Real World Ready · Layer 1: Authentic Experience

Kapua Creations: Co-teaching with the Sky

A Real World Protocol · Field-Based STEM · Kathy Broadhead · Years 1–4 · Nature Observation

Kapua is the Māori word for cloud. Clouds are always there, always changing, and completely free to observe. This activity takes twenty minutes, requires no equipment, and gives every student a direct encounter with the natural world that no screen can replicate. The sky is the teacher. Every kapua tells a story.

Layer 1: Go outsideTwenty minutes of sky observation

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AI as thinking partnerShared screen, teacher-led

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TraceDraw, speak, or point

The observation — what to do

Go outside

Take the class to an open space where they can see a good portion of the sky. No equipment needed.

Look up

Students find a comfortable spot and look up. Lying on the grass is encouraged. Twenty minutes of looking, not talking.

Notice and name

Prompt gently: What shape does your kapua look like? Is it moving? Is it changing? What colour is it near the edges?

Draw what you see

Students draw their kapua. The drawing is their evidence — it records what the cloud looked like at this moment, in this place.

One word

Before going back inside, each student chooses one word to describe their kapua. Gather these words together as a class.

What to notice while looking up

Shape What does the kapua look like? Can you see something familiar in its outline — an animal, a face, a place?

Movement Is the kapua moving? Which direction is it going? Is it moving faster or slower than you expected?

Change Is the kapua changing while you watch it? Is it growing, shrinking, or breaking apart? What is it turning into?

Colour What colour is the kapua at its centre? What colour is it near the edges? Does it look the same from every angle?

The sky around it What is between the kapua and the other clouds? What colour is the sky where there are no clouds at all?

For the teacher

Shared screen, not individual devices. AI prompts for Years 1–4 work best as a whole-class activity led by the teacher. Students contribute their observations. The teacher types the question into AI together. The class compares AI's answer with what they actually saw outside.

The cloud a student draws at 10am on a Tuesday in their school grounds is gone by lunchtime. No photograph, no video, and no classroom activity recreates the twenty minutes they spent watching it change. That irreversible encounter is what makes this Layer 1.

Oral and drawing evidence is fully valid in the Experience Trace Scale for this activity. Students do not need to write to demonstrate their thinking. The trace prompts are designed to be read aloud or used in a brief conversation.

Back in the classroom: AI as thinking partner (Real World Ready Layer 2) — whole class, shared screen

Naming the cloudTell AI: "We saw a cloud that looked like [student description]. What kind of cloud might that be?" Then show students a picture of that cloud type. Does it match what they saw?

Why clouds moveAsk AI: "Why do clouds move across the sky?" Then go back outside briefly and watch. Is the cloud moving the way AI described? Which direction is it going?

What clouds tell usAsk AI: "What might today's clouds tell us about tomorrow's weather?" Write down AI's prediction. Check the next morning whether it was right.

Kapua in te ao MāoriAsk AI: "What does kapua mean, and are there other Māori words connected to clouds or the sky?" Compare what AI says with what students already know from their own whānau or community.

Experience Trace Scale — oral and drawing evidence fully valid

Level 1

I can show what I saw.

Drawing or oral prompt: Show me your kapua. What did it look like when you first saw it?

Level 2

I can say one thing that surprised me.

Oral prompt: Did your cloud do something you weren't expecting? Tell me what it did.

Level 3

I can say whether AI's answer matched what I saw.

Oral prompt: Did AI say something about clouds that was the same as what you saw? Did it say something different?

Level 4

I can explain something I know because I was outside.

Oral prompt: Is there something you know about today's cloud that AI couldn't know? How do you know it?

Level 5

I can say what I want to find out next.

Oral prompt: What question do you have now that you didn't have before you went outside and looked at the sky?