Te Awa will enable students to deepen their understanding of the critical importance of awa/rivers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The textbook will confront the history of our complex, and often conflicted, relationship with rivers, the tension between competing interests that have been an ever-present element in our relationship with rivers, and how it is critical to building a shared understanding of how to better restore and protect these precious natural resources for our future.
Each chapter of the textbook helps students explore the big ideas of Understand: the significance of awa for Māori, the geography of our rivers, how our rivers were transformed by European colonisation, the environmental impact of gold mining on rivers, how our the natural energy of our rivers was harnessed for producing electricity, how we have protected our awa for recreational uses, and how we can work together to protect and restore the mana and mauri of our rivers for future generations. The final chapter supports student research and helps to progress the learning of students through a series of river project ideas related to a local stream, river, or wetland in their region.

Te Awa draws on contexts from communities, iwi, and hapū across the motu.

The various contexts covered in Te Awa incorporate key Social Studies skills and the significant learning and concepts from History and Geography.