Structured outdoor and classroom learning resources, free for every school in Murihiku.
Southland sits inside one of the world's great outdoor classrooms. Te Wāhipounamu, the UNESCO World Heritage Area, begins at your door. The Catlins has a fossilised Jurassic forest at the waterline. The bar-tailed godwit rests at Awarua Bay before flying non-stop to Alaska. The Percy Burn Viaduct stands in regenerating Fiordland forest as evidence of an industry that logged 14 square kilometres and then disappeared. Bluff is where State Highway 1 ends and the questions begin. Real World Protocols give teachers a structured, curriculum-aligned framework for taking students to places like these, and a way to bring what students find back into the classroom through AI as a thinking partner. Every protocol is free. No login is required.
Protocols built specifically around Southland locations include Stewart Island / Rakiura, Fiordland and the journey to Milford Sound / Piopiotahi, the Catlins Coast, Bluff / Motupōhue, and the Hump Ridge Track. Each one is a portable framework your school can use without an operator or booked programme. They are highlighted with a Southland location badge in the library below.
A growing range of protocols are available to every school in New Zealand and work just as well in Southland as anywhere else. Stream Macroinvertebrates works in any Southland stream. iNaturalist and Backyard BioBlitz work in any Southland bush, wetland, or coastline. ArcGIS Map Explorer works on any device in any classroom. These resources extend the library beyond field trips into the everyday curriculum.
Every protocol connects to a second layer of learning. Layer 1 is the authentic experience: the field visit, the observation, the data students collect themselves. Layer 2 brings AI in as a thinking partner back in the classroom, anchored in what students actually encountered. Prompts are scaffolded across year bands from Years 0 to 13. The AI is never the starting point. The real experience always is.
If there is a Southland site, venue, or curriculum idea you think deserves a protocol, we would like to hear about it. We cannot promise to build every suggestion, but every one is considered. Send your idea to [email protected].
Browse the full library of protocols from across New Zealand, filtered by region, subject, year level, and type.
Browse the full library →A companion library of AI integrity resources for the classroom. Where Real World Protocols anchor AI use in authentic experience, Tomorrow Ready helps students understand how AI works, where it fails, and how to use it honestly and well. Free. No login required.
Explore Tomorrow Ready →