An explorer looking out at a volcano, waterfalls and planets in the night sky

World 04 · Any term · Combined Year 7–8 class

Earth Systems & Space

How can we understand what we cannot directly observe?

Start the journey Read first

Your mission

Sky and Stone Detectives: knowing what we can't see.

What you'll make

A tested Earth–Moon–Sun model that predicts the Moon, and an explanation of how rocks form and why we use them.

Who it's for

Your class, whānau and the SkyLab community

How long

About nine one-hour sessions, in any term. It can be shorter or longer.

NZ curriculum, Years 7–8:Science: Earth and SpaceScience: Matter Interactions and Energy· Topics: Moon phases, Earth, Moon and Sun, Maramataka, rocks and minerals, the rock cycle, fossils, Whanganui geology, light

Your journey

Nine weeks from question to something you're proud of

Each week has one job. You ask, investigate, make sense of it, design, build, test, improve and share.

Nine weeks, one hour each

Tap a week to see that lesson. Each world runs as nine one-hour weeks; it can be shortened to five weeks or stretched to 11–12.

5 weeks

Quick build

A tested Moon model that predicts next week's phase, with your Moon Diary graph.

9 weeks

Full journey

A tested Moon model, a Maramataka-informed plan (with a knowledge-holder), rock classification and an explanation of rock uses.

11–12 weeks

Go further

A geology field trip, light experiments with a periscope, or the SkyLab community Moon log.

Big ideas

What this world is really about

Big idea 1
Earth has observable and predictable patterns as it orbits the Sun.
Big idea 2
Earth's crust contains natural materials that form, change and are used by humans.
Big idea 3
Evidence and models let us understand phenomena we cannot directly observe.

Up close

Things you'll meet in this world

The Moon's surface, photographed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Photo: NASA on The Commons, No known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Earth rising over the Moon's horizon, seen from lunar orbit.
Photo: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Arizona State University, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Southern Cross and the dark Coalsack nebula: stars used for finding south.
Photo: ESO/S. Brunier, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Read first

Background reading

Short readings to read with a partner. Stop at each “Think about it” and talk it through.

Shadows tell the timeRead

Push a 1-metre stick into flat, sunny ground and mark the tip of its shadow every 15 minutes. The shadow moves and changes length through the day, because the Sun appears to move across the sky. Graph shadow length against time and you can find when the Sun was highest (the shortest shadow).

Think about it: Would the shortest shadow be the same length in June and December? What would you predict?

Source: WIS science badge lesson "Shadow Tracking and Māori Maramataka".

A young, restless countryRead

In geological terms, New Zealand is young. It is being pushed up out of the sea by the collision of two tectonic plates, the Pacific plate and the Indo-Australian plate. Earthquakes and volcanoes come with this movement.

Because the land rose from the sea, much of it is made of soft marine sediments: mudstones, siltstones and sandstones that formed under the sea. Underneath is a harder, compressed rock called greywacke. Where the land has risen fastest (the main mountain ranges), the soft rock has been worn away and the greywacke shows. Soft rock erodes easily, which is why slips, slumps and earthflows are common in hill country.

Think about it: If rocks on a hill formed under the sea, what might you find inside them? How could they have got there?

Source: Massey "Intermediate Freshwater Farm Environment Plan" geology readings (2020 Courses Content).

Rock, rain and riversRead

Rain breaks down rock and soil, rivers carry the pieces away, and the sediment is dropped (deposited) further downstream or out at sea. This is erosion and deposition. It happens naturally, but removing forest has made it faster in many places, because tree roots help hold soil together.

Think about it: Which would erode faster in heavy rain: a bare hillside or one covered in native bush? How could we test this with a model?

Source: Massey freshwater farm plan geology and erosion readings.

Scale of the solar systemRead

The real distances in the solar system are far too big to model at full size, so we shrink them. At a scale of 1 metre = 100 million km, on the school field:

Planet	Real distance from the Sun (million km)	Model distance
Mercury	57.9	0.58 m
Earth	149.6	1.50 m
Mars	227.9	2.28 m
Jupiter	778.3	7.78 m
Saturn	1,427	14.27 m
Neptune	4,498	44.98 m

The four inner planets fit within about two and a half metres of the Sun. Neptune is almost 45 metres away. The planets are not spaced evenly at all.

Think about it: How much further from the Sun is Neptune than Earth? Why can't a poster show the planets' sizes and distances at the same scale?

Source: WIS science badge lesson "Te Whānau a Rangi: Scale Model of the Solar System".

One more reading draws on mātauranga Māori and will appear once our cultural advisor has checked it.

Go deeper: from Science Learning Hub and DOC

The Whanganui cliffs: a diary of ice agesRead

The coastal cliffs near Whanganui are one of the few places in the world where so many layers of young sedimentary rock are on show.

The layers stack like pages in a diary: oldest at the bottom, youngest at the top, tilted slightly by movements of the Earth. Walk west along the beach at low tide and the rocks get older.

How old? Scientists date the layers two ways. Relative dating uses their order. Absolute dating uses tiny zircon crystals in layers of volcanic ash (tephra) that blew in from central North Island eruptions: the Onepuhi tephra is about 570,000 years old, and the Kupe tephra about 640,000 years.

Shells tell the story. Many fossil shells in the cliffs match species alive today, so they show whether the sea was deep or shallow, warm or cool. Each layer formed in a warm period with high sea level; the breaks between layers mark cold ice ages, when the sea dropped and the land was worn away.

The cliffs record about 50 cycles of sea level going up and down. Before about a million years ago each cycle took about 41,000 years; since then, about 100,000 years.

Think about it: If you found a fossil shell high in a cliff, what two things would it tell you about the past?

Adapted for Kōkiri Lab from “Whanganui rocks and climate cycles”. Source: Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, www.sciencelearn.org.nz Read the original

The rock cycleRead

Rocks are made of minerals. There are three main types of rock, and any one can turn into the others over long periods of time.

Type	How it forms	Examples
Igneous	Melted rock (magma) cools. Fast cooling above ground makes volcanic rock; slow cooling underground makes plutonic rock	Basalt, andesite, rhyolite (volcanic); granite (plutonic)
Sedimentary	Worn-away pieces of rock are carried by water or wind, settle in layers on sea or lake floors, and are pressed and cemented together. Fossils are often trapped inside	Sandstone, mudstone, limestone
Metamorphic	Heat and pressure change existing rock	Marble (from limestone)

Under the North Island, one plate of the Earth's crust slides beneath another and is carried deep enough to melt, starting the cycle again. The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old, but its rocks are recycled so often that you won't find rocks that old.

Think about it: Choose a rock from our kit. Which type is it, what is your evidence, and what could it become next?

Adapted for Kōkiri Lab from “The rock cycle”. Source: Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, www.sciencelearn.org.nz Read the original

Explore more

Trusted places to find out more

Videos, articles and activities from Science Learning Hub and other trusted sites, matched to the week they help most.

For teachers

For teachersWeek 4Maramataka learning resourceTe PapaTe Papa's Maramataka teaching resource, to use alongside your local knowledge-holder.Open

These links open other websites. Kōkiri Lab checked them in September 2026.

How you'll learn

Investigate, think, make, share

Every world moves through the same four areas. Pick one to see what you actually do here.

What evidence can we gather?

Students encounter the phenomenon, build the knowledge needed to interpret it, and gather evidence directly.

What you actually do in this world

Gather and analyse lunar cycle data (rise and set times, phases and position in the sky) over several months.
Classify and compare Earth materials by observable features and physical properties.

This is not a strict pipeline. A student may investigate, model, test, investigate again, revise, and communicate, in whatever order the actual inquiry demands.

Make something

Investigate it. Build it.

Hands-on science investigations and build projects for this world, each linked to the week it fits. Open one to see what you need and how to do it.

Science investigations

VOICE: ask a question and find out with evidence

Moon diaryCan we predict the Moon's shape a week ahead?Open

You need

Moon diary sheet · clear nights (at home, with whānau)

Steps

Draw the Moon and note the time and direction each clear night for 2 weeks.
Look for the pattern.
Predict next week's shape, then check.

How you'll know: Your prediction matches, or you can explain why it didn't.

Go further: Estimate how much later the Moon rises each night.

Fits Week 1 →

Shadow clockHow does a shadow change through the day?Open

You need

1 m stick · chalk · tape measure · compass

Steps

Stand the stick up on flat, sunny ground.
Mark and measure the shadow every 15–30 minutes.
Graph shadow length against time.

How you'll know: The shortest shadow shows when the Sun is highest. Which way does the shadow point then?

Never look directly at the Sun.

Go further: Repeat a month later. What changed?

Fits Week 2 →

Rock detectivesWhich rock is which, and what is your evidence?Open

You need

rock kit · hand lens · steel nail · streak plate · goggles

Steps

Look for grains, crystals, layers or fossils.
Do a scratch test with a nail (goggles on).
Use the key to decide igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.

How you'll know: You name the type and give two pieces of evidence for it.

Goggles for scratch tests.

Go further: Classify a mystery rock and defend your answer.

Fits Week 5 →

Build projects

FORGE: design, make, test and improve

Earth–Moon–Sun modelCan a lamp and a ball explain the Moon's phases?Open

You need

bare-bulb lamp · polystyrene ball on a stick · dark room

Steps

Your head is Earth, the ball is the Moon, the lamp is the Sun.
Turn slowly and watch the lit part of the ball change.
Draw the four main positions and what you see.

How you'll know: Your model shows why we see crescents, quarters and a full Moon.

Don't touch the hot bulb.

Go further: Use the model to explain an eclipse.

Fits Week 2 →

Rock cycle modelCan we model how rocks change into other rocks?Open

You need

crayon shavings or coloured sand · foil · warm water (teacher-managed)

Steps

Press shavings into layers (sedimentary).
Squeeze with warmth and pressure (metamorphic).
Melt and cool a small amount (igneous, teacher-managed).

How you'll know: You can point to each stage and explain what real process it stands for.

Teacher handles any heat.

Go further: Explain how a shell ends up high in a Whanganui cliff.

Fits Week 6 →

Scale solar systemHow far apart are the planets really?Open

You need

tape measure · cones or chalk · a long field

Steps

Use 1 metre = 100 million km.
Mark the Sun, then each planet at its scaled distance.
Walk from Earth to Neptune.

How you'll know: You can explain why the inner planets are close together and the outer ones are far apart.

Go further: Work out how big Earth would be at this scale.

Fits Week 8 →

More ideas from the Kōkiri library

Background learning

Earlier Kōkiri inquiries with learn pages, activities and build ideas that fit this world. They were written before the eight-world curriculum, so use them as background and pick what helps.

Earth Systems and Natural HazardsEarth systems, GeoNet and NIWA data: background for rocks and Earth processes.

Makerspace build ideas

Ready-made ideas from the Kōkiri maker library that suit the Make & Test part of this world.

Stretch challenges

Explain an eclipse with your model.
Predict tomorrow's moonrise from the pattern.
Classify a mystery rock and defend your answer.

Where AI helps

AI is your thinking partner, not your ghost-writer

AI turns up at particular moments in this world, to help you think harder. The ideas, the making and the explaining stay yours.

Kōkako, your AI mentor
Weeks 2–3 and 5–6
What it does
Asks you one question at a time, such as “What would your model predict next?”. It never tells you the answer or whether you are right.
What you do
Test the prediction against the real Moon, and revise the model.
Not AI: people
Week 4, Maramataka
What it does
Maramataka knowledge comes from a local knowledge-holder, with permission, not from an AI.
What you do
Listen, ask respectful questions, and use only what has been shared with the class.

Our AI promise

AI asks. You decide.
AI never writes your explanation or does your making for you.
AI never gives you a mark or a score.
If AI is unsure, it says so, and that is useful evidence too.

Students launching and tracking a model glider at sunset

Your platform

SkyLab

The specialist platform for this world. Its Earth and space tools are still being designed.

SkyLab's current open log records paper glider and wing flight tests. Its Earth and space tools for this world are still being designed.

Open SkyLab

For teachers: curriculum, reasoning and inquiry stages

Essential knowledge

Taught to the whole combined class. Over the two-year programme the class covers both the Year 7 and Year 8 curriculum statements.

Earth and SpaceThe Earth-Moon-Sun system: the lunar cycle, phases, eclipses, Maramataka.
Earth and SpaceThe surface of the Earth: the geosphere, minerals, rocks, the rock cycle, fossils, soils.
Matter Interactions and EnergyBehaviour of light: reflection and refraction, supporting observation and modelling.

The whole combined Year 7–8 class investigates the same phenomenon, with the same fieldwork, equipment and inquiry problem. Instead of splitting the class by year level, every task has three levels of support (Getting started, On track, Stretch), so each learner goes as deep as they are ready to.

Dominant mode:

Investigate
Model

Reasoning this world makes visible

Reasoning about phenomena that cannot be directly seen forces evidence and claims to be connected explicitly.

Evidence-claim linkage

Starting out: What evidence supports this claim?
Going further: How strong is the evidence, what alternative explanations remain, and what evidence would change our conclusion?

All five dimensions recur across every world. Each world provides a context in which one or more becomes especially visible, not an exclusive assignment.

VOICE and FORGE stages

Document 33 stage names, used across Kōkiri. The week plan above shows which stages each week works in.

Te reo groupings shown are provisional, pending cultural advisor review.

VOICE: investigating

Mainly in STEM Investigate and Think & Create.

Kite · te reo group (provisional)

Question · What do we want to find out, and why does it matter?
Observe · What do we notice?
Evidence · What did we actually record?

Whakaaro · te reo group (provisional)

Compare · What is the same or different?
Interpret · What might the evidence mean?
Uncertainty · How sure are we, and why?
Finding · What can we say?
Next step · What should happen next?

FORGE: designing and making

Mainly in Make & Test, ending with Explain in Share & Impact.

Wero · te reo group (provisional)

Frame · What is the problem, who is it for, and what counts as success?

Kite · te reo group (provisional)

Options · What are at least two real ways we could do it?

Whakaaro · te reo group (provisional)

Represent · Can we sketch, flowchart or model it before we build?

Auaha · te reo group (provisional)

Generate · Make it.

Tohu · te reo group (provisional)

Test · Does it work? Record what actually happened.
Evaluate · How well does it meet the criteria, and why?
Refine · What one change will help, and why?
Explain · How do we explain it, and the evidence, to someone else?

Aotearoa and place

Māori navigation and star knowledge; the Maramataka, a sophisticated observational system rather than a poetic seasonal description (Hikuroa, 2017); national geology, earthquakes, mining and mapping; local geology and landscape history around Whanganui.