What Children Are Learning
This term students in Year 6 will be studying a sustainability
unit centred around a short film produced by artist Chris Jordan. This film introduces students to the effects of waste plastics in the Midway Atoll, located
in the North Pacific Ocean. The small group of islands is surrounded by an
ocean that has become known as a soup of litter. The litter is washing up on the
shores and having a devastating effect on the marine species of this area.
Students will be empowered as active and informed citizens
through problem solving a series of structured inquiry driven
learning phases to:
Why Are They Learning
Multiple learning disciplines from of the Australian
Curriculum will be embedded in this thematic unit, with an emphasis on the
Cross Curriculum Priority of Sustainability. The following Humanities and
Social Sciences Curriculum outcome for year 6 will drive the learning in this
unit:
The obligations citizens may
consider they have beyond their own national borders as active and informed
global citizens (ACHASSK148)
The global interdependent nature of our modern world must
assume that everybody’s actions or inactions have consequences that span the
globe, generations and protrude into the future. This unit
aims to foster this belief by exploring the issue of waste and pollution from
a global citizenship perspective. The learning in this unit
aims to align with the Australian Curriculum assertion that “through the priority of sustainability, students
develop the knowledge, skills, values and world views necessary to contribute
to more sustainable patterns of living”.
How Are They Learning
The planned unit recognises and adopts the international ‘Education
for Sustainable Development’ approach to education for sustainability. The unit aims to not only educate about the environment but to promote
futuristic and transformative thinking in regards to sustainable choices. Students
through critical and systems thinking processes will envision a better future
for themselves, their school, and their world. Students will develop partnerships
and actively participate in influencing change in regards to plastic waste in
their school community.
How
Parents/Carers Can Support Their Child’s Learning
We all want a better world for
our children, I invite you to be a part of this exciting
learning journey, so together we can make a difference. Be informed, talk, and come up with solutions about how you
can make more sustainable choices for your family and household. Students in
this unit will create their own alternatives to plastic to use in their lunch
boxes, we would really appreciate your support by trying these suggestions
out and seeing if they work for your family. Below are some links to interesting websites about sustainability.
The Story of Stuff website
Clean Up Australia website -
WWF- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle website
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References
Australian Curriculum and Reporting Association, (2015). Cross curriculum priorities:
sustainability. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/sustainability/in-the-learning-areas
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, (2016).
Australian curriculum: Humanities and
social sciences. Retrieved from:http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability, [ARIES],
(2004-2016). Education for
sustainability. Retrieved from: http://aries.mq.edu.au/about/education_for_sustainability_processes/index.php
Killen, (2013). Chapter 10:
using problem solving as a teaching strategy. Retrieved from: https://mylo.utas.edu.au/content/enforced/178687-AW_EED_16S5_12888_1_0_0_1_1/Ch%2010%20Killen%20(2013)_Prob%20Solve.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=LmIO1tdalGMlgII2hrG70nPv6&ou=178687
Killen, (2013). Chapter 11:
using inquiry as a teaching strategy. Retrieved from: https://mylo.utas.edu.au/content/enforced/178687-AW_EED_16S5_12888_1_0_0_1_1/Ch%2011%20Killen%20(2013)_inquiry.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=LmIO1tdalGMlgII2hrG70nPv6&ou=178687
Thiele, L. (2013). Introduction:
sustainability. Retrieved from: https://mylo.utas.edu.au/content/enforced/178687-AW_EED_16S5_12888_1_0_0_1_1/Thiele%202013%20introduction.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=LmIO1tdalGMlgII2hrG70nPv6&ou=178687
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Monday 28 November 2016
Sustainability Education: Plastic Waste
Monday 21 November 2016
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Culture Education: Tangdimmaa, People, Environment and Place.
What Children Are Learning
Students in year
4 will this term be studying an integrated unit centred around the local
Aboriginal history and culture of the Rocky Cape National Park. This land holds
great significance, both past and present, to the Aboriginal community and is
known as Tangdimmaa. Students will be guided by the
following inquiry questions informed by the Australian Curriculum for this year
group:
- How did the natural environment support the Tommeginer people of this land?
- What was the traditional diet of the Tommeginer people?
- How did the Tommeginer people ensure that food sources were adequate from season to season?
- How was the traditional Aboriginal diet affected by colonisation?
- What is being done today to manage
these resources?
The Australian Curriculum asserts that all students
should be offered rich and meaningful learning experiences to “engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of
the world’s oldest continuous living cultures” (ACARA, 2015). A further
commitment has been outlined in the Melbourne Declaration to ensure “students understand
and acknowledge the value of Indigenous cultures and possess the knowledge,
skills and understanding to contribute to, and benefit from, reconciliation
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians” (MCEETYA, 2008). This unit
aims to align with both of these commitments by using inquiry based learning to
promote creative and divergent thinking while building skills, knowledge,
understandings to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
How They Are
Learning
The teaching and
learning that will occur in this unit will be guided by the 8 ways of learning framework developed for Aboriginal education. The purpose of this is
to ensure students will learn through culture, not just about it. An interconnected
approach to learning has been adopted to deepen understandings and draw on
multiple learning areas from the curriculum. Students will:
- Construct learning maps to answer inquiry questions.
- Participate in hands on and kinaesthetic learning through contextualised experiences in the field. This will occur through linking learning to the land by taking part in an excursion to Rocky Cape National Park to meet, listen to stories, and be guided by a local Aboriginal elder.
- Invite community members into the school to showcase their work and present an acknowledgement of country.
- Prepare and share food featuring traditional and indigenous ingredients,
plant an indigenous food garden and share stories of their learning and experiences
throughout the unit.
How Parents/Carers Can
Support Their Child’s Learning
- As a family you could watch the movie Manganinnie, a story of an Aboriginal woman set in Tasmania. It is available on SBS on demand, or follow the link. http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/48205379935/manganinnie
- Talk to your children about the importance of Aboriginal culture to foster an attitude of respect and curiosity.
- Investigate and visit together other local Aboriginal sites and people.
- Come along to the open day that will be planned by students to showcase their work in this unit.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment
and Reporting Authority, (2015). Australian
curriculum: Humanities and social sciences. Retrieved from:http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
Australian Curriculum, Assessment
and Reporting Authority, (2015). Australian
curriculum: cross curriculum priorities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories and culture. Retrieved from: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures/overview
Department
of Education and Skills (2006). Learning outside
the classroom manifesto. Retrieved from: https://mylo.utas.edu.au/content/enforced/157858-AW_EED_16S2_11696_1_0_0_1_1/module%2002/Week%2010/Learning%20outside%20classroom%20UK-Manifesto.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=Xjeph8GU3mHbBlRkRoPR4XgoG&ou=157858
Department
of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment [DPIPWE] (2008). Parks and
wildlife services Tasmania. Retrieved from: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/indeX.aspX?base=3710
Gilbert, R. & Hoepper, B.
(2014). Teaching humanities and social
sciences: history, geography, economics & citizenship (5th Ed.). South
Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning Australia Pty. Ltd.
Ministerial Council on Education,
Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians.
Retrieved from: http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf
Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences in
the primary school (3rd Ed.). Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, T., Fahey, C., Kriewaldt,
J. & Boon, D. (2012). Place and time: Explorations in teaching Geography
and History, Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia
Yunkaporta, T., (2009). Aboriginal pedagogies at the cultural interface.
Retrieved from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/10974/4/04Bookchapter.pdf
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