Utilising Navigating our freshwater environment
Navigating our freshwater environment is an interactive storymap that explores the state of rivers, lakes and wetlands – in a novel and engaging way.
The storymap considers what’s going on from the perspective of tuna (longfin eel) and examines the challenges they face throughout their lives as they travel ki uta ki tai (from the mountains to the sea).
Tuna is both a taonga species and an indicator species – their presence, size and condition can provide an indication of the health of the environment and the life-supporting capacity of our wai (water).
Navigating our freshwater environment
Explore challenges faced by tuna as they live out their life cycle in freshwater and ocean habitats. This storymap uses information from the environment report Our freshwater 2023.
Photo of longfin tuna by Fraser Tebbutt, Auckland. Sourced from truestock.
The storymap was created by the Ministry for the Environment as an interactive product that allows users to explore data and findings from the environmental report Our freshwater 2023. It features both challenges that humans have created for tuna migration and efforts to mitigate these challenges.
New Zealand’s freshwater environment supports all aspects of our lives, and we share an intimate and innate connection with it. It is central to our wellbeing, supporting our economy, recreation and gathering food. For many Māori, the freshwater environment is central to Māori, and .
Our freshwater 2023
Some of the key science and te ao Māori concepts that underpin the storymap include:
ki uta ki tai (from the mountains to the sea) and the interconnectedness of freshwater systems
wai ora
habitat
life cycles
tuna heke (migration)
maramataka and
mahinga kai.
This activity helps users navigate and deepen engagement with the health of the environment through the lens of the tuna. It includes questions to promote understanding of the key science and te ao Māori concepts and provides links to resources that can help to extend this learning. It also provides opportunities for students to use multiple science capabilities.
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. This journey reflects the state of the freshwater environment in Aotearoa.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
progress through the Navigating our freshwater environment storymap
use media and text to explore the stages of the tuna life cycle
use media and text to consider the challenges tuna face at each stage of their life cycle
consider how these same challenges affect other living things – including humans
discuss how this information can be used to protect, restore or care for freshwater systems.
Download the Word file (see link below).
