Maori Rock Science

By Alan Bagnall

Comprehension Questions

1. What have the scientists found along the Wellington coast?�
2. Where did nearly all of the volcanic glass come from?�
3. Where did all of the pounamu come from originally?�
4. How was the pounamu shaped?�
5. What did Maori know about flaking volcanic glass?

Comprehension Questions

6. What did Maori use basalt and mudstone for?�

7. What did Maori use the glass from bottles brought in to New Zealand?�

8. The text said to imagine the future, how many years ahead were they� talking about?�

9. Where are most of the objects from the past now stored so we can see� them?

Text summary

This term I want you to really understand what you are reading so each week you will need to write a summary of the text in YOUR OWN words. You will need to read the text a few times and be able to write 5-6 sentences about what this article is about. You need to find the main points and write them down for someone who hasn’t read the story so they can understand what it is about.

Words and their meanings

• Basalt - �
• Scalpel - �
• Quarried - �
• Adzes - �
• Coarse - �
• Obsidian -

Here you will need to use a dictionary to find these words and write down the meaning. I then want you to write this word in a sentence that makes sense.

Looking Back

This article asks you to look back at New Zealand and picture what is was like 600 years ago. This is exactly what I want you to do! I want you to imagine you are back in New Zealand 600 years ago and describe what it would have looked like and what tools you would have used everyday.

Looking ahead

This article asks you to think ahead to what the future could hold and the technologies available. Here I want you to write down a minimum of five ideas that you think could be future technology from some of the tools and objects we use today.