Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Activity introduction:

This curriculum-linked activity is the second part of a larger inquiry where students will connect, understand and then act for a very special Australian species, the Plains-wanderer. In this activity, students will further understand the Plains-wanderer by researching them using a range of resources created by Zoos Victoria. Students will then use their new understanding of the Plains-wanderer to create a short story. If you would like to take this activity further, there is an option to send your students’ stories to the Zoo’s Victoria Education Team in the form of a short video for recognition and feedback.

This activity is designed as a flipped classroom where students can learn at their own pace. The accompanying student workbook for this activity has all the instructions students will need to learn independently. You are welcome to invite your class to complete this activity as a stand-alone or as part of the larger inquiry.

At the completion of this lesson you may choose to debrief with your students on their learning. This teacher guide is designed to assist you in this process by providing teaching tips and suggested answers from the Zoos Victoria Education Team.

Resources required:

● Student workbook – 1 per student (either printed or as a digital copy)● Internet access

Suggested timing:

● 60-90min

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Victorian Curriculum Learning Outcomes: Here is how you might use the Love Your Locals to teach the Victorian Curriculum:

Level Learning Area Content Descriptor

3 English Understand how different types of texts vary in use of language choices, depending on their purpose, audience and context, including tense and types of sentences (VCELA246)

3 English Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others (VCELT251)

3 English Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (VCELY257)

3 English Understand that paragraphs are a key organisational feature of written texts (VCELA259)

3 English Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students’ own and other cultures including through the use of visual features (VCELT264)

3 English Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (VCELY266)

3 English Reread and edit texts for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation (VCELY267)

4 English Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning to expand content knowledge, integrating and linking ideas and analysing and evaluating texts (VCELY288)

4 English Create literary texts by developing storylines, characters and settings (VCELT297)

4 English Create literary texts that explore students’ own experiences and imagining (VCELT298)

4 EnglishPlan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features (VCELY299)

4 EnglishReread and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure (VCELY300)

4 EnglishUnderstand that social interactions influence the way people engage with

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

ideas and respond to others (VCELA304)

3 and 4

Science Science knowledge helps people to understand the effects of their actions (VCSSU056)

3 and 4

Science Living things can be grouped on the basis of observable features and can be distinguished from non-living things (VCSSU057)

3 and 4

Science Different living things have different life cycles and depend on each other and the environment to survive (VCSSU058)

3 and 4

Geography Types of natural vegetation and the significance of vegetation to the environment, the importance of environments to animals and people, and different views on how they can be protected; the use and management of natural resources and waste, and different views on how to do this sustainably (VCGGK082)

3 and 4

Geography Similarities and differences in individuals’ and groups’ feelings and perceptions about places, and how they influence views about the protection of these places (VCGGK083)

3 and 4

Ethical Capabilities Discuss the role of personal values and dispositions in ethical decision-

making and actions (VCECD008)

Level Cross Curriculum priority3-4 Learning about sustainability

Learning Intentions:

● In Part A students will learn how by using the understand stage of Connect – Understand – Act, to investigate wildlife friendly choices.

● In Part B students will learn facts and information about Plains-wanderers, why they are important to the Victorian ecosystems and what they can do to help them thrive in the wild.

● In Part C students will write a story about the Plains-wanderer to educate other people.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Learning Outcomes:

Part A● Students can investigate the best methods to help people make good choices for wildlife● Students can explain why it is important for people to connect with animals and nature● Students can explain why it is important for people to act for wildlife

Part B● Students can share with a friend what they know about Plains-wanderers ● Students can research information on an endangered species ● Students can investigate ways to help protect animals in the wild

Part C● Students can explain why it is important to protect endangered species

Educational pedagogy:

This teaching guide uses a framework called Connect – Understand – Act (CUA). This real-world learning framework is based on research into best practice pedagogy. CUA can be used to teach constructivist approaches like inquiry-based learning, project-based learning and problem-based learning. Zoos Victoria uses CUA to educate its visitors and the wider community. Here is how it works:

Connect – powerful experiences that engage and inspire learners to want to know more about their worldUnderstand – repeated practice that transforms new skills and knowledge from working memory to long-term memoryAct – mastering what has been learnt by applying skills and knowledge in real-world contexts

This teaching guide is part of a larger inquiry that uses CUA. There is a teaching guide for each step of Connect – Understand – Act. The activities in this teaching guide will help your students understand more about an important animal species. Understand experiences allow for repeated practice that transforms new skills and knowledge from working memory to long-term memory. Here are suggestions for how to create these experiences for your students.

Teaching the Lesson:

Part A - What is Connect- Understand - Act

Below is a summary of the instructions on the student workbook with suggested answers to help you debrief your class on the activity and guide any students that may require assistance.

Step 1. To help students understand what they will be doing in this activity, they are invited to read the learning intentions and learning outcomes.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Step 2. If your students have not done the previous connect activity, they are encouraged to watch this clip about Connect - Understand - Act and learn about how Zoos Victoria engages the community.

Connect – Understand - Act – www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBv8thM-s1s&feature=youtu.be

Step 3. Now, students will watch the two clips and answer the questions below:

Zoos Victoria is Fighting Extinction’ – www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPrUvuKJs6E‘The 21 species we are trying to save’ – www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZLBdmo_Pic

● How can people connect to nature?

Suggested answers: go to the zoo, visit a natural environment, find engaging media.

● What are some ways people might learn more and understand wildlife?

Suggested answers: interview knowledgeable people, watch documentaries, or research online or at the library.

● What does it mean to act for wildlife?

Suggested answer: Acting for wildlife is doing something positive to help animals in the wild.

● Why do you think it is important for people to connect to wildlife and nature?

Students’ answers will vary for this question and will be a useful insight into what they value about nature.

Step 4. Students are then invited to think of a moment when something in nature amazed them. They are then prompted to remember how they felt in that moment and write one paragraph to describe the moment to a friend. The following tips are provided to help guide students in this activity:

When writing your paragraph, think about: ● how you felt● what you saw● why you remembered it

Step 5. Students are then invited list the different ways people can understand more about wildlife and nature. For example, by watching the Zoos Victoria live streams - www.zoo.org.au/animal-house/ to observe animals in a zoo habitat.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Step 6. In this step, students are challenged to identify actions for the environment that they may have seen in their local community? For example, banning plastic bags in supermarkets.

Teaching tip: for a range of up to date examples of community actions that could be used in a debrief session with your students, visit the Zoo Victoria’s campaigns page - https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/community-conservation-campaigns/.

Part B – Who is the Plains-wanderer? Ask an expert at Zoos Victoria!

Step 1. Students will now watch the following clips to build their knowledge of the Plains-wanderer:

● ‘Plains-wanderer Chicks’ – www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRzcEVRptxE ● ‘The Plains-wanderer (quirky bird)’ – www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC53N31rp_M● ‘Plains-wanderer chicks are the cutest’ – www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RMF4YYz94c

Extension – Students can write down any questions that they may have about the Plains-wanderer and tune in to a Q and A webinar to ask them. You can view the upcoming dates for Webinar Q and A with a Zoos Victoria teacher here – www.zoo.org.au/education/zoo-education-online/student-webinars/

Step 2. Your students are then invited to watch an existing wildlife campaign to better understand how they work. Students will watch ‘Safe Cat, Safe Wildlife’ (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOUKQDoseVQ) then answer the following questions:

● What is the message in this video?

Suggested answer: That keeping your cats indoors is better for the cat and local wildlife.

● How could this message help the Plains-wanderer and other wildlife?

Suggested answer: Cats could be a threat to the Plains-wander. So, if people kept their cats indoors there would be one less danger for this rare bird.

Step 3. After visiting www.safecat.org.au/ students will spend some time exploring the site and learning how this community campaign helps to protect cats and wildlife.

Step 4. Now students will visit www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/ and explore the site to learn some of the other ways Zoos Victoria is protecting wildlife.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Part C – Narrative Writing

To give your students the opportunity to reinforce the information that they have gained in this activity they will now be invited to create a short narrative about the Plains-wander. The following text is provided on the student workbook to guide them in this process:

Step 1. To help other people connect with a bird that is incredibly shy, Zoos Victoria will often share short stories of the animals with visitors. We found this story of Plains-wanders to be particularly cute:

“In 2019, one of the Plains-wanderer males in our care abandoned his clutch of eggs. This will occasionally happen with wild birds and the reason why is unknown. When the zookeepers found the eggs in their breeding enclosure, they had to act fast. They placed the abandoned eggs in an incubator designed to exactly replicate their dad sitting on them. After 23 days all five of the chicks successfully hatched and were given a feather duster to bunker under, acting as their surrogate father to allow them to feel safe and enclosed.” – Zoo Keepers at Werribee Open Range Zoo

Fertilised Plains-wanderer egg being raised in captivity.

Step 2. Your students will now write a short story to help others connect to the Plains-wanderer. To help them create their story they will use the templates on the following page.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

There are 3 story starters to choose from or students may choose to create one from scratch:

Step 3. Students are then asked to fill out the story planner below to structure their story.

Story Planner

Title of my story: Main Character/s:

Setting: Complication:

Resolution:

Imagine you came across a super

endangered species in your backyard or in

your school grounds.

Imagine you came across a super endangered species in your backyard or in your school grounds.

In the eyes of a lost Plains-wanderer

amongst the grasslands of Western

Victoria.

Pretend you are another species of bird, who is

trying the help the Plains-wanderer in the

wild.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Step 4. Finally, using the completed story planner, students will turn their knowledge of the Plains-wanderer into a story that will help educate others on this gorgeous bird.

Based on your professional understanding of your students’ needs, you may choose to set check-ins with your students to give feedback on their drafts, have them peer assess each other’s drafts or allow them to draft and finalise their own stories.

Part D – Share your StoryWe would love to hear your students’ stories and celebrate their success! Find instructions below on how your students can share their stories with Zoos Victoria.

Students can share a video of their story with Zoos Victoria and other schools.

If your students would like to share their story with Zoos Victoria and people from other schools, or find out what others have created, they can join Zoos Victoria’s Flipgrid.

Flipgrid is a free Microsoft platform specifically designed for learners to share their ideas, stories and work. Students can record their video using:

Flipgrid website, using the camera on their laptop or computer Flipgrid’s app (available for Apple and Android), using the camera on their phone or tablet

Instructions:

1. Decide on the level of privacy. Students can present their story in front of the camera or narrate from behind the camera. Zoos Victoria’s Flipgrids are available to anyone who has the URL and password. Please refer to your school’s privacy policy. If you need parent/guardian permission, here’s a sample form – https://static.flipgrid.com/docs/Flipgrid_consent_form.pdf All videos will be approved by a moderator before being visible to others.

2. Give students the URL and password for their website browser or Flipgrid app.URL – https://flipgrid.com/zvlocals Password – Localanimals

3. Students are welcome to watch the videos already in the grid. If they want to share their design and record their own video, here is what to do (instructions are also on this webpage).

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Click the green plus symbol to get started.

Students will need to log in using their Google or Microsoft password. At least one these accounts is probably already linked to their Catholic Education, Department of Education or independent school email address.

Tap the record button on the bottom to start. If students are using a web browser, they made may need to enable Adobe Flash Player. They can add fun stickers, filters, text, and more.

Review the video – trim, rearrange, or add more.

Take a thumbnail photo for the video. This could be a selfie or a photo of the prototype.

Students can edit their name, video title or attach a link. Then submit! They will get a confirmation email with a link to share with your class. They can also download their video.

You are welcome to visit this grid at any time to see what your students and others have created.

Getting Feedback:Zoos Victoria staff will provide feedback on your students’ information report so they can improve their design. Other people in the Flipgrid might give feedback too. Your student will get an email notification when any feedback is provided.

New to Flipgrid? Here is some support: Student Privacy Pledge – http://blog.flipgrid.com/news/2017/5/19/flipgrid-student-privacy Help Centre – https://help.flipgrid.com/hc/en-us FlipGrid YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/channel/UCaE_edn77lDzCxI3pinKvHg

Thank you for participating in Zoos Victoria’s Education Online.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4

Extra SupportGot a question? Zoos Victoria’s education team is here to help you. Here is how to get extra support:

Teacher Tribe Facebook Group Our Teacher Tribe is a community who use real-world learning to enable young people to thrive as learners and conservation change-makers. Use this Facebook group to share your stories, ideas and resources with zoo staff and teachers from other schools and get support for your teaching.

Teacher Membership and Professional DevelopmentBecome a Teacher Member to receive exclusive access to teacher professional development events, unlimited entry to our three great zoos, the education e-newsletter and all the benefits of a Zoos Victoria membership.

Zoo Education OnlineWant to do another real-world learning unit with your students? Check out Zoo Education Online. We're bringing the zoo to you with learning activities, resources, webinars and live stream animals to help with real-world learning.

Zoos Victoria acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work, and pay our respects to Elders both past and present.

This program is funded by the Department of Education and Training’s Strategic Partnerships Program.

This program is funded by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria.

Love Your Locals – Teaching Guide Understand the Plains-wandererYear 3 – 4