Act Now to Save Tomorrow Year Seven Unit

Theme: SustainabilityAim:

Environmental education for sustainability is a concept encompassing a vision for education that seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future.

 Students will have opportunities to be prepared and empowered to

assume responsibilities for creating and enjoying a sustainable future. Well in advance of the UN initiative, the 1999 Adelaide Declaration by Australian Ministers of Education included the goal that: when students leave school, they should have an understanding of, and concern for stewardship of the natural environment, and the knowledge to contribute to ecologically sustainable development.

Students need to understand the complexity of the world in which they live and to have the knowledge, critical thinking skills, values and capacity to participate in decision making about environmental and development issues.

Students will be engaged in integrated programs focusing on biodiversity, water, waste and climate change.

Goals• Students will understand the complexity of

the global issue of sustainability and will be given a voice on this critical environmental matter.

• Students will care and take pride in the natural world around them.

• Students will develop a repertoire of skills that they will be able to use in the real world.

• Students will become informed and active citizens on tomorrow.

ObjectivesStudents will understand and learn about:• Elements (climate, natural and built features, human activity) that make up significant

local, national and global natural and built environments and the ways in which the features of these environments are interconnected

• The effects of change (eg climate change, human activity) on local, national and global natural environments

• The difference between probable futures (i.e. what is likely to happen unless there is some intervention), preferred futures (i.e. what they would like to see) and possible futures (i.e. what is possible if some change is made)

Students will learn to:• Make considered decisions as a consumer to protect precious resources (eg reusing,

packaging, using alternatives to plastic bags) and develop resource saving systems in their classroom and school

• Take responsibility for nurturing and caring for local places and such as their school

• Students will develop attitudes and values about:• How the actions of communities and individuals, including their own, contribute to the

sustainability of resources and local environments and shape the future for future generations

• How building sustainability requires that people, as environmental stewards, work together as citizens and consumers to participate in appropriate actions to affect positive change

KLA’S

• Studies of Society• English• Mathematics• ICT• Science• Art• Health and Physical Ed

Essential LearningsHealth and Physical Well Being• Energy balance can be achieved by selecting a range of foods from the five food

groups, in amounts that reflect personal factors, age and activity levels.Science• plan activities and investigations, identifying and using elements of a fair test• collect and organise data, information and evidence, evaluate information and

evidence to support data gathered from activities and investigations, select and use tools, technologies and materials suited to the activities and investigations

• Science can help to make natural, social and built environments sustainable and may influence personal human activities

• Changes to the surface of the earth or the atmosphere have identifiable causes, including human and natural activity

ICT• plan, conduct and manage structured searches for data and information• organise and identify relationships between data and information from a variety of

sources• evaluate the data and information gathered for usefulness, credibility, relevance and

accuracy

M athematics• Defining features, including edges, angle sizes and

parallel lines, are used to make accurate• representations of 2D shapes and 3D objects.• Patterns in space and number, and relationships

between quantities, including equivalence, can be represented using concrete and pictorial materials, lists, tables and graphs

The Arts• create and shape arts works by organising arts

elements to express personal and community• values, beliefs and observations• Role and status of relationships can be maintained

using movement, including posture, gesture• and body position, and expression of voice

English• identify the relationship between audience, purpose and text type • Readers and viewers use a number of active comprehension

strategies to interpret texts, including activating prior knowledge, predicting, questioning, identifying main ideas, inferring, monitoring, summarising and reflecting.

• Identify and demonstrate the relationship between audience, subject matter, purpose and text type.

• Nonverbal elements, including facial expressions, gestures and body language, establishing the mood, signal relationships and create effects are monitored by listeners.

• Readers and viewers use a number of active comprehension strategies to interpret texts, including activating prior knowledge, predicting, questioning, identifying main ideas, inferring, monitoring, summarising and reflecting.

• The purpose of writing and designing includes evoking emotion, persuasion and informing.

• Figurative Language, including similes, metaphors and personification develops imagery and humour.

• Non-literary texts evaluate, inform, present arguments and persuade.

Studies of Society• pose and refine questions for investigations• • plan investigations based on questions and inquiry models• • collect and organise information and evidence• • evaluate sources of information and evidence to determine different perspectives, and

distinguish• facts from opinions• • draw and justify conclusions based on information and evidence• • • share opinions, identify possibilities and propose actions to respond to findings• • apply strategies to influence decisions or behaviours and to contribute to groups• • reflect on and identify personal actions and those of others to clarify values associated with

social• justice, the democratic process, sustainability and peace• • reflect on learning to identify new understandings and future applications.

• Physical features of environments influence the ways in which people live and work in• communities• e.g. climate affects housing design and leisure activities; natural resources may determine

employment• opportunities.• • Sustainability of local natural, social and built environments can be influenced by positive and• negative attitudes and behaviours• e.g. positive responses to water management

Inquiry QuestionHow can you create a more sustainable future?

SEQUENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

Each Lesson is 60 minutes.

Activities 1-3• BiodiversityActivities 4-7• WaterActivities 8- 12• WasteActivities 13- 15• Climate change

Teaching StrategiesInquiry Learning

Teacher Resources and EquipmentLiterary Texts

• Baker, J. (2002). Window. London: Walker.• French, J. (2010).The Tomorrow Book. Sydney: Harper Collins

Publishers.• Savvides, I. (2004). A marathon of her own: the diary of Sophia

Krikonis. Melbourne: Scholastic. • Seaus, D. (Author). Danson, T. (Reader). (2004). The Lorax. (Audio

CD). London: Collins.• Smith, K. (2008) One hen: how one small loan made a big difference.

Kids Can Press. • Stanton, A. (2008). Wall- E. (DVD). United States: Disney Pixar.• Thiele, C. (2002). Storm Boy. Sydney: New Holland.

Non Literary Texts

• Discover & learn about Australian wetlands and waterways / text, Pat Slater ; photographs, Steve Parish.

• Discover & learn about Australian forests and woodlands / text, Pat Slater ; photographs, Steve Parish. Non Literary Texts

• Bio Engineering Group. (2010). Rethink | Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9I3Q6-ZSTI&feature=related

• Gore, A. (2007). An inconvenient truth: the crisis of global warming. London: Bloomsbury.

• Guggenheim, D. (2006) An Inconvenient Truth. (DVD). United States: Paramount Pictures.

• Kuzniar, J. (2008). Four reasons to switch to switch to solar power today. Article retrieved from http://www.articlesbase.com/nature-articles/4-reasons-to-switch-to-solar-power-today-376928.html

• Australian Government. (2009). Take Action: Save Energy, Save Water, Reduce Waste and Travel Smarter. Retrieved from http://www.livinggreener.gov.au/take-action

• World Design Interactive. (2010). Ollie saves the world, Interactive Website: Articles on Reuse, Reduce, Air, Wate, Water, Biodiversity, Energy, Recycle and Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.olliesworld.com/planet/aus/info/index.htm

• Oracle Education Foundation. (2002). What is global warming? Article retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/global_warming.htm

• Planet Kids. (2006). How to build your own worm farm. Article retrieved from http://www.planetkids.biz/documents/How_to_Build_Your_Own_Worm_Farm.pdf

Equipment• Magazine, brochures• Glue• Paint• Pens• Pencils• Cardboard (variety of colours)• Gloves• Manure• Worms• Compost• Computers• Dictionaries• Buckets• Shovel• Projector• Television• DVD Player

Activity OneKLA: English Assessment Item: Comic Strip

• The teacher will begin the lesson by introducing the The Tomorrow Book to the students, and explaining that the book contains a large quantity of fantastic ideas about working towards a more sustainable future.

• The teacher will then hand out The Tomorrow Book to each child, and allow the students to independently read and enjoy the story.

 • After the students have finished reading, the teacher will facilitate a class discussion about what is a

‘main idea’. The teacher will then explicitly teach the students reading strategies they can use to help them identify ‘main idea/s’ in a text.

• The students will then reread The Tomorrow Book, and focus on identifying the ‘main ideas’ about living in a more sustainable world.

• The teacher will then bring the class back together and facilitate a discussion about the main ideas that were recognized. (What the future might be like, Water, Sustainability, Conservation – animals and the environment, food, transport, power and its sources, pollution, houses, global warming, change and how it affects us, space, hope, and awareness and action.) The teacher will write their ideas on the interactive whiteboard, and distribute the document to students at a later date.

• The students will then choose one main idea from The Tomorrow Book, and create a five-frame comic strip. Each of the five frames will illustrate a significant action that the students can do in relation to their chosen ‘idea’

Activity TwoKLA: Studies of Society

• Working in pairs students are provided with a letter from the word ’Biodiversity’. At this stage don’t tell them what the word actually is. Students create a biodiversity collage by covering each letter with pictures of native plants, animals and the places they live. Pictures can be obtained from newspapers, magazines, travel brochures and calendars.

• Once complete ask the students to rearrange the letters from the collage to make a word. What words can they create? Will they be able to make the word ‘biodiversity’?

• If the students are having difficulty you may need to provide clues like starts with a ‘b’ ends with a ‘y’ and so on. In small groups students use a dictionary to discover the meaning of the word 'biodiversity'. The word may need to be separated into individual parts eg bio + diversity.

• Decide on a class definition for biodiversity. For example biodiversity could be described as ‘the different kinds of plants and animals and the places they live’. Refer back to the ‘Biodiversity’ collage to illustrate the components of biodiversity that are described in the definition.

Activity FourKLA: Studies of Society/ DramaStudents will research on the computers in pair and answer the

following questions:• What are some ways to protect native animals from cats and

dogs?• What animals and birds are native to your area? What do they

like to eat?• Can you plant anything to provide them with more food?

Improvise in drama: students will take on the role of an Australian animal you have researched and imagine that you are to go to a zoo in another country. The animal must tell the zookeepers what sort of habitat and food it requires in order to stay healthy.

Activity ThreeKLA: Studies of Society, Numeracy and ICTAssessment Item: Students new design of a local area.

Students will:

• observe the local area and communicate what they see using maps and drawings

• explore different urban environments and discuss similarities and differences

• consider different ways of drawing and representing, to communicate different information about built environments (e.g. 2D, 3D, ‘birds eye view’, perspective, top, side views, photographs)

• discuss ways people use their environment

• identify and redesign one aspect of the local area using the computer programme “SimSocieties”.

Activity Five

KLA: ScienceAssessment Item: Water Animation

• Discuss the water cycle and how it works, using a big

• book such as Waterways or The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks to promote discussion. Introduce and explain the terms, “water cycle”, “evaporation”, “condensation” and “precipitation”.

• Students then use the animation program to create the water cycle in pairs.

Activity Six

KLA: Science and ArtAssessment Item: Poster

Create a poster showing the ways to save, recycle and re-use the water that flows down the drain either at home and school. It could be drinking water, rainwater, and storm water or water that ends up at the sewerage treatment plants — how can we recycle and reuse it? Posters could show ideas to minimize water loss and water capture ideas.

Activity Seven

KLA: ScienceAssessment Item: Chart

• Each student will conduct a water saving audit at their home the night before the lesson.

• Students will then bring in their data and draw conclusions and inferences about their personal water usage.

• Students will then design and create a chart that shows bathroom water saving tips.

Activity EightKLA: Studies of Society

Focus Question: How do we ensure a continuous supply of clean, safe water?Present scenarios like the following to the class:• You go to a tap. The water is brown. How do you know it is safe to drink?• You are camping in the bush by a river. You need water to drink. You are

not sure that the water is suitable for• drinking. What do you do?• There is lots of silt and impurities in the river. What can you and other

people do to improve the situation?• The local community is concerned about the quality of their water. What

could they do about this?

Students discuss these scenarios and present their solutions to the class.Record suggested solutions. Consider if alternatives exist. Discuss how practical

these solutions might be as well as people’s rights and responsibilities in these situations.

Ask students:• Does it matter if the solution is very expensive?• Would you pay more to have a permanent and clean, safe water supply?

Activity NineKLA: EnglishAssessment Item: English Booklet

• The teacher will then discuss the importance of being able to identify the relationship between the audience, subject matter, purpose and text type/ genres. Therefore students will be familiar with and appreciate the diversity of texts available to them and improve their comprehension skills.

• The students will then brainstorm different text types that they know and the characteristics of those texts. The teacher will write their answers on the interactive whiteboard.

• The teacher will put a ‘Narrative’ text on the board and will deconstruct the text with students. The teacher will then facilitate a class discussion on how a reader can identify the different cues (syntactic and semantic) that he/she can use that will indicate the audience, subject matter, purpose and the text type/ genre.

• The teacher will then split the class into groups of four and hand out six different text types (report, recount, procedure, explanation, and exposition) for the students to deconstruct.

• The students will work together as a group to identify the audience, subject matter, purpose and text type/ genres. The students will write their answers down under each text type, in their English booklet.

  

Activity Ten

KLA: ICT and EnglishAssessment Item: Letter• Students will research and identify ways in the

community which we can reduce, recycle and reuse. The students will then write a letter to the mayor addressing this issue.

Activity Eleven

KLA: Health and Physical Education

• Students will create a ‘Green Zone” in their school.

• Students will research sustainable feature that they can complement at the school. (Vegetable Garden, Native Plants, Compost Bins, Rain water tanks)

• Students will organize a 'healthy food' day. They will invite the principal parents and carers to taste some school-grown vegetables.

Activity Twelve

KLA: Studies of Society and Art• Students will research information about

‘Clean up Australia Day’.• Students will then individually design posters

that promote ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ which they will display around the school.

Activity Thirteen

KLA: Numeracy Assessment Item: Newsletter Report

• Students to do a school grounds clean up, sort and classify any litter and graph the main types of litter found. They then report their results in a school newsletter.

Activity FourteenKLA: EnglishAssessment Item: Journal Entry

• The teacher will explain to students that today, they will critically analyse how a non-literary text presents arguments. The students will participate in a class discussion, on what is classified as a non-literary text. Students will work to create a definition and create a list of examples of non-literary texts, which will be useful when researching their rich task. The teacher will then focus the students’ attention on the fact that a documentary, which they just watched is considered a non literary text: it presents arguments in a logical format. The students will then have a discussion about, “What makes a good argument?”  

• The students will then watch a twenty minute segment of An Inconvenient Truth, paying particular attention to the argument/s presented. The teacher will also distribute the young person’s guide of, An Inconvenient Truth to the each student.

• The teacher will ask the students; whether they think humans have enhanced Global Warming, as stated in the documentary. The students will respond, by writing a journal entry stating their opinion on the topic and providing three reasons to support their opinion. Students should use information presented in the documentary/or background knowledge on the topic.

Activity Fifteen

KLA: ArtAssessment Item: Students Contribution to

Mural

• Using collage materials, make a class mural that reflects all the things the class would like to see in the world of the future.

Student Profile

This unit plan addresses the interests and needs of all students because it offers learning through engaging and exciting real-life activities. There are opportunities for practical hands on work and creativity is encouraged and promoted throughout the unit. In the instance that three new ESL students arrived in my class I would tailor the programme so they were still able to achieve the goal and objectives. This would include making the language on worksheets more simple and easier to understand. I would also model every activity so that all students understood what was happening and expected. I would also give each ESL student a buddy who could help them work through the activities together.

Resources

• http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/7444.html• http://www.environment.gov.au/education/• http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/education/

index.html• http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/education/• http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/

for_teachers/sample_curriculum_content/tm_-_environmental_education_teacher.html

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