Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes – Part A: What Makes Us Care?
30 minutes – Part B: Adoption Profiles
40 minutes – Part C: Evaluations
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: What Makes Us Care?

Step 1.

Begin the class by showing the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Select 'Advanced' to right of the search bar. Then select 'Land Regions - Oceania' (left navigation bar). Scroll down the list to show them the vast amount of organisms on the list (fish, reptiles, mammals, sea creatures, plants).

Step 2.

Now pose the following question to the class and invite them to share their answers through a class discussion:

What do you think of when you hear about threatened or endangered species?

Step 3.

Use an online image search to show the class some different animals (for example, lion, tiger, panda, rhino, orangutan, spider, snake, wasp and moth) and ask them how each image makes them feel (for example, happy, ‘aww’, afraid, disgusted).

Step 4.

Divide the board into two parts and label one part as 'Like' and the other part as 'Dislike'. Take suggestions for the characteristics that make us like an animal or make us dislike an animal. Ask the class why we dislike some animals due to danger (i.e. snake, spider) but we love others because of the danger (i.e. lions and tigers).

Now ask the students if they know of an animal we dislike or like in Australia but other countries or cultures feel the opposite? Some students may have lived overseas or lived as part of another culture and have first-hand insight. For some Australians, the Magpie would be a scary animal because of its swooping habits, but other countries would not view it that way as they haven’t experienced the swooping behaviour first hand.

Step 5.

Hand out the Student Worksheet and invite them to navigate to the first section. Ask them to work independently to respond to the first question:

If you had to choose between saving the panda or a species of spider, which would you save and why?

Once students have had time to record their thoughts, poll the class by asking for hands up: How many would save a spider species, how many would save a panda? Write the data on the board and record some of the reasons why students chose either the panda or the spider.

Step 6.

Invite the class to navigate to the second point on the Student Worksheet. Invite students to form pairs where one person will research the benefits of a spider species (for example, Huntsman or Redback spider) and one will research the benefits of pandas in an ecosystem. They will then compare notes and decide as a pair whether pandas are more or less deserving of being saved than a spider species, based on their importance to the ecosystem.

Once complete, invite students to share their findings with the class, and use the following suggested answers to clarify student understanding:

What are the benefits of the spider species you looked at and what are the benefits of pandas?
Suggested answers: pandas spread bamboo seeds, which then creates more habitat for other animals. Spiders control insect populations and are food for other animals.

Then ask students to raise their hands if they decided pandas were more important to save, then the same again for spiders. Then ask for students to raise their hands if they decided they’re both important.

Step 7.

Now invite the class to work independently to respond to the final point: did your research change your view about spiders or pandas?

Once students have had the chance to respond, invite them to share their thoughts with the class.

Through this process reinforce the key takeaway: Both creatures are important but the majority of people will only care about cute or majestic animals. This is reflected in the amount of funding they receive. This is why organisations, such as WWF, use a panda as their logo, and the media mostly talks about saving koalas, tigers, rhinos and other cute or majestic animals.

Part B: Adoption Profiles

Step 1.

Invite students to form small groups of three to four, and provide each with information about one animal from the Bush Blitz Information Sheet. Explain the activity as follows:

You are the marketing department for a not-for-profit that wants to save animals that aren’t considered cute and cuddly. You must convince the general public to donate money to your animals.
You will be given a subspecies that has been found in Australia by Bush Blitz. In groups of 3-4, you will create a resource that will inform the public about the importance of your animal, why they should care about its survival and why they should donate money to the cause.
You will create either an adoption-style profile or a reality TV contestant-style profile of the animal. Options: You could record a video, make an informative poster, write a press release for a media article, write a story, or create a series of memes.
Be ready to present your profile to your classmates. Your presentation should take no longer than five minutes.
You must include the following information:
- The common name of the species, and scientific name if available (e.g. Hi, I’m Drosophila melanogaster but my friends call me Common Fruit Fly.)
- Use the pictures provided, or draw a cartoon version of the creature. You may wish to share the Bush Blitz Information Sheet with your students.
- The characteristics that make your animal appealing (e.g. looks, adaptations, behaviour)
- The role your animal plays in an ecosystem (e.g. predator, carnivore, decomposer)
- What would happen if your animal disappeared (e.g. effect on food webs)
- Any facts that make your animal extra important - you can be creative here.

If you're short on time and want to make the presentations quicker, get each group to present to one other group, instead of the whole class. Alternatively, you could get them to film their presentation and upload it to a class portal.

Part C: Evaluations

Step 1.

Get the students seated and arranged for the presentations and hand out some sticky notes.

Step 2.

Invite each group to present their profile to their classmates. After each presentation, each student in the audience will write on a sticky note:

One thing the group did well
One thing the group could have improved on - remind students to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

If students are struggling to come up with feedback, you could prompt them with the following areas: preparation, attitude, quality of information, creativity, structure.

Reflection

Invite students to collect the sticky notes at the end of their presentation and individually reflect on the feedback provided using the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is one thing you could have improved on in your research or presentation?
What positive piece of feedback did you most appreciate?
What constructive piece of feedback did you find most helpful?

Differentiated Learning

Extension -

Students could look at organisations such as WWF and see how they ask for funding for a cause. Then they could create a similar web page or article for their Bush Blitz animal.

Provisions for Learning Support –

Some students may need extra time to complete the research and prepare the profile. Allow for this when setting timelines and assigning students to groups. You might find it useful to have students of mixed ability in each group or have a group of students who need extra support and spend more time supporting that group during the activity.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

Backyard Bush Blitz - Adopt An Insect

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