: Te Aonui o Tama-nui-te-Rä — Our Solar System
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Approach:  One to one
1.2Mb
Focus: Solar system 
Resources: 4 pictures
He whakatau kupu: Matawhero = Mars

Questions/instructions:

Ka whakawhitiwhiti körero tätou mö te marama, te rä, Papatuanuku me te aorangi o Matawhero (Tümatuaenga).

In this activity we’ll talk about the moon, the sun, Earth and Mars.
 
% responses
Whakaaturia te pikitia o te marama ki te äkonga (pikitia 1).

Anei tëtahi pikitia o te marama.

Show student moon (picture 1).

Here is a picture of the moon.

1. He aha hoki te marama?
He aha ngä körero e möhio ana koe mö te marama?

What is the moon?
Try to tell me all that you know about the moon.
satellite of the Earth
(travels round the earth)

2
smaller than Earth

4
made of rocky materials

12
about 400,000kms from Earth

0
reflects sun onto Earth
(provides light at night)

8
has lots of craters

8
has no atmosphere/oxygen/ air/ozone/clouds, etc.

4

any other valid scientific response
(not myths or historical events)

0
2. Whakaarohia kua tae atu koe ki te marama.
He aha tëtahi ähuatanga tino rerekë ake i te noho ki Papatuanuku, ka pä ki a koe i te marama?

Imagine you have arrived on the moon.
What would you notice that is different from being on planet Earth?
no atmosphere/oxygen/air

41
black sky all the time

8
you can see the earth from there

0
less gravity than on Earth

0
[no gravity]

[24]
no vegetation/animals/people

33
rocky/dusty/barren landscape

18
no water

12
3. He aha te take e kite ana tätou i te marama?

He äwhina: Mä te aha tatou e kite ai i te marama?

How is it that we can see the moon with our eyes?

Prompt: What makes the moon visible to us?
light of sun reflected from moon

19
4. He aha e rerekë ai te ähua o te marama e kite ana tätou?

He äwhina: Whakamäramahia mai he aha e rerekë ai te ähua o te marama i ëtahi pö.

Why do you think that the moon appears to change its shape?

Prompt: Try to explain why the moon looks different at different times of the month or year.
part seen (as bright) depends on relative positions of sun, moon and earth

6
has idea, but not well explained

17
Whakaaturia te pikitia o Papatuanuku (pikitia 2) me te pikitia o Matawhero (pikitia 3)
ki te äkonga.

Show student Earth (picture 2) and Mars (picture 3).
Anei tëtahi pikitia o Papatuanuku me tëtahi anö o Matawhero.
E ai ki ngä kaipütaiao, käore te tangata pënei i a tätou e ora ki Matawhero, engari ka ora tätou ki Papatuanuku.

Here is a picture of planet Earth and a picture of planet Mars.
Scientists tell us that people like us cannot live on Mars but we know that we can live on planet Earth.

5. He aha ngä take käore te tangata e ora ki Matawhero? Körerohia mai ngä take katoa e möhio ana koe.

Why can’t people live on planet Mars?
Tell me as many reasons as you can think of.
Temperature:
(very hot during day, cold at night)

both

0
just one

52
atmosphere issues

54
lack of water

30
lack of food

12
6. He aha tätou te tangata e ora ai ki Papatuanuku? Körerohia mai ngä take katoa e möhio ana koe.

Why are we able to live on planet Earth?
Tell me as many reasons as you can think of.
temperature suits our bodies

6
air/oxygen/atmosphere

71
water

54
food sources

43
Whakaaturia te pikitia o te rä (Pikitia 4) ki te äkonga.

Anei tëtahi pikitia o te rä.


Show student Sun (picture 4).

Here is a picture of the sun.

7. Ehara te rä i te aorangi. He aha hoki te rä?

The sun is not a planet. What is the sun?
star

52
ball of fire/gases

20
8. He aha ngä ähuatanga rerekë o te rä me Papatuanuku?

How is the sun different from planet Earth?
much bigger

22
extremely hot/ball of fire

82
no life or life requirements
(e.g. water/oxygen)

14
no well defined surface
(outer layers gas/plasma rather than solid/liquid)

6

Total score:




20–33

0
16–19

0
12–15

20
8–11

28
4–7

47
0–3

5
Commentary:
Students showed quite limited knowledge of the moon and Mars, but substantially more knowledge of the Earth and sun.
 
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