The country's first bilingual moth guide and online resource, Ahi Pepe is about to hit the book shelves of schools across the country and scientist Dr. Barbara J. Anderson says she hopes it'll help marry science and Māori philosophy.
Ahi Pepe is a guidebook which weaves science and a Māori worldview so students understand the importance of the environment from both perspectives.
Tiahuia Kawe-Small of Te Wharekura o Arowhenua says, "Most of our student think that science is inside a lab with chemicals, so, the chemistry side of science. But we as kaitiakitanga want to broaden that out so that our students, when they're in the natural environment, they can see there are scientific benefits of knowing more detail about what we're learning from a science perspective."
Ahi Pepe has activities, coloring and variety- It's interactive learning.
The resource grew from the Manaaki Whenua-led Ahi Pepe MothNet citizen science project and will soon be available in schools and libraries across the country.