Plan of Action
Studies of Society & Environment: Year 5
Place and space
K & U: Local natural, social and built environments are defined by specific features and can be sustained by certain activities.
Year 5 Students discover that behind their own school is bushland corridor with a small creek running through it. It is covered in rubbish, full of weeds and despite the fact that students have seen birds, frogs, fish and a few small rodents or mammals nobody in the community is aware of what lives there and if it is important. The plan is to use the creek project and incorporate it into a Place and Space Unit of Work.
What your learners will be learning and demonstrating at the end? (WoW)
Students will learn that:
• Local environments are distinguished by natural features, places of importance to particular
groups, and public spaces
e.g. a suburb may have bushland and waterways, communal meeting places, and parks.
• Resources and environments can be used, conserved and protected by valuing and applying
sustainable practices
e.g. reducing water use; turning off appliances to conserve electricity; picking up litter to protect wildlife.
• Maps have symbols to represent places and identify the relative position of features including
landmarks and locations
e.g. a 2D map using pictograms such as a large red circle to represent a city and blue lines to represent waterways.
Students will be able to:
• 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
• communicate descriptions, decisions and conclusions, using text types selected to match audience and purpose
• 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.
What the learners will be doing? How will they be doing it?
Students will work collaboratively to brainstorm ideas and a plan of action.
Students will conduct research on the Internet about conservation, regeneration, recycling, mapping flora and fauna and community support. From this they will need to gather evidence and information and distinguish facts from opinions to formulate their own plan of action.
Students need to divide into groups and take responsibility for key sections of the plan of action. The teacher will scaffold all the activity and act as a guide, helping to identify key issues, questions that need to be addressed and how to keep the learning on track.
How ICT is embedded into the unit/learning sequence and what it is used for?
· Brainstorming session culminating in a mind map which outlines a plan of action.
· Conduct Internet searches about local flora and fauna.
· Collate the information into a database or checklist that becomes part of the wiki. Other students, local people, experts in the field and teachers can contribute. People will document what they know or have seen; reflect on what’s been done so far, what still needs to be done.
· Power Point Presentation – made by students outlining key points, research findings to date, plan of action for creek and a request for community funding and support from bush regenerations groups , local Girl Guides, or the local council for recycling bins and information/signage as well as others in community to get behind the project.
· Glogster- create an educational poster about the creek regeneration project. Make it collaborative with different students taking responsibility for different areas. Some could do online mapping of the creek, others could seek out other links to bush regeneration, some could document and photograph local flora and fauna and upload it to the Glogster. Make sure the Glogster can be accessed by all students through the wiki. Needs to be scaffolded.
· Weekly or Fortnightly Podcasts – sent to local radio station which outline the goals of the project, students findings so far, interviews with local bush regeneration experts, local authorities about the birds and animals spotted and documented. This could include interviews with older residents about what they might remember about the creek and bushland corridor before it became overrun.
· Storybird/online book could be created by students in the class. It should be done with a particular audience in mind, say Years P-3. The books audience should be authentic and its goal should be to educate and inform the younger students at the school about the Creek Project including ideas about recycling, conserving water and minimising runoff into creeks.
· Google Maps – students could use the site to map out their project, using a digital camera students could document the creek, the birds and animals and upload all this to Google Maps.
· Participate in an online chat or Web Conference with students in another part of Australia or the world working on a similar project. Use the session to share ideas and brainstorm new ones to improve the project
What the final product will be and who it will be for? (remember the authentic context)
Landcare, the schools own website. Ongoing podcasts could also continue to update the community about what has been discovered, or to rally more community support. Students in coming years will continue to work on the project, learn from the project and improve it.
How you will align your unit with Bloom’s Taxonomy to support a focus on higher order thinking?
Understanding – what existed before, what they know about it, what they might be able to do about it.
Applying – Internet searches to access information and research, experts, information on similar projects, flora and fauna databases, general information on conservation, recycling, mapping etc,
Analysing & Evaluating – the information gathered and opinions of locals, experts and other students, distinguish fact from opinion and decide what needs to be done.
Creating – wiki, Power Point presentation, Glogster, write proposals to rally support, podcasts, online books, Maps, signage for site.
Reflecting – wiki will allow ongoing reflection and contribution
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