Making+Connections

**Making Connections** Students are required to undertake activities to assist them to demonstrate what they have learned and reflect on their learning.

**Lesson One (45-60 mins)** ‘The Australian Bush'** This lesson focuses on the characteristics of the Australian bush and students discover what type of plants and animals live in the ecosystem. Ask the students to mind map with the person next to them as many of the animals and plants they can think of that are present in the bush. (You may want to have a student on the computer checking answers if students come up with something you haven't heard of before - use Wikipedia). The teacher asks for a show of hands who had the Eucalyptus tree written down. Ask if any one knows how this tree can survive a fire? From the website [] read out the next paragraph: //The Eucalyptus tree is a botanical species which thrives in fire conditions; the Eucalyptus tree has leaves which contain flammable oils, thus encouraging the start of a fire and a way to eliminate plant species which are not fire-tolerant.// //The bark of the// //Eucalyptus// //tree protects the tree during a fire as it acts as insulation agent. The Eucalyptus tree regenerates itself after fire from lignotubers, located on underground roots or stems which contain bud and food reserves. The lignotubers use fire as a stimulant to develop new growth.// Explain that some trees actually have pods with seeds in them, and the pods can only open in a fire which then releases the seeds. Show pictures on a slideshow of new growth after a fire. A great website for photos is [] other websites are in teacher materials). If your school has some native trees such as Wattle or Eucalyptus take the students on a tour and ask them to identify the native trees.
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Talk about Sam the Koala and why the photo was made famous all over the world. To finish the lesson on a fun note conduct a quick true or false game with the students about Koala Facts. Use [] and get the children to put their hands on their heads for true and arms in a cross shape for false. Give the answer after each question. Link in other lessons by adding in questions about other material covered. Expand their vocabulary. Add new words to "The Wall" like lignotubers, regenerate and stimulant. The students learn more about native Australian trees and how some have evolved to adapt to bushfires. They learn that the bush can regenerate itself after a fire (link back to earlier lessons that discusses Aborigines using fire to manage their land and eco systems). Whole group and pairs for mind map. //How has nature evolved to withstand a bushfire? What are native plants? How did the other plants get to Australia?//
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THINKING PROCESSES ‘Mini Debate - Ethical decisions and Your Opinion'** Read through selected website articles relating to the Black Saturday Amateur Photographer tours through Narbethong. Students are to make up their mind if they think the tours are a good idea or not. The first article (see teacher materials) is quite one sided and persuasive, and the children learn that once they read from more sources a lot more facts are apparent and the tours have been made with ethical consideration in mind. The students hold a mini debate in class arguing the points for and against, and discussion in the "pulling together" section allows them to reflect on how they made their initial judgment and why they may have changed their mind. Students will record in their journal, and the main points from what they learnt from this exercise will be added to "The Wall". Students are made aware of the ethics involved in decision making. They will draw on their own opinion and multiple articles to debate the for and against arguments. The lesson also aims to provoke higher learning and thought processes through questioning their own values, and ethics. For further learning get the students to research other world disasters such as the attacks on Pearl Harbour, Pompeii, Anzac Cove, Ground Zero. Small groups, whole group, individual. //Do you think the tour is a good idea? Why/Why not? Who would consider visiting other disaster sites like ANZAC Cove or Ground Zero? Why was it ok for the media to take photos but not individuals?// //Why are there such conflicting views?//
 * Lesson Two (75 mins)
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THINKING PROCESS / ICT ‘Creative Marketing'** This lesson is to allow the students to use creative thinking to come up with ideas to get people visiting the attractions in the fire devastated regions. Explain to them that local business in areas such as the Yarra Valley rely heavily on tourists visiting the area. Without visitors the restaurants and tour companies cannot survive and will shut down (creating unemployment). Discuss the assistance package that the government has granted to promote tourism in these areas (see teacher materials for websites). The students are to try and think of ways to bring back the tourists. They brainstorm ideas and share them with the rest of the class. Ask the students to develop a "Business as Usual" flyer or brochure for the area. They can research what attractions are in the Yarra Valley (which will give them a sense of how much the area relies on tourism to stay afloat), include a map showing the main route from Melbourne to the Yarra Valley (geography) and then create a poster or brochure on the computer (using Publisher or PowerPoint). This could also be used as a project where students are asked to research the area on the internet at home and then design the poster/brochure at school. It would also be a great idea for the teacher to go into Melbourne city and pick up brochures on the area (printed by Tourism Victoria) for the children to have a look at. (The tourist information centre is at Federation Square). The brochures and flyers can be displayed in the room. If you have extrovert students who love attention and being in front of the class give them an option to write a TV commercial and act it out in front of the class, or a short television report that includes an interview with a local tour operator or attraction. Get them to type the scripts on PowerPoint, or if you have a classroom video camera, webcam or digital camera, allow the students to record their commercial or tv report. Students understand the ongoing effects of the bush fire. Devastated regions may still be struggling months later because of lost tourism. The students learn about geography, and develop ICT skills by creating a poster/flyer/brochure. This is a good basic introduction to economics which they will be dealing with in Year 7 as they will understand the importance of supply and demand (in this case there is little demand for tourism and an over supply which is creating economic problems, balance needs to be restored for the economic situation to recover). Whole group, individual. //Where have all the tourists gone? Are people scared to go to the areas?// //What can I do to help?//
 * Lesson Three (60 mins)
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HUMANITIES ‘Vet For A Day'** To engage class play Out of The Ashes by Neil Higgins (song about the injured animals Black Saturday) [] A link to this you tube clip can also be found from the Wildlife Victoria website [] As a whole group, link back to previous lessons and ask the students what types of wildlife are found in the bush. Get two students to write the answers on the white board. Ask them if they know what happened to the animals in the bush fire areas. Do they know who looked after any injured animals? Talk about Healesville Sanctuary's Australian Wildlife Health Centre, RSPCA, local vets. If you have enough computers for all students, ask all students to log on to [] click on Kids Territory link, and click on the Wildlife quiz. There are 5 questions about what to do with injured wildlife. After this they can try the Wildlife Detective in Interactive Games. If time allows let the children explore the rest of the Kids Territory where they will discover CT Scans and skeletons, jokes, and the Kid's Wildlife Art Gallery (they can even submit their own). If there are not enough computers, read the Wildlife quiz out to the children from your laptop, and get them to write down their answers on a sheet of paper. At the end of the five questions the children swap their paper with someone else and the students correct the work while the teacher reads the answers. Ask the children if they can name any VETs from TV - Dr Harry, and Bondi Vet Rescue. If a majority of the children got a question wrong on the quiz, add this to "The Wall" as something they learnt. Students understand that there are victims of the bush fires besides humans and that wildlife need human help to survive and recover. They learn that there are associations like the RSPCA and the Australian Wildlife Centre that dedicate their time to the welfare of animals. Students learn how to deal with wildlife (even around their home) and the appropriate things to do (like helping instead of ignoring). Whole group, individual. //Why do we need associations like the RSPCA and the Australian Wildlife Centre? As a global citizen what should I do if I see an injured animal?//
 * Lesson Four (60 mins)
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