"Celebrating Puanga at Ramanui", School Journal, level 2, November 2017

24 November 2017

First pages of the article with night sky, students, and telescope

This article describes how a school in Taranaki celebrates the appearance of the star Puanga. For them, this signals the start of the Māori New Year because it is difficult to see Matariki in the Taranaki region.

You can find PDF versions of the text and the teacher support materials, as well as the audio on Literacy Online: Celebrating Puanga at Ramanui, School Journal, level 2, November 2017.

Other useful resources

Students could also explore technologies that are used to capture images and information about the night sky.

The Art of Night: The Photography of Mark Gee

Mark Gee is a New Zealand astrophotographer. He discusses some of the technology he uses to take his stunning photographs of the night sky.

How Have Telescopes Changed Over Time

Telescopes were first invented in the 17th century. The developments in telescopes have allowed humans to see things nowadays which are normally not visible to the human eye.

Sky-sweeping Telescope Sees First Light

This article and video describes a new innovative telescope that can record videos of the eternal sky changes from night to night.

Discussion questions

These could include:

What resources do the class have available to make a time capsule?
What will the purpose and attributes of the time capsule be?
What key stages will there be as we make our time capsules?
How can we describe our potential time capsules through, drawing, models and verbally?
Which capsule would be the best one to make?
Did our final outcome successfully address the brief?

Explore some of the technologies used to view the night sky:

How have these technologies had a positive impact on society?
What is the relationship between telescopic technologies and the made, natural, and social world?

Indicators of progression for discussion starters

Component	Indicator	Level
Brief development	explain the outcome to be produced describe the attributes for an outcome that takes account of the need or opportunity being addressed and the resources available	2
Planning for practice	identify key stages required to produce an outcome identify the particular materials, components, and/or software required for each key stage	2
Outcome development and evaluation	describe potential outcomes, through drawing, models and/or verbally evaluate potential outcomes in terms of identified attributes to select the outcome to produce produce an outcome in keeping with the brief evaluate the final outcome in terms of how successfully it addresses the brief	2
Characteristics of technology	describe the relationship between technology and the made, natural, and social world describe how particular technological outcomes have changed over time and identify if this resulted in changing how people do things describe examples to illustrate when technology has had a positive impact on society and/or the environment	2