Te Awa Tupua: Rivers, Floods and People

You need: a long strip of paper (about 2 m) · a map of your river (Topo50 extracts or an atlas) · coloured pencils

1. Mark the source at one end and the mouth at the other.
2. Draw the height of the land along the river using the contour lines (high and steep at the source, low and flat near the sea).
3. Mark tributaries, towns, marae, bridges and dams at the right places.
4. Label the upper, middle and lower course and describe the river in each: speed, width, what it carries.
5. Shade the floodplain in the lower course.

How you'll know: Your profile shows the river getting lower, wider and slower downstream, with at least eight labelled features.

Go further: Add the Tongariro Power Scheme diversion near the source and explain how it changes the river.

You need: Topo50 extracts of your river · a set of clue cards · a ruler

1. Remember: eastings first (along the corridor), then northings (up the stairs).
2. Find each four-figure grid reference and name the feature in that square.
3. Now try six-figure references: split each square into tenths to find the exact point.
4. Write three clues of your own for another group, including one bridge and one place on the floodplain.

How you'll know: You can give and find six-figure grid references correctly and say what the contour lines show about each place.

Go further: Use the scale bar to measure the distance along the river between two of your clues.

You need: a length of guttering or a long plastic tray · sand · a watering can or jug · a bucket to catch water · small blocks or model houses · a tarp

1. Tilt the tray slightly and pack sand along it, with a hill at the top end.
2. Pour water slowly at the top. Watch the channel form, bend and carry sand downstream.
3. Look for where the sand is dropped: on the flat lower part and at the 'mouth'.
4. Place model houses on the flat land beside the channel.
5. Pour a much bigger 'flood' and record what happens to the houses.

How you'll know: You can explain erosion, transport and deposition, and show why floodplains are both good places to live and risky ones.

Safety: Work outside or on a tarp, mop spills straight away, and wash hands after handling wet sand.

Go further: Add a model forest (moss or sponge) on the hill and compare how fast the flood arrives.

You need: the Te Awa Tupua reading · a two-column chart · role cards: Te Pou Tupua, a farmer, a kayak guide, a power company, a council engineer, a river whānau

1. List what people take from the river (water, gravel, power, food) and what the river needs (clean water, flow, room to move).
2. Read how the 2017 law describes the river: one living whole from the mountains to the sea.
3. In role, discuss a proposal to take more water from the upper river.
4. Te Pou Tupua sums up what the river would ask.
5. Write a reflection: whose voice was hardest to hear, and why?

How you'll know: You can describe what Te Awa Tupua means and use it to weigh a real decision from more than one point of view.

Go further: Find another river in the world that has been given rights and compare it with Te Awa Tupua.

You need: tin cans with both ends removed · a measuring jug · water · a stopwatch · a ruler · a results table

1. Choose three surfaces: lawn, bare or trampled soil, and gravel or bark.
2. Push a can 3 cm into the ground on each surface.
3. Pour 250 ml of water into the can and start the stopwatch.
4. Stop when the water has soaked away (stop after 10 minutes if it has not).
5. Pour 250 ml onto asphalt and measure how far it runs.
6. Repeat each test three times and find the mean time.

How you'll know: Your results show a clear difference between surfaces, and you can link hard or compacted ground to faster runoff and flooding.

Safety: Test only inside the school grounds, away from traffic. Wear gloves or wash hands afterwards. Tins can have sharp edges; the teacher prepares them and covers the rims with tape.

Go further: Test the same lawn where people walk every day and where they don't. What does compaction do?

You need: rainfall and river-level data for June 2015 (or a recent rain event) from your regional council's environmental data site · graph paper or a spreadsheet

1. Plot rainfall per hour as bars along the bottom of the graph.
2. Plot the river level as a line on the same time axis.
3. Mark the peak rainfall and the peak river level.
4. Measure the lag time between them.
5. Explain why the river keeps rising after the rain stops.

How you'll know: Your graph shows the lag between rain and peak flow, and you can explain it using the size of the catchment.

Go further: Compare the hydrograph of a big forested catchment with a small urban stream.

You need: your sand river model · modelling clay or wet clay soil · a measuring jug · a ruler

1. Build clay stopbanks along both sides of the channel on the floodplain.
2. Pour a normal flow. Does the water stay in the channel?
3. Pour a big flood. Measure the water height against the stopbank.
4. Pour an even bigger flood. Where does the water go? What happens downstream?
5. Make a weak spot in one stopbank and test again.

How you'll know: You can explain that stopbanks lower the risk for most floods but can be overtopped or breached, and that they push water further downstream.

Safety: Work on a tarp and mop spills straight away.

Go further: Design an alternative that gives the river room: a spillway or a wetland area that can flood safely.

You need: a clipboard and survey grid · a tape measure · a camera or tablet · a printed aerial photo of the school or stream · gumboots or old shoes

1. Divide the aerial photo into a 10 × 10 grid.
2. For each square, decide if it is mostly roof, road or paving (hard) or grass, garden or trees (soft).
3. Check a few squares on the ground and photograph them.
4. At the stream bank (with adults), estimate vegetation cover and record any debris.
5. Calculate the percentage of hard surfaces.

How you'll know: You have a shaded map, a percentage and at least one photo as evidence.

Safety: Stay with your group and an adult. Do not enter the water. No stream fieldwork after heavy rain or if the water is high or fast. Wash hands afterwards.

Go further: Suggest where a rain garden or planting would slow the most water, with a grid reference.