Lesson Plan

Curriculum

Lesson Objectives:

Students Prior Knowledge:Prior to this lesson students have;

Investigated bushfires in Australia Researched bushfires including their effects on the environment, how people prepare and how

people respond to these natural disasters Participated in a presentation from local SES representatives informing students about

bushfires and what we can do to prevent and respond to them Sourced and classified items in the school environment that would be affected by a bushfire

and consequently how they affect us.

By the end of this lesson, students can demonstrate their ability to; Create a Venn diagram showing the similarities and differences of the use of fire by

Indigenous people in the past and by us today in the 21st century Evaluate pictures of Indigenous people using fire and answer questions based on the

individual interpretation of the picture Create a story of how you and your family use fire after reading the story from an Indigenous

girl Reflect on the feelings of Indigenous people after European settlement and how this affected

their traditions, such as their fire tradition.

Date: Time: 60 minutes

Unit: Geography – Bushfires Lesson: 5

Level: Five

Geography The impact of bushfires or floods on environments and communities, and how people can

respond (ACHGK030) The influence of the environment on the human characteristics of a place (ACHGK028)

LESSON STRUCTURE:

Time Introduction & Motivation: Teaching Approaches & Resources

10 mins

To begin lesson, students are seated on the floor. Teacher raises a discussion topic:

o What do we use fires for today? Collect answers from individual students in a whole

group discussion format. Explain to students that today we are going to find

out how people used fire before Captain Cook discovered Australia and also reflect on how we use fire in the 21st century.

Explain rotations: students will work in small groups to research both of these topics and compare the two:

a) Students look at images of people from the past starting fires/ using fires and complete a part of the learning activity sheet (appendix 1) in the unit booklet.

b) Students read a story from an Aboriginal women who grew up with fire. Once students have read the story write their own story about how they use fire.

c) The final rotation asks students to put yourself in the shoes of an Indigenous person and use Popplet to write how an Indigenous person would have felt when European settlers took over their land and their fire tradition was taken away from them. Students may need to research some of this information to help write their responses. The websites will be provided.

*See appendix 1 for all of the activities.

Explain to students that once you have visited each rotation, you will work independently to create a Venn diagram (online or written) showing similarities and differences between how we use fire and how Indigenous people used fire in the information and activities you have been given (Appendix 2)

Resources: Appendix 1 –

Bushfire Booklet page

Teaching approaches: Whole group

discussion Teacher instruction

Time Main Content: Teaching Approaches & Resources

30 mins (rotations)

20 mins (Venn diagram)

Introduce students to appendix 3 (information about why Aboriginal people used fire). Have students look at the board and have students read each circle.

Instruct students to get into their allocated groups and move to their rotations.

Student’s spend 10 minutes at each rotation and will move to the next rotation once the timer goes off.

Call students to go back to their desks after 30 minutes to complete their individual reflection and Venn diagram task.

When students are working independently, provide scaffolding questions (appendix 4) to assist students who may find this process difficult. If students feel they have finished this activity before the time is up, urge them to go to the activity stations to find more information.

Resources: Rotation equipment Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Venn diagram template

(written or online)-

Teaching approaches: Group work Independent work

Time Conclusion: Teaching Approaches & Resources

The lesson will finish with students creating their Venn diagram individually.

Assessment of LearningFormative:The concept map that students create in their unit booklets will be analysed and assessed. This will show the teacher the knowledge students gained from the lesson as well as their ability to reflect on themselves and their lives to compare the two topics.See appendix 5 for reflection and observation questions the teacher will use when reviewing the students work books.

EvaluationKey questions after each lesson:

1. Did students learn what they were supposed to? (Self-evaluation of learning experience outcomes) Were the learning experiences intellectually challenging? Did my classroom environment actively support student engagement? Are the students genuinely connected to the knowledge explored in my classroom? Do I acknowledge diversity and difference, and respond flexibly?

2. How could this lesson be improved for next time? (If I was to teach this lesson again what would I change and why?)

3. How were authoritative pedagogies supported? (e.g. Productive Pedagogies, Bloom’s Taxonomies)

What’s next? (Points to inform subsequent lesson)

APPENDIX 1 Activity 1:

Look at the pictures and the information given in the concept map to answer the

following questions;

1. In what ways did the manner in which Indigenous people use fire help to care for

and preserve the land?

2. Choose 5 adjectives (describing words) that you think best describe Indigenous use

of fire. One, for example, might be ‘knowledgeable’.

1.

Appendix 3 (concept map used in Orientation and Activity 1)

Activity 2 (Appendix 1)

Story from an Indigenous girl:

Fire is really important. It has its own dreaming. There are people and families that are responsible for are responsible for the fire dreaming. They know the songs and the ceremony.

When I was a small girl, children were not allowed to play with fire. At the camp site, the area around the fire pit was cleared, just like making a fire break, making a safe place for sleeping.

My grandfather used to talk to the other men about the best time and place to burn. They would wait for the right wind and pick the right grass. They were careful not to burn country belonging to other people.

As we travelled around our Grandmother would tell us stories. When we camped at old camping sites, they would dig out the fire pits showing us the different coloured ash. The different colours showed the different times people had camped there.

As small kids we would go to the river, collect little pebbles and crush them up. Then we would make patterns in the ground telling fire pit stories.

YOU’RE TURN! Write your own story about how you and your family use fire. Think about electricity, cooking, candles, etc.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Activity 3:

1. Put yourself in the shoes of an Indigenous person. Think about European settlers taking over the land of Indigenous people.

2. Use Popplet to write the feelings of an Indigenous person when European settlers took over their land and took away their fire tradition.

3. Use the following websites to find some information to include in your response.

Websites: - http://anpsa.org.au/APOL3/sep96-1.html - http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/fire/fire-and-the-environment/41-

traditional-aboriginal-burning- http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/kids/culture/fire.shtml - http://www.clc.org.au/articles/info/fire-management1 - http://theconversation.com/the-biggest-estate-on-earth-how-aborigines-made-

australia-3787

Appendix 2

Venn diagram template students will use to create the similarities and differences comparison or how Indigenous people use fire compared to how we use fire today:

Appendix 4

Scaffolding questions- when students are working independently to create the Venn diagram comparison, ask students the following questions who are struggling:

- Teach students firstly how the Venn diagram works. - Write down some points of how Indigenous people used fire. - Did Indigenous people need fire to cook food? - How do we cook our hot food? - When Indigenous people were cold, what did they use to keep themselves warm? - When we are cold at home, what do we use to keep ourselves warm?- When we want to call our friends, how do we do this? - Indigenous people did not have phones, email, etc., how did they contact their

friends and family? - What do we use in the environment to clear long grass or trees that we don’t want

there anymore? - Indigenous people did not have bulldozes so how did they clear these things away?

Appendix 5 Reflection and observation questions to review when looking at students work books and work from this lesson.

Question: Yes/ No Comments:

Did the student include at least 5 similarities and differences in the Venn diagram?

Did these points reflect the knowledge gained from the lesson rotation activities?

Did the student think critically and appropriately about how they use fire themselves and with their family?

Did the student use appropriate and relevant facts regarding how Indigenous people used fire?

Did the student complete all activities (rotation activities and Venn diagram independent activity)