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• Scientific knowledge and Māori knowledge about mussel biology

Levels: 5-6
NoS achievement aims: Understanding about science , Participating and contributing
Contextual strands: Living world
Topic: Rocky shore

What you need

• Access to information about:
  • resource bans (rahui)
  • the life cycle of the mussel.

Rahui: ban or prohibition on collecting resources; harvest ban. When a rahui is placed on a river, lake, forest, or harbour, people are banned from using some resources. For example, a rahui might ban people gathering shellfish from a beach, for various reasons. Many Māori tribes use the practice of rahui to conserve or replenish a resource.

Note: Supporting activity resources are provided below.

Focus

• What is a rahui? What do we know about it?
• How would a rahui help the survival of green-lipped mussels?
• Why do we need to preserve natural resources?
• What conditions are needed to keep species surviving?
• What happens to natural resources that are not protected?
• Where do traditional ideas and customs related to the preservation of a natural resource come from?
• Where do science ideas and practices related to the preservation of a natural resource come from? What is the same and what is different about these two types of knowledge?
• Can traditional knowledge and science knowledge work together?

Exploration

1. Get students to prepare for their investigation into rahui and mussels by undertaking background research. For example, they could:
   • investigate reasons for imposing rahui
   • use kōrero/interviews with people involved in imposing rahui
   • research web resources.
2. Have students use their research to create a consequence map (see activity resources below) of positives and negative outcomes of placing a rāhui.

Reflection

• In what ways can traditional Māori knowledge about the organisms living in an ecosystem help scientists understand that ecosystem?
• Where/how could you find out about traditional Māori knowledge?
• Where/how could you find out about scientific knowledge?
• How can these knowledge systems support and enhance each other?
• How might over-harvesting of one or more living member(s) of an organism affect the balance of the whole ecosystem?
• How can we find out about the state of balance within an ecosystem?

Activity resources

• Diagram detailing the life cycle of a mussel.

Life cycle of a mussel (PDF 79 KB)

• An example of using a consequence map as a strategy for looking at what has been found out, and considering likely consequences of different courses of action.

Consequence map (PDF 65 KB)

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