All+Saints+Term+2

When Term 2 began, students had brought in some images to share with the class. This is still a working process and students are trying to capture as many images or even list down some concerns they may see. We brainstormed some of the meanings of sustainability, biodiversity and climate change. Students have a general idea of what they are but will need more background information and more visual aid (videos) to assist their learning.

Inquiry Learning Project they will be investigating a particular part of sustainability and will be working with a partner on this project. Working with a partner will enhance their communication skills and allocating research, presenting and recording of their findings. Students have been encouraged to collect some newspaper articles that may have anything related to the environment. This is to help them to organize their data and eventually use as part of their investigations.

They will need to be very specific with their questioning to avoid any overlaps within the class. The students will begin their brainstorming of ideas, topics, interests and questions on Thursday 28th, 2010.

Term 2


 * Lesson 1
 * Create a word bank that students will be using for the unit. Use the word bank to provide the meanings of each of the terms. Add to your word bank throughout the year.
 * Brainstorm on butcher’s paper the key words: Sustainability, Biodiversity, Air Pollution, Rubbish Pollution, Climate Change etc. – this is for the background knowledge of the students.
 * Introduce the concept of scrapbooking and how we can record our evidence of research throughout the journey. ||
 * Lesson 2
 * Students create as many questions that they would like to know about the major topics and place them below.
 * Invite students to search for some newspaper articles, magazines or booklets that are related to sustainability or the major topics. Collect and group them into the following: world, state and local. (This will take two Terms)
 * With these articles create a collage and display for the class to view.
 * Look at the world issues and slowly move into the more local issues. ||
 * Lesson 3
 * Invite students to search their local area and local neighbourhood. Encourage them to search for the positive impacts and the negative impacts of the people on our environment. Get them to take photos and list down the places that are of concern or if they have seen some improvements.
 * To add to our collage, students will then write on paper some places that they have seen that have been affected by pollution etc. And write down some suggestions of how we can help that area. E.g. Park – no rubbish bins, lots of pollution, unsafe play area.
 * As a class talk and discuss the most common problems in our local area. ||
 * Lesson 4
 * Have a whole lesson on using wiki spaces and how we are going to use it as a part of recording our journey through technology.
 * Use wiki as a form of communication between the 4 schools and between the research groups in the class.
 * Encourage students to use the discussion pages to share information. ||
 * Lesson 5
 * Students research some of Liverpool’s plants and animals that are endangered in our local area.
 * Encourage students to explore the Liverpool City Council website to see what information they can find on plants and animals in Liverpool, any recent changes to building etc. also any environment groups that may be helpful. ||
 * Lesson 6
 * Students will create a letter to the Leacocks Lane Environmental Group to come out to our school for a visit. On their visit they are to explain their purpose, their roles and how we can help. ||
 * Lesson 7
 * Watch video clip: “The girl who silenced the world”
 * Students take notes of what they have heard from this video clip and what her purpose was to speak in front of all those people in the UN.
 * Ask the students how they feel after watching the video. Have a discussion about some of the issues brought up. ||
 * Lesson 8
 * Introduce the book titled “The Lorax” within Guided Reading program. Students to create posters with mini slogans to help promote the message in the book.
 * Read the book together and talk about each page. (Because it is written in a poem form some students may struggle with understanding). ||
 * Lesson 9
 * Go on an adventure walk with your class around your local area. Explore the Liverpool Memorial, Liverpool Westfields food court, Macquarie St. Mall, Liverpool Railway Station and Bigge Park. You will come across many key issues in the environment, list them and create some solutions.
 * Liverpool Memorial: Plantations, Birds
 * Liverpool Westfields: More recycling bins in the food court areas
 * Macquarie St Mall: Recycling Bins, Graffiti, Local Council Rubbish Bin, Birds, Different Cultures of people
 * Liverpool Railway station: Transport, Recycling, Graffiti
 * Bigge Park: Flora and Fauna, weeds, rubbish bins ||
 * Lesson 10
 * Individually create a factual recount on the day trip and share this with the class. You can create different sections for different groups and create a recount book for the class.
 * Some students may create a story map or a picture map. ||
 * Lesson 11
 * In groups design a questionnaire for students in your school, parents and carers, high school students and local residents to help investigate any common issues within the area. This will get different perspectives from a variety of different age groups. ||
 * Lesson 12 (this will take at least a whole term)
 * Identify 5 local issues in the environment that is common. E.g. Air Pollution, Rubbish Pollution, Endangered Species, Plants and Butterflies and Bats in Liverpool. Students are to do an ongoing research to find out about their chosen issues. ||
 * Lesson 13
 * Split the students into 5 or 6 groups. Encourage them to create emails to send out to organisations.
 * Students are to create a letter to the Liverpool Council to inform them of their project and to ask for any assistance. ||
 * Lesson 14
 * Print out the Liverpool City Council map and explore the area and its boundaries. Print out some more maps from Google maps to magnify some areas. Shade the areas that show waterways and the parks. ||
 * Lesson 15
 * Water Testing – Collect water from the Georges River. The different bugs will determine how clean or dirty the water is in your area.
 * Organise a class excursion to go on this trip to your local river. ||
 * Lesson 16
 * History of Lighthorse Park – talked about the history of the waterways.
 * Students create a letter to the Lighthorse Park Organisation. The purpose of this letter is for this organisation to come and visit the students and give a talk about what their organisation does to help the community. ||
 * Lesson 17
 * The “story of stuff” video is about Air Pollution. It explains how people only use 1% of the goods that they buy. There are only 2/3 of the natural resources.
 * Students discuss what this video was about and share to the class what they found interesting. ||
 * Lesson 18
 * Flora and Fauna – Explain each of the terms; Invasive species, Endangered animals, Aboriginal History and Animal habitats.
 * Create a poster to help promote saving our plants and animals. Post these around the neighbourhood. ||
 * Lesson 19
 * Present the research through a presentation for the class. Students had to take on a character and try to engage the class into their project. The students had to teach the class what they have been learning about. They are to present this in a creative way so that it can be filmed. ||
 * Lesson 20
 * Create a Questionnaire. This is targeted for students, parents, high school students, the general public and business owners.
 * Students created a list of questions according to the 5 issues that they identified within the local area. They answers were an option of neverr, hardly, sometimes, mostly and always. ||