Get to know a tree

This activity acknowledges Tāne – atua of the forest, trees, and all that Tāne has to offer.

He rākau nō wai? e rākau nā Tāne. Tāne te ainui, Tāne te wairoa, Tāne te waiora.
A tree from who? A tree from Tāne. Tāne of plenty, Tāne of maturity.

Get to know a tree activity card (PDF, 1,176K)

Connect to Tāne

Find a tree to sit/stand beside.

• Close your eyes, what can you hear?
• Open your eyes, what can you see?
• Can you see leaves/seeds/bark/fruit?
• What lives in your tree, on or under your tree?
• How does your tree feel, smell, look, move?
• Move like a tree – in the wind, in autumn, in spring, in the rain.

Note down your observations in pictures or words. Give your tree a name that reflects what you have noticed about it.

• ‘Poet – tree’: Trees are a good place for creativity and inspiration. Sit/stand/lie under your chosen tree and write a whakataukī or poem while you are there.
• Use a nature frame or magnifying glass to focus on particular parts of your chosen tree that interest you (eg the bark, plants growing on the tree, leaves, light shining through the tree, the shadows it makes on the ground).

Getting to know your tree better

Observe your chosen tree(s) at different times of day.

Would you notice different things at different times of day, over weeks, months?

Revisit your chosen tree regularly and see if there are any changes (eg leaves changing colour, leaves falling).

Curriculum links

English

• If your chosen tree(s) could talk, what would it say? Consider what the tree would see, hear, feel.
• Could it tell you anything about the history of your school? If this tree were your ancestor, what would they to say to you?
• Write a story about a day in the life of your tree.
• Read Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna/Listen to your Ancestors for inspiration.
• Create a factsheet about your tree(s). Factsheets in the DOC Experiencing native trees resource provide examples.

Science – living world

• Sketch and label parts of your chosen tree(s).
• Create a class list of your chosen trees. Categorise them into native, endemic and introduced species.
• Consider what your chosen tree(s) would look like and what their role would be in different seasons.
• Create food chains or webs for your chosen tree(s).

Mathematics and statistics – geometry and measurement

• Measure the circumference of your chosen tree(s).
• Estimate the height of your chosen tree(s). What unit of measure is best to use?

Health and physical education

• With a buddy use your body to create a tree shadow. Your buddy can trace your shape on concrete.
• Which trees are safe for climbing? Practice safe climbing with help from your teacher. Learn about Tree Climbing Extraordinaires.
• Flow through a tree pose.
• Play the meet your needs game (in the DOC Experiencing native trees resource, page 20-21).

The arts

• Create tree shadow art – on a sunny day, lay out a long piece of paper next to a tree and outline the shadow.
• Create leaf and bark rubbings.

Social science

• Explore your own values about trees. Is there a tree that is special to you? Why? Reflect on your personal experiences with trees (eg tree climbing, going on picnics, playing in leaves, fruit picking).

Technology

• Consider what digital technology could be used to help observe your chosen tree(s).
• Make your own paper and write your poems on it.
• Register at inaturalist.nz to identify unknown nature.

Tūhono ki nga rākau

He mahi e aro ake ki a Tāne te atua o te ngahere, anō nei ngā rākau.

He rākau nō wai? e rākau nā Tāne. Tāne te ainui, Tāne te wairoa, Tāne te waiora.

Tūhono ki nga rākau (PDF, 1,152K)

Tūhono ki a Tāne

Rākau whakaaro – kimihia he rākau hei whirinaki atu.

• Katia o karu. He aha tāu i rongo ai.
• Tūwhera i o karu. He aha tāu i kite ai.
• Ka kitea e koe he rau/kākano/kiri rākau/huarākau?
• He aha ngā mea ora ngā hua o runga i te rākau, o raro i te rākau?
• E pēhea ana te rākau, tōna pā, tōna kakara, tōna āhua?
• Neke pērā i te rākau i ā Tāwhiri e pupuhi ana i te ngahuru, i te kōanga, i te ua.

Tuhia, tāngia āu kitenga. Whakaīngoatia tāu rākau, ka tuhi kōrero mai.

• Rākau rotarota. He pai te noho rākau kia rere ai te auahatanga. Noho, tū, takoto ki te rākau ka tuhi, whakatauki, rotarota rānei.
• Whakamahia he taitapa, he karāhe whakaniko e aro ai ki tētahi wāhanga o te rākau. (Te kiri, te otaota ka tipu mai i te rākau, ngā rau, te rā e whiti ana ki ngā peka, ngā ātārangi o ngā peka ki e whenua hoki.)

Kia pūmau ake ki te rākau

Mātakitaki i tāu rākau i ngā wā rerekē o te rā.

Ka kitea he āhuatanga rerekē i roto i ngā rā, ngā wiki me ngā marama?

Hoki atu ki taua rākau ka tirohia i ngā āhuatanga rerekē. (te tae o ngā rau, ngā rau e taka ana hoki).

Ka tūhono ki Te Marautanga

Reo

• Mēnā i kōrero tāu rākau, he aha āna kōrero? Whai whakaaro mō ngā kaupapa kōrero o tēnei rākau, he aha tāna i kite ai, i rongo ai. He aha ngā hītori o te kura i kitea pea e tēnei rākau, he tipua. Inā ko tō tīpuna tēnei rākau he aha ōna kōrero ki a ko?
• Tūhia he pūrākau, he korero paki mō tētahi rā o te ao o te rākau.
• Pānui I tēnei; Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna.

Pūtaiao

• Tāngia, whakaīngoatia ētahi wāhanga o tāu rākau.
• Tuhia ngā rākau a ngā tauira o tōu akomanga.
• Wherawherahia ki ngā wāhanga, rākau taketake, mate taupori, momo whakauru.
• Whai whakaaro ki te hanga rerekē o tāu rākau i ngā wāhanga o te tau rerekē.
• Hangaia he papatūhonohono ā-kai, mahere kai mo tāu rākau.

Pangarau

• Ina i te porohitatanga o tāu rākau.
• Whakatautata i te teitei o tāu rākau, he aha te waeinu pai mō tēnei?

Hauora

• He mahi takirua tēnei māu me tōu hou. Whakamahia ō kōrua tinana hei hanga i te atārangi o tētahi rākau. Mā tētahi e tā i te āhua o tōu rākau mā te tā i tāu atārangi ki te raima. Ako i; Tree Climbing Extraordinaires.
• Ko tēhea ngā rākau pai hei pikipiki. Whakangungu i te piki rākau, anō nei whakaarohia ngā mōreareatanga.

Tikanga-ā-iwi

• Toro atu ki ōu mātāpono ōu tikanga mō ngā rākau. He rākau rangatira ana ki a koe me tōu whānau? He aha ai? Whaiaro ki āu whēako mō te rākau, (te pikipiki, te noho ka kai, te tākaro me ngā rau, te kohikohi kai hoki).

Hangaru

• Whai whakaaro ki ngā tūmomo hangarau mamati hei tautoko i tāu mātirotiro rākau.
• Hangaia he pepa mai ngā takahanga rākau, ka tuhi rotarota.
• Tākaro i tēnei kēmu; (kei roto i te Experiencing native trees, whārangi 20-21).