Background information

Learning goals:

This activity has been developed to give children the opportunity to participate in a sustainability audit of their service. This resource includes a range of opportunities through which children can be involved in the auditing process, including observing, recording, counting, naming and mapping. Children are encouraged to think about what their service is already doing, what other actions could be taken and how they can help to implement these actions. By participating in this activity, children will begin to make connections between their own actions and our environment and will recognise the ways that they can help improve the health of our environment through their everyday practices.

Content information for educators -

About sustainability: You may have heard people talking about the word ‘sustainability’. It’s a big word and a big idea. But it’s also a really important idea and we want to help you understand it.

People started talking about sustainability when they started to realise that the way humans were living was harming our environment. While people in the past often lived very closely with our environment (through things like farming or fishing or hunting), it has only been very recently that humans have begun to understand how important our environment is to all life on Earth, including us humans.

We now understand that humans need our environment for almost everything; for fresh air, clean water, food, medicine, and for everything we wear, live in, own and do. This is known as interdependence. And future generations will need it for exactly the same things. How we treat our environment isn’t just about us now; it’s also about the people living in the future. And because we now understand how important our environment is, we need a word to describe how we can all live in a way that causes the least amount of harm to our environment. We need a word to help us think about how we can live in a way that is better for our environment and for people, both now and in the future. And that word is sustainability.

If you’re looking for a simple definition for sustainability, try this one:

Sustainability is about making sure there is enough for our environment and for everyone on Earth, both now and in the future.

About sustainability auditing:

Conducting a sustainability audit helps your service gather information about whether it is embedding sustainable practices into its operations and also supporting children to become responsible and respectful of the environment.

A sustainability audit looks at different themes such as waste, water, energy and biodiversity. You may choose to do each audit individually over a series of sessions. The Early Learning Sustainability Audit also reviews sustainability in your learning programs and how you engage your community.

You can conduct an audit:

Visually – walking around your service to identify the sustainability practices already in place and then observing what is working well or needs improving.
Through conversations – talking to staff, children and families about what is working well or needs improving and about new ideas.
Looking at bills – looking at your service’s waste, water, electricity and gas bills will tell you about resource use. Use this data as a benchmark to measure the savings you make after undertaking different actions.

A sustainability audit helps your service create or refine its environmental strategy. You can use the information from your audit to create an action plan. The data that you collect can also be used as a baseline, to compare any changes and savings that you make in the future.

Definitions:

Biodiversity - Health of an ecosystem eg. plants and animals.
Co-mingled - Mixed waste including cans, paper, glass and plastic.
Ecosystems - How living and non-living things interact in an area.
Flow restrictors - Help to restrict excess water flow from taps.
Indigenous - Comes from a specific area of Australia.
Interdependence - How living things rely on each other for survival.
Mulch - Chopped up plants and trees, spread on a garden.
Native - Comes from Australia.
Wildscapes - Learning in an existing natural environment eg. forest
Electricity - The form of energy generated through the flow of electrons
Renewable Energy - Energy created from fuels that cannot run out (e.g. solar, wind or hydroelectricity).
Energy Conservation - Use of energy in an efficient way so as not to waste it.

New words for children to learn:

Sustainability
Biodiversity
Environment
Energy
Waste
Recycling
Audit

Additional resources:

Activities for children

Preparation:

Print the Early Learning Sustainability Audit. Note - this audit is a Word document to enable you to adjust the content to meet the needs of your service.
Print the Biodiversity Flashcard, Energy Flashcard, Water Flashcard, Waste Flashcard.

Begin by displaying the flashcards to children. Engage children in a discussion around each flashcard, inviting them to identify what they see on the flashcard and to share what they know about the picture on this flashcard.

Next invite children to suggest ways that they are already helping our environment at your service, for example existing recycling programs, growing seeds and planting trees, saving water, switching off the lights at the end of the day, or other programs or actions your service is already doing. Congratulate children on their efforts and explain that together you are going to try and do even more to help our environment.

Access the Early Learning Sustainability Audit and explain to children that together, you need to go on a hunt around your service to find out what things you are already doing to help our environment. When you know what you are already doing, then you will be able to work out what else you can still do and work together to make these things happen.

We suggest you involve children in the audits for biodiversity, energy and air quality, water and waste. The learning programs audit and community engagement audit may be completed separately.

There are a range of ways you could involve children in the auditing process:

Looking - Play ‘Spotto’ or ‘Eye Spy’ while you walk around your service. Before undertaking your audit, take photos of the sites/actions you intend to audit, then print these photos and invite children to identify these sites/actions as you walk around your service.
Recording - Take photos of children at the sites you visit. Use these pictures to engage children in discussion around actions for improving the sustainability of your service or to create a poster recording what you saw/observed to share with parents/guardians.
Counting - Count different items (eg. light bulbs, bins).
Naming - Name and spell different items that you see.
Graphing - Create pictographs based on the data you collect.
Rhyming - Create rhymes based around the sites/actions you are auditing, for example, “Switch off the light when it’s night”, “Just used one side of the paper? Use the other side later”, and “The more flowers we see, the happier the bees.”
Mapping - Create a simple map of your service and mark the locations where you are already taking action or where you could take action.

Once you have completed your audit, display the flashcards to children and invite them to reflect on what your service is already doing for each of the flashcard topics. Then you can begin to suggest actions that you could now take to improve the environmental performance of your service, based on the findings of your audit. Where possible, brainstorm ideas with children on what you could do involve children in any actions you decide upon. These actions could range from actual physical activities - such as planting trees or saving water - to creating materials to support any bigger actions you decide upon - such as creating posters or collages to support the installation of water tanks, solar panels, curtains or insulation.

Provocations:

Biodiversity -

I wonder what biodiversity is?
I wonder why we need biodiversity?
I wonder who/what else needs biodiversity?
I wonder what biodiversity we have in our yard?
I wonder how we can help the biodiversity in our yard?

Energy and Air Quality -

I wonder what energy is?
I wonder what electricity is?
I wonder what we need electricity for?
I wonder where we use electricity in our service? I wonder where we use it inside and outside?
I wonder what we would use if we didn't have electricity?
I wonder if air can be dirty?
I wonder why we need clean air?
I wonder how we can make air clean?

Water -

I wonder what we use water for?
I wonder where we use water at our service?
I wonder where water comes from?
I wonder who/what else needs water?
I wonder where water goes?
I wonder if water is hot or cold?
I wonder what water feels like?

Waste -

I wonder what waste is?
I wonder what it feels/looks/sounds like?
I wonder if we can use waste again?
I wonder where waste comes from?
I wonder how you know when something is waste?
I wonder what happens to waste after it has been put into the rubbish bin?

Possible lines of development:

Biodiversity -

Looking after animals in the garden e.g. build a possum box, bird baths, logs and stones for bugs and small animals.
Identify different bugs and slugs in your yard - Slugs and bugs identification sheet.
Being safe with insects and other animals in the yard (look, don’t touch and wait for an adult to help you!).
Types of birds in the yard - go outside and spend 5 minutes looking for birds.
Listen to the top 40 Australian bird songs - click here. Can you recognise/identify any from their song?
If the animals in your yard could talk, what would they say?
Plant and animal classification (such as birds, insects, mammals, marsupials, flowering plants, annuals, perennials etc.)
Indigenous/cultural connections to plants and animals.
Look at different types of wood - different colours, textures and patterns.
Collect some leaves and seeds from the yard and make a large mosaic on the ground in the yard.
Dig in the garden to find some roots. What else do you find when you dig in the garden?
What colours do trees have? What other things in the garden have these colours?
Is anything living in the trees in your yard? Can you see birds or insects (gently peel away the bark or look under fallen bark)?
Count the trees in your garden. Also consider counting other types of plants, such as shrubs and flowers.
Discuss the image - The whole tree.
Who needs a tree? How do plants and animals use trees?
Role-play a growing tree, from seed to seedling to tree.
Plants in the garden - how do they look, feel and smell? - Use the Plant patterns and shapes flashcards to prompt further discussion.
How animals use plants (food, shelter, nesting).
Food for other animals in the yard - e.g. fruit and seeds for birds, fruit and veggies for possums.
How humans use plants (wood, paper, food, fresh air).
Favourites - what is your favourite tree, bush or flower and why is it your favourite?
Find the wood - take a walk around your service looking for all the things made of wood.
Collect fallen leaves from your yard or neighbourhood, paint them and thread them on some string and create some leaf 'bunting' to hang in your room.
Take a walk around the yard looking at all the natural features: what do they look like, smell like, sound like, feel like?
Explore nature in all weather.

Energy and Air Quality -

Being safe with electricity - why you shouldn’t play with power plugs and switches.
How a light/lamp works.
How a torch works.
Other things that use batteries or electricity.
Circuits and batteries (make a battery using lemons).
Hot and cold - what other things in the room feel warm and cold?
Turning off the lights when we leave the room - we don’t need it on when we’re not there, save the light for when we need it.
Notice different weather conditions and temperatures and discuss ways of keeping cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold that do not need energy (e.g. wearing extra layers of clothes; playing in the shade; keeping doors, windows and curtains closed, etc.)
The sun - what it is and where it is.
Why nature needs sunlight (to give plants energy to grow, so that animals that eat plants can live, and so that animals that eat other animals can live).
How many different types of light are there? For example sunlight, torchlight, moonlight, ceiling light, firelight or candlelight, lightning etc. Use these Energy flashcards to prompt discussion. Talk to children about which types of light are natural and which ones aren’t natural (natural light occurs naturally in nature, artificial lights are those that humans have made).
Food as energy.

Water -

Water safety - being safe with and around water.
Collect water that has not been used to water plants.
What do people use water for?
Drinking clean water - how do you know it’s clean?
Where in our home/service do we find water?
Taking care with hot and cold taps.
What needs water? Ask children to identify things in your service garden that need water.
Explore the difference between sewer and stormwater or natural waterways and pipes.
Explore the different states of water e.g. ice, steam, water.
Things that float or sink.
How things look different when wet: experiment with things in the yard such as wood, grass and pebbles.
Using water to make energy - use this water wheel as a discussion starter.

Waste -

Rubbish safety - never touch rubbish on the ground and never play with rubbish bins. Always wash your hands after playing with rubbish.
Different types of waste disposal: rubbish, recycling, compost, worm, chooks etc.
Watch the waste collection trucks collect the waste, how does the truck work.
Pull apart other items of waste, such as a milk carton or a foil-lined crisp bag.
Where waste goes - investigate waste disposal systems in your area (this video - https://vimeo.com/75277530 - shows how primary school students reduce waste in their classroom and this video - https://vimeo.com/75277529 - looks at aluminium recycling).
What happens to waste when it doesn’t go in the bin (litter).
How long do different types of waste last in the environment - use the Waste breakdown flashcards to find out how long some types of waste last.
Turn waste into something new: Reusing waste activities.
Make a class poster with tips for recycling or saving paper.
Encourage the children to get involved with taking food waste to the worm farm or compost, or the recycling or waste bins.

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Well being	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Repeat your audit annually to see how many changes you have made. Don't forget to celebrate your achievements with children, family and staff!
Model biodiversity-friendly behaviours, such as watering plants, and observing and caring for animals.
Model energy-saving behaviours, such as switching off lights and appliances when not in use, and wearing warm clothes in winter and cool clothes in summer.
Model water-saving behaviours, such as turning off taps, pointing out the half flush toilet, and emptying cups/water bottles on plants.
Model waste-reduction behaviours, such as using the correct bins, taking food scraps home for chooks, and using paper on both sides.
Provide children with the opportunity to connect with the environment using some of the other Early Learning activities from Cool Australia, such as Nature’s Songs, Greener Spaces, Nature Craft, Nature Detective.

Early Childhood Centre Sustainability Audit Template

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