Conference Engagement Activity
Nā Kilo Holokai: The Observant Navigators
Resources & tools
Harvard’s Pedagogy of Play
Take a look at Harvardʻs Pedagogy of Play framework, their research, and resources available for teachers.
National Institute for Play
Read more about play personalities here! You can also read through some of the science behind play.
Take the Play Personality Quiz!
Find out what play style you have by taking the quiz linked above.
Adobe Firefly
Adobe’s generative AI platform that lets users create and edit images, videos, audio, and design assets.
Playground
AI-powered design platform that helps users create logos, social media graphics, posters, mockups, and other visual content using templates, text prompts, and AI editing tools.
CANVA
Online tool for creating graphics, presentations, documents, and other media – start from scratch or start from one of their many templates.
Nā Kilo Holokai: Resources
1. Ke Pānānā Hōkū (Hawaiian Star Compass) and Celestial Navigation
These resources detail the mental map of the 32 “houses,” star identification, and the use of meridian pointers.
- Exploring the Night Sky
- Hawaiian Star Lines
- Meridian Pointers to North
- Meridian Pointers to South
- Starlines Rising and Setting
- The Celestial Sphere
- The Four Star Families (Nā ʻOhana Hōkū ʻEhā)
- Hawaiian Star Compass (Family Lesson)
- Star Navigation (Soundings Magazine)
- Navigating the Stars: Hawai‘i Rooted
- Worldwide Voyage | The Star Compass
2. Nā Ao (Reading Clouds) and Weather Forecasting
These documents focus on “harbingers of weather,” cloud elevations, and traditional weather proverbs.
3. Ka ʻIlikai: Reading the Ocean (Swells, Winds, and Currents)
Resources on sensing the motion of the sea and utilizing global wind systems.
4. Navigation Strategy and Mental Positioning
Technical explanations of dead reckoning, leeway, and designing a course.
5. ʻImi i ka ʻĀina (Locating Land) and Seabirds
Techniques for “expanded landfall” and the behavior of land-based birds like the manu-o-Kū.
6. Kino Waʻa (Canoe Construction and Parts)
Details regarding the sacred body of the canoe and anatomical terminology.
7. Historical Legacy and Modern Voyages
Resources documenting the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the legacy of Papa Mau Piailug.
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- Hawaiians as Navigators and Seamen
- Hōkūleʻa (Official PVS Site)
- Moananuiākea – Hōkūleʻa (Voyage Dashboard)
- Pacific Ingenuity: Mau Piailug and the Pwo Navigators
- He Wa`a, He Honua – The Earth is Our Canoe
- The Magic of Kealaikahiki – Nainoa Thompson
- Indigenous Taiwan: Birthplace of Polynesian Languages
- Kealaikahiki Orientation
- Learning Our Earth – Eye of the Navigator
- Moʻolelo of Mōʻīkeha
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8. Celestial Cycles and Environmental Systems
Information on the moon phases, sun paths, and broader ecological cycles.
9. General Wayfinding Education and Indigenous Knowledge
Comprehensive overviews of hoʻokele as a relationship with the natural world.