra): Find examples of patterns in the natural environment which demonstrate that some patterns continue without end.

Related Topics
Resources

Can you cross off a line, a diagonal, or even the whole board, by finding each of these NZ tree species?
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Bark Bingo!
Kiwi Conservation Club - Hakuturi Toa
Can you cross off a line, a diagonal, or even the whole board, by finding each of these NZ tree species?

Joe takes you on a journey to discover the wonderful world of bugs!! Find some critters in your backyard & get to know them a little better.
Level
1-4
Type
Video
Bug hunt
Whenua Iti Outdoors
Joe takes you on a journey to discover the wonderful world of bugs!! Find some critters in your backyard & get to know them a little better.

This article follows a class project that students conducted after their teacher challenged them to find out how the smell gets into a scented candle. In the process, they learned about distillation, states of matter, and what it takes to become scientists and technologists.
Level
2
Type
Book
Connected 2020 Level 2: ‘Making Scents’
Ministry of Education NZ
This article follows a class project that students conducted after their teacher challenged them to find out how the smell gets into a scented candle. In the process, they learned about distillation, states of matter, and what it takes to become scientists and technologists.

Why not conduct a scientific survey of the crab population on your local shoreline and develop your student's investigative attitudes.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Crab Study
New Zealand Marine Studies Centre
Why not conduct a scientific survey of the crab population on your local shoreline and develop your student's investigative attitudes.

Plants play a very important role in our local environment, and across Aotearoa, connecting many different organism together. Learn how to use a hula hoop as a quadrat, make some new discoveries where you live, and monitor changes over time.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Discovering plant life
Kiwi Conservation Club - Hakuturi Toa
Plants play a very important role in our local environment, and across Aotearoa, connecting many different organism together. Learn how to use a hula hoop as a quadrat, make some new discoveries where you live, and monitor changes over time.

As fish have no visible eyelids (and closed eyes generally imply sleep) and we see them usually by day when they are in motion, this question is always the source of some debate.
Level
1-4
Type
Activity
Do Fish Sleep?
New Zealand Marine Studies Centre
As fish have no visible eyelids (and closed eyes generally imply sleep) and we see them usually by day when they are in motion, this question is always the source of some debate.

Use this resource to experience invertebrates (insects) in your school grounds or another local green space.
Level
1-4
Type
Unit
Experiencing invertebrates in your green space
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
Use this resource to experience invertebrates (insects) in your school grounds or another local green space.

See what variety can you find in flora (plants) and fauna (animals). Can you find something different to go in each box that matches the description?
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Explore your local environment Scavenger Hunt
Kiwi Conservation Club - Hakuturi Toa
See what variety can you find in flora (plants) and fauna (animals). Can you find something different to go in each box that matches the description?

A series of posters to support learning about Auckland's unique animal life, and to encourage outdoor exploration.
Level
1-4
Type
Poster
Fabulous facts about Auckland's wildlife
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
A series of posters to support learning about Auckland's unique animal life, and to encourage outdoor exploration.

Your garden is full of life and ONE tree/shrub is waiting to be your friend. Get to know your
tree/shrub, learn, and recognise your friend.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Get to know your trees
Whenua Iti Outdoors
Your garden is full of life and ONE tree/shrub is waiting to be your friend. Get to know your
tree/shrub, learn, and recognise your friend.

Welcome to the final challenge for our Go Wild at home programme! Remember to send us any photos or videos as we'd love to see how you got on.
Level
1-4
Type
Video
Go Wild Knot Skills
Whenua Iti Outdoors
Welcome to the final challenge for our Go Wild at home programme! Remember to send us any photos or videos as we'd love to see how you got on.

Johnny gives you some great tips & tricks that will help to take some awesome photos, and there are a couple of prizes up for grabs!
Level
1-4
Type
Video
Go Wild Photo Skills
Whenua Iti Outdoors
Johnny gives you some great tips & tricks that will help to take some awesome photos, and there are a couple of prizes up for grabs!

It’s time to put your shoes on, go out into the fresh air and find some things in your
garden you are grateful for!
Level
1-4
Type
Mindfulness
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
Whenua Iti Outdoors
It’s time to put your shoes on, go out into the fresh air and find some things in your
garden you are grateful for!

Take the fun outside with this pack of tiny adventures, designed to step the whānau outside to explore and perfect for younger tamariki.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
He Kete Haerenga Mō Waho: A Pack of Outside Adventures
Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
Take the fun outside with this pack of tiny adventures, designed to step the whānau outside to explore and perfect for younger tamariki.

Cleaning or Hygiene Stations are places where we scrub and spray our shoes and gear before and after going for a walk in the bush. It’s super important that everyone uses them, every time they visit. It will stop the spread of kauri dieback disease, and save these forest giants!
Level
1-4
Type
Poster
How do I use a cleaning station?
Kiwi Conservation Club - Hakuturi Toa
Cleaning or Hygiene Stations are places where we scrub and spray our shoes and gear before and after going for a walk in the bush. It’s super important that everyone uses them, every time they visit. It will stop the spread of kauri dieback disease, and save these forest giants!

Plants, animals and fungi can be difficult to see easily - especially if they are very small, very shy or well camoflagued. Hence scientists use a variety of tools and techniques to help find what they are looking for.
Level
1-4
Type
Poster
How scientists find organisms
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research
Plants, animals and fungi can be difficult to see easily - especially if they are very small, very shy or well camoflagued. Hence scientists use a variety of tools and techniques to help find what they are looking for.

We are going to practice our observation skills on a mū (insect) we find in our yard or a nearby
park. We will then build a model with the features of the insect we studied.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Insect Tracking
Whenua Iti Outdoors
We are going to practice our observation skills on a mū (insect) we find in our yard or a nearby
park. We will then build a model with the features of the insect we studied.

Learn how to explore the leaves the plants have lost – the ‘leaf litter’. Discover all sorts of invertebrates living in your backyard.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Leaf litter exploration
Kiwi Conservation Club - Hakuturi Toa
Learn how to explore the leaves the plants have lost – the ‘leaf litter’. Discover all sorts of invertebrates living in your backyard.

Today we’re going to go on a hunt for Tāne Mahuta’s children - the
manu (birds) and mū(insects) in our taiao (natural world). This could be in your
backyard or on a hīkoi (walk) with your whānau.
Level
1-4
Type
Outdoor Activity
Nature Hunt
Whenua Iti Outdoors
Today we’re going to go on a hunt for Tāne Mahuta’s children - the
manu (birds) and mū(insects) in our taiao (natural world). This could be in your
backyard or on a hīkoi (walk) with your whānau.

Bill’s making a commotion about the ocean in the “Ocean Exploration” episode.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP63namZOpo
Level
1-4
Type
Video
Ocean Exploration
Bill Nye The Science Guy
Bill’s making a commotion about the ocean in the “Ocean Exploration” episode.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP63namZOpo