Tracking Toroa: Live Cam & Flightpath Map
Using Online Resources in Authentic Contexts
Platform
Digital Technologies Progress Outcomes
Cross-Curricular Links
Year Levels
Y3-4 (Directed)
Y5-6 (Guided)
Y7+
Duration
1 lesson
Resources
Differentiation
As a class or in groups, create an observation rota to check the live stream at specific times of day or night over a matter of days or weeks and then make sense of the behaviour they see.
Prompt learners to choose a bird, observe it’s flightpath, then investigate and create a conceivable story to explain what the bird has been up to and why.
Connect the activity with Land of Voyagers investigation theme, to consider the impact of bird movements on Polynesian navigation and exploration.
Extension
Investigate the roles the toroa albatross play in local, regional and global ecosystems and how data from this activity might support our understanding.
Guide learners to explore what other animals are endemic, endangered and monitored around Aotearoa NZ.
About Activity
This activity is designed to connect learners with online tools and the skills to use them, in order to enhance their understanding of the toroa albatross as an endemic bird species in Aotearoa New Zealand, as an endangered species and as a part of a wider ecosystem.
With permission and guidance, learners will practise using the internet and their digital devices safely and effectively to observe nesting toroa in real time over a live stream, as well as monitor the movements of toroa around the country and across the ocean with an interactive GPS tracking map.
Activity Guide
Royal Cam Live Stream
Checkout the 24-hour live stream of a northern royal albatross nest at Pukekura, Taiaroa Head near Ōtepoti Dunedin.
The live stream is maintained and monitored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Department of Conservation (Te Papa Atawhai).
Albatross Tracker & Interactive Map
Checkout toroa tracking with GPS data from dozens of birds across multiple colonies and species of toroa albatross, and select the ‘Interactive Map’ to follow their flightpaths.
The Albatross Tracker project is organised and directed by Fisheries New Zealand (Tini a Tangaroa) and DOC (Te Papa Atawhai).
