New Zealand Customs Cause and Effect

We continued our inquiry into British migration to New Zealand. Using a cause and effect map we uncovered that we owe the British for rugby, fish and chips and sea side holidays.

New Zealand has many customs and traditions such as playing rugby, cricket and soccer, eating fish and chips and going to the beach during summer and on hot days. Would you believe that these traditions can be traced back to Britain?

New Zealand’s major sporting codes cricket, rugby and soccer have English origins. Rugby originated in England’s public schools, and it was first played in New Zealand by old boys of those schools. A possible outcome of British people bringing rugby and cricket to New Zealand is that New Zealand became Rugby World Champions in 1987, 2011, 2015 and Cricket World Cup finalists 2015.

Research suggests an English diet which consisted of meat, potatoes and cereals, together with bread, cakes and puddings was established by migrants. Fish, in the form of fish and chips, was introduced to New Zealand from northern England. Consequently these days New Zealanders chomp their way through about seven million servings of chips a week, or about 120,000 tonnes a year.

The emergence of New Zealanders’ strong like for seaside holidays and sea bathing followed developments in England, where by mid-Victorian times the middle-class family seaside holiday had become an established tradition. New Zealand adopted the English changing sheds and now enjoy regular trips to the beach and having bach holidays.

Although these traditions and customs are well established in New Zealand we believe the future of them may change due to immigration. One possible outcome of immigration is that New Zealand will play more hockey. Indian immigration is on the rise and as hockey is the national sport of India, this may mean more people will be playing hockey here. The more people that play hockey competitively means there is a better chance of New Zealand becoming World Champions one day. Another tradition that may change is that of eating fish and chips. Lots of immigrants are coming from Asia establishing their own restaurants and takeaway shops, therefore there are more options for dinner than just fish and chips. In our class only 4 people out of 28 ate fish and chips in the last week, while 21 ate Asian food. This shows that the popularity of eating fish and chips may be decreasing.

We believe our cause and effect is extended abstract because we identified several relevant different causes and effects.  We looked at the information in a different way to make a prediction about the future of New Zealand customs and traditions.