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Tohu Whenua: History Where It Happened — Adding the AI Layer

A Real World Protocol  ·  Field-Based STEM  ·  Tohu Whenua  ·  Years 1–13  ·  Aotearoa NZ Histories
Tohu Whenua is a partnership between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the Department of Conservation, and Manatū Taonga. It connects teachers and ākonga with significant heritage places across Aotearoa New Zealand where they can learn, experience, and do history where it happened. This companion adds the Real World Ready layer: AI prompts that extend historical thinking from the site into the classroom, and an Experience Trace Scale that makes that thinking visible and assessable.
The Tohu Whenua programme and curriculum resources Curriculum-aligned resources for Years 1–3, 4–6, 7–8, and 9–10 are available free from the Tohu Whenua website, mapped to the Aotearoa NZ Histories curriculum using the Understand, Know, Do framework from Te Mātaiaho. Site-specific education programmes, guided tours, and enriching local curriculum opportunities are available at many Tohu Whenua locations across Northland, Canterbury, Otago, and the West Coast — with more regions being added.

tohuwhenua.nz/education →
PrepareTohu Whenua curriculum resources
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Visit the siteHistory where it happened
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AI as thinking partnerReal World Ready — below
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Trace and shareReal World Ready — below
Where this companion fits
1
Prepare

Download the Tohu Whenua curriculum resource for your year level. Use it to prepare students before the visit — identify the site, the stories, and the key historical questions.

2
Visit the site

Students observe, listen, photograph, sketch, and record what they encounter. The experience of standing in the place where history happened belongs to them because they were there.

3
Extend with AI

Back in the classroom, students bring their observations, photographs, and questions to AI using the prompts below. AI is the research partner for what they found — not the authority on what it means.

4
Make thinking visible

Students complete the Experience Trace Scale to make their historical reasoning visible — the assessable evidence of thinking, sitting alongside the Tohu Whenua curriculum outcomes.

Historical inquiry questions for any Tohu Whenua site
Who was here? Who lived at, used, or passed through this place? Whose presence has left a mark — and whose presence has left no mark at all?
What happened here? What events took place at this site? Who made decisions about them, and who experienced their consequences?
Whose story is being told? What is commemorated or interpreted at this site, and by whom? Whose story is prominent? Whose is marginal or absent?
What has changed — and what remains? What is physically different now from the historical period this place represents? What has persisted — in the land, the buildings, or the community?
Why does this place matter now? Why is this site protected and remembered? What obligations does knowing this history place on us as learners and citizens?
Before you go
A note on AI and cultural knowledge At Tohu Whenua sites that carry mātauranga Māori, Te Tiriti, tikanga, or the stories of specific iwi and hapū, AI is a tool for research, source analysis, and historical inquiry. It is not a source of cultural authority. The knowledge held by tangata whenua, kaumātua, and the people of each place takes precedence. AI can help students find, contextualise, and question historical sources. It cannot replace the relationship between ākonga and the people and places whose stories these are.
A guided visit with an experienced local educator or guide is the optimal version of this experience. Many Tohu Whenua sites offer enriching local curriculum programmes with qualified educators who bring the stories of the place to life. Where that is not possible, the Tohu Whenua website provides the context a teacher needs to lead a productive visit independently.

Back in the classroom: AI as thinking partner (Real World Ready Layer 2)

Years 1–6
What we sawShow AI a photograph from the site. Ask: "What can you see in this photograph? What might this place have looked like a long time ago?" Compare AI's answer with what students saw and heard at the site.
The people of this placeAsk AI: "Who lived at or used this place long ago? What do we know about their daily lives?" Did the people at the site tell you something different from what AI said? Which do you trust more, and why?
Why it mattersAsk AI: "Why is this place protected and remembered in New Zealand today?" After visiting, is AI's answer complete? What did students learn at the site that AI didn't say?
Questions we still haveAsk students to say one question the site gave them that AI couldn't answer. Then try asking AI. Is AI's answer satisfying? What would you need to go back and find out?
Years 7–10
Historical sourcesAsk AI: "What historical sources exist for [site name]? Which perspectives are well-represented and which are missing?" Compare this with the sources the Tohu Whenua programme introduced at the site.
Cause and effectDescribe to AI what happened at this site historically. Ask: "What were the causes of this event, and what were its long-term effects for the people involved?" Does AI's account match the perspectives of the people whose stories the site tells?
Continuity and changeAsk AI: "What has changed at or around [site name] since the historical period this place represents? What has stayed the same?" Students compare AI's answer with their own observations from the visit.
Interpreting sourcesAsk AI to describe one historical event connected to the site from two different perspectives. Which perspective did the site emphasise? What does that choice tell us about how history is remembered here?
Years 11–13
Historical significanceAsk AI: "Why is [site name] considered historically significant in Aotearoa New Zealand? What criteria are used to determine heritage significance?" Evaluate AI's response against the Heritage New Zealand registration criteria and the stories the site itself tells.
Contested historiesAsk AI: "What are the different and sometimes conflicting interpretations of the history of [site name]?" Identify where AI acknowledges interpretive uncertainty and where it presents a single account. What does the site itself do with that contestation?
Power and representationAsk AI: "Whose voices are most prominent in the historical record of [site name]? Whose are least represented, and why?" Apply this analysis to what students observed — whose stories were told and through what medium?
Evidence and interpretationAsk AI to identify the primary sources available for a specific historical question raised by the site visit. Evaluate the reliability, perspective, and limitations of each source AI identifies. What would a historian need that AI cannot provide?
Experience Trace Scale — history where it happened
Level Years 1–6 Years 7–10 Years 11–13
1 I can describe one thing I saw or heard at the site that I couldn't have learned from a screen. I can describe what happened at this site historically and explain why it is remembered. I can characterise the site's historical significance using the evidence I encountered there and the sources AI identified.
2 I can say whose story this place tells and why that story matters. I can explain the causes and effects of the historical events connected to this site and identify whose perspectives shaped the account I encountered. I can construct a causal narrative of the historical events connected to the site and identify the interpretive choices embedded in how those events are presented.
3 I can say one thing AI told me and whether it matched what I saw and heard at the site. I can identify where AI's historical account matched the site evidence and where it simplified, omitted, or presented a single perspective. I can critically evaluate AI's historical account against primary sources, the site's own interpretation, and the perspectives of tangata whenua, identifying where AI's account is limited or contested.
4 I can say why standing at this place gave me something I couldn't have got from a book or a screen. I can explain what direct experience of a historical site adds to historical understanding that secondary sources and AI cannot provide. I can articulate the epistemological distinction between standing in a place where history happened, reading secondary accounts of it, and querying AI — and explain the different kinds of understanding each produces.
5 I can say one question the site gave me that I still want to find out the answer to. I can identify a historical question raised by the site visit that remains genuinely unresolved, and propose what sources or experiences would help answer it. I can propose a historical research question arising from the site visit, identify appropriate primary and secondary sources, and explain what additional site experience or expert knowledge would be needed to develop a well-evidenced interpretation.
Tohu Whenua — a partnership between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, DOC Te Papa Atawhai, and Manatū Taonga  ·  tohuwhenua.nz  ·  Real World Ready methodology by Field-Based STEM
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