Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes	Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
5 minutes	Part B: Transport and Liveability
25 minutes	Part C: Thinking Hats Role Play
10 minutes	Part D: Future Transport Now
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by inviting students to participate in a short warm-up activity around their personal transport use. Move students to an open space (this could be an area cleared of desks in the classroom or could be outside) and invite students to work collaboratively to form groups based on:

The type of transport they used to get to school today (e.g. car, bus, train, bike, walking, etc.).
The number of days in the last week you DIDN’T travel in a car.
The number of cars they have at home.
The type of transport they enjoy the most.
Whether they know what liveability is or not.

Students will need to move around the space and negotiate the groups they are forming with each other. In addition, if students want to discuss or share anything about the groups they form throughout this activity you can encourage them to do so, however, this is not necessary.

Once complete, invite students to return to their desks and explain that in this lesson they will be exploring the relationship between transport and liveability. They will begin by looking at liveability.

Step 2.

Explain to students that when considering opportunities for urban development, town planners and decision makers don’t just think about appearance; they also need to consider making the area liveable. We can assess the liveability of a place using a range of factors. What makes a place liveable is different for different people. People have different criteria or even a different ranking of the same criteria of what makes a place liveable for them.

Break the class into small groups and give each group around 10 sticky notes (or scrap pieces of paper – A4 cut into six or eight pieces is fine). Invite the groups to brainstorm the things that they do not want in the places where they live, explaining that it is often easier for people to say what they don’t like, rather than what they do like. Invite students to add their ideas to the sticky notes, ensuring that they have only one idea per sticky note.

After several minutes, invite students to share their thoughts with the class by adding their sticky notes to the board (use sticky tape if using scrap paper or arrange on a table instead of the board). When all groups have had the chance to share their responses, invite students to:

Share some of the reasons why these things have been named.
Try to group the things in the list into one of the following three categories: cultural, social and physical. Move the sticky notes around as you need. You can also use this image to guide you (this image comes from this clip – consider sharing the clip with students if they need more detail about the concept of liveability).

Step 3.

Next, encourage students to flip their thinking. Suggest students refer to the list on the board to make a new list of things of importance to them that make places liveable. Give groups several minutes to come up with some ideas, again recording them on sticky notes or scrap paper.

Once complete, you can again invite students to:

Share some of the reasons why these things have been named.
Try to group the things in the list into one of the three categories: cultural, social and physical. Move the sticky notes around as you need.

Step 4.

Finally, encourage students to think forward to the year 2040. Explain that the importance of liveability factors vary between individuals, such as older people, and regions such as city/country.

Invite students to suggest which liveability criteria might change for them in the year 2040 and why. What about the year 2060 or 2080? Students can share their ideas in pairs or through class discussion and record these ideas on the board.

If useful, invite students to quickly calculate what their age will be by the year 2040, 2060, 2080.

Part B: Transport and Liveability

Step 1.

Pose the following questions to your class and invite them to respond through class discussion:

When thinking about the factors of liveability in your area, did you think of transport? Why or why not?

Through your discussion suggest to students that transport affects liveability in a number of ways, including allowing us to connect with our friends, family, and community. In addition, we need transport to access goods and services and to bring goods and services to us.

Step 2.

Distribute a copy of the Student Worksheet to each student. Break the class into pairs and invite them to complete a THINK PAIR SHARE routine around the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

When thinking about the factors of liveability in your area, did you think of our environment? Why or why not?
What relationship do you think might exist between transport and our environment in terms of liveability?

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - students independently think about an issue or question and record their thoughts.
Pair - students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

Allow students time to discuss their thoughts in pairs before inviting them to share their ideas with the class. Ensure that students are aware of the following:

Humans have become increasingly reliant on transport options that can cause harm to our environment. One of the main environmental impacts of transport is its contribution to climate change.

NOTE: This lesson doesn't require deep background knowledge of climate change; however, if students are unfamiliar with the concept of climate change and want to know more, consider sharing this clip with students:

2040 – Biodiversity Sketch Password: 2040_EDU (https://vimeo.com/showcase/6167669/video/336498352)

Alternatively, you could distribute copies of the Climate Change Factsheet to students.

Part C: Thinking Hats Role Play

Step 1.

Now, explain to students that they will be exploring the ways transport can affect our environment and our liveability. They will be doing this by participating in a role-play activity. This activity is designed to help students think critically and creatively about the issues associated with transport and liveability. Students will explore issues and potential solutions from a range of different perspectives using a 2040 version of de Bono’s Thinking Hats.

Students are asked to imagine they are characters in a community meeting about transport and liveability in their community. Students will work in groups to play the following roles:

Teenagers
Parents of teenagers
Elderly couple
Young couple
Single professional
Parents of young children

The topic they will be discussing is:

How can our transport choices improve liveability?

Step 2.

Divide the class into six groups. Give each group one printed copy of the Thinking Hats Worksheet and assign them ONE of the profiles on the sheet.

Each profile requires students to practice a thinking style using one of Edward de Bono’s Thinking Hats. The table below shows each profile and the Thinking Hat to be used by students as they adopt that profile. Project and explain this table to the class, using the information provided on the Thinking Hats Worksheet to provide further details about each hat:

Thinking hat	Profile	Focus/Way of thinking
Red	Parents of young children	Intuition and emotion
Green	Parents of teenagers	Creativity and alternatives
Yellow	Teenagers	Positives and benefits
Blue	Single professional	Process and control
White	Young couple	Facts and figures
Black	Elderly couple	Negatives and caution

Once complete, invite students to access the Thinking Hats activity on the Student Worksheet. Using the questions provided, allow 10 minutes of research, reading, discussion and note-making time in groups. Each student should note their group's answers and ideas on their own worksheet.

Step 3.

Reconvene the class and have each group share their answers and ideas through role-play. Each group member may speak, or there may be one spokesperson per group. Facilitate a discussion based on the ideas and viewpoints presented. Encourage debate and rebuttal between groups but emphasise the importance of finding solutions and compromises. As a class, think about specific scenarios that will keep the discussion flowing.

Example: By removing parking spaces in town we could improve bike lanes.
Possible discussion points for this scenario: This might mean that businesses struggle to attract customers. Empty shops don’t make for happy towns!

Throughout the role-play process, invite students to add notes and thoughts relating to the role-play to their worksheets.

Step 4.

Once complete, invite each group to work together to briefly discuss the notes or thoughts they had in response to the role-play and to again consider the question:

How can our transport choices improve liveability?

Through their discussion invite students to consider:

What ideas have changed?
What new ideas have we had?

Part D: Future Transport Now

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now explore different types of transport and will think about which types of transport provide the best liveability and why.

Break the class into groups of 3 or 4 students. Each group needs to create a mind-map based on the following three points:

Each group should then select the type of transport that they think provides the best liveability. Working together they need to discuss the reasons for this selection and record their responses (in bullet points).

Invite students to share their ideas with the class, stating their case for the type of transport they selected.

Step 2.

Now, invite students to think about what changes could we make to the types of transport that we currently use to improve liveability. This might mean that we think about new forms of transport or even futuristic types of transport. These forms of transport might look quite different from what we have now.

If your class need a little help thinking about a better transport future consider showing them this clip of some younger students from around the world, 2040 Children Transport Password: 2040EDU

Share the following clip with students, explaining that it comes from the 2040 documentary.

As they watch invite students to record anything they observe that relates to liveability or sustainability.

2040 – Future Transport Password: 2040_EDU

Step 3.

Invite students to move back into the groups they were in for the previous activity (Part C). Explain that each group now needs to assess the transport featured in the 2040 clip using the same liveability factors they used earlier. Using the Student Worksheet, students should rate each factor on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = poor and 10 = excellent. Students should also provide a justification for each rating.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to consider the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How do your own transport choices relate to how you experience the liveability of your area?

Students should write one or two paragraphs describing their response to this question.

Take It Further

To expand on student's learning in this lesson, consider following up with this lesson; 2040 Vision For Your Community. The class could also explore solutions to transport issues in more detail using the 2040 website.

The 2040 team have created a range of clips specifically for use in geography classrooms. Access the whole package of 2040 Geography clips at the following link, Secondary GEOGRAPHY Portfolio Password: 2040GEO

Extension - Field Work

Explain to students that many ‘futuristic’ transport options are already up and running in Australia. Students could plan, carry out, analyse, present and draw conclusions about the transport options that are already available in their community. If these transport options were widely adopted, how might these affect liveability?

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

What's Your 2040?

Record your students' work in their communities with the hashtag #whatsyour2040 and share their visions in the '2040: The Regeneration' Facebook Group.

The 2040 crew would love to see your class's work.

2040 - Transport and Liveability

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