Pūtaiao from Te Whakarewarewa
A living-village learning platform connecting pūtaiao, tikanga and the national curriculum — grounded in the geothermal pulse of Whakarewarewa.
Why Pūtaiao from Te Whakarewarewa
Whakarewarewa is a living Māori village — home to Tūhourangi–Ngāti Wahiao — where geothermal science and tikanga have been lived and taught for generations. Schools travel to experience it, but structured resources that connect the visit to classroom learning have been thin.
What we've built
Resources by the numbers
24 curriculum-aligned resources across four year bands and four learning areas.
The New Zealand Curriculum — Te Mātaiaho
Resources are mapped to the refreshed NZC Understand–Know–Do framework. Year bands align with the NZC curriculum phases (Y1–3, Y4–6, Y7–10, Y11–13), so each lesson sits at the right level of the curriculum.
Alignment to NCEA standards
Years 11–13 resources are designed against NCEA Levels 1–3 achievement standards, supporting both internal and external assessment — onsite inquiry generates authentic evidence for assessment.
Alignment is maintained as standards refresh; resource pages carry the relevant curriculum and assessment links.
Before · During · After
- •Build te reo Māori vocabulary and context
- •Introduce geothermal science basics
- •Set cultural protocols and inquiry questions
- •Classroom & Digital resources
- •Onsite observation and data collection
- •Guided inquiry prompts at key features
- •Learn from guides, kuia and koroua
- •Onsite resources
- •Analyse and graph collected data
- •Reflect and connect to curriculum
- •Complete assessment tasks
- •Create student-led projects
- •Digital & Classroom resources
Learning across four domains
- •Geothermal chemistry and heat transfer
- •Ecosystems and renewable energy
- •Field measurement and inquiry
- •Living culture and mana whenua
- •Colonisation and its legacies
- •Tourism, economy and kaitiakitanga
- •Measurement and data onsite
- •Statistics of geothermal features
- •Proportional and spatial reasoning
- •Te reo Māori vocabulary and oral histories
- •Reading informational texts
- •Recount and explanation writing
Taonga from the classroom
Real work ākonga created before, during and after their visit — a glimpse of what your support makes possible.
Why it matters