Activity

Saving taonga

In this activity, students learn about eels and/or whitebait and how human activity has impacted on their lives. Students learn about obstacles these taonga face and about possible solutions (mitigation) for the problems.

Large number of Whitebait.

Whitebait

Whitebait (also known as matamata to Waikato-Tainui) is a collective term used to describe the juvenile form of five galaxiid fish species.

Rights: Jane Bennett

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • describe the life cycle and some behaviour patterns of eels and/or whitebait

  • describe how human activity has impacted the life of eels/whitebait

  • present some practical solutions that might help to re-establish populations of eels/whitebait.

Download the Word file (see link below) for:

  • introduction/background notes

  • what you need

  • what to do

  • student handout.

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Discover more about tuna and tuaki – explore food and resource-gathering traditions practised by Ngāi Tahu whānau in Te Waipounamu, these are part of the Mahinga kai – natural resources that sustain life interactive.

Published: 19 March 2014,Updated: 19 March 2014