Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
20 minutes – Part B: Scientists and Bushfires
35 minutes – Part C: Could You Be A Scientist?
10 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Preparation:

Open the Interview Questions and print double-sided so that each student has four sets of questions.

Step 1.

Begin the lesson by distributing the Interview Questions sheet to students. Invite students to work independently to answer one set of questions on this sheet. The questions are:

What is science?
What is the scientific method?
What is a scientist?

Once complete, invite students to take the remaining sets of questions and interview three other students from their class and record their answers.

Step 2.

Once complete, invite students to work independently to analyse their answers using the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is similar about these responses?
What is different?
How would you change your own responses following your interviews?

Step 3.

As they are working, create a table with three columns on the board and add each question to its own column. When students are finished analysing their interview responses, work as a class to identify keywords, themes and ideas relating to each question.

You can use the following definitions to guide your discussion:

What is science?
Suggested definition: “Science can be thought of as both a body of knowledge (the things we have already discovered) and the process of acquiring new knowledge (through observation and experimentation—testing and hypothesising). Both knowledge and process are interdependent since the knowledge acquired depends on the questions asked and the methods used to find the answers.” - Source
What is the scientific method?
Suggested answer: The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. The steps of the scientific method can be described as 1. ask a question and do background research, 2. construct a hypothesis, 3. test your hypothesis, 4. analyze your data and draw a conclusion and 5. communicate your results.
What is a scientist?
Suggested answer: A scientist is someone who works in a systematic way to collect and use evidence and research, and who makes hypotheses and tests them in order to acquire and share knowledge. Scientists can be further defined by the way they do their work (e.g. the scientific method), what they're seeking to understand (e.g. the human body or elements of the universe), and where they do their work (e.g. as an ecologist studying the natural world). All scientists are united by their curiosity and a systematic approach to applying it.

Display these definitions or make them accessible for students - they may be useful in Part C of this lesson.

Part B: Scientists and Bushfires

Step 1.

Display the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource from The Conversation. Explain to students that this resource contains research and articles from a range of scientists who work to understand the impacts of bushfires on Australia’s flora and fauna.

Now pose the following question to the class:

How can science be used to help us understand the causes and impacts of bushfires?

Break the class into pairs and invite students to work in their pairs to discuss and record some initial ideas in response to this question in the space provided on the Student Worksheet. You could then ask students to share their thoughts with the class. Through your discussion, explain to students that they will now use this question to guide research into the work that scientists do.

Step 2.

Now ask students to navigate to the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource. They should work in their pairs to explore the resource and identify different types of scientists and the work that they do.

Differentiation: Depending on age, ability, or time available you could adjust the number of articles students analyse. Older students could read through and analyse three or more articles while younger students could focus on one or two.

For each example they find, students should try to find out and record information that helps them answer the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Article name and author/s
What is the field of science that this scientist/s works in? What is the role of this field of science; what does it hope to understand? (Note: You may need to conduct additional research.)
What is the work that this scientist/s does to understand the impact of bushfire? Consider the following and answer where possible:
What species are they looking at?
- What would you say are the guiding questions driving their work?
- What research methods did they use? E.g. experiments, observation
- What did their results tell them?
- Did they make any recommendations? What are they?
How has the work of these scientist/s contributed to your understanding of the impact of bushfires on flora and fauna? You could answer this question by suggesting one or two things that you found interesting or surprising about the article
What is still unclear for you? You could answer this question by suggesting one or two questions that you would still like answered.

Step 3.

Students could work in pairs and then team up to share the results of their research and analyses.

OR

They could work as a class to share findings.

For example:

How many different science roles and fields did you identify?
What were the most interesting fields/roles to you?
What do these articles tell you about the value of scientific research in understanding the impact of bushfires?

Part C: Could You Be A Scientist?

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work independently to put themselves in the shoes of one of the scientists they read about. Ask them to imagine that this scientist needs a break after all the hard work out in the field and needs someone to step into their role. Students need to create a job description for this role.

The job description should include (also available on the Student Worksheet):

A brief overview of the position and why it is being advertised
Information about the scientific field this role is based in
Information about the purpose of the role (what the new candidate will be working to find out, what they are hoping to understand) - you could include a research question or hypothesis here
Requirements for successful candidates, such as:
- Whether this role requires fieldwork or work in a lab or office (or both)
- What research/data collection methods are required?
- Whether they’ll be working independently or as part of a team
- Any challenges they will need to be prepared for.

Students should refer back to the initial article where they read about the work of this scientist to look for clues about the work the new recruit will have to do and any details they think might be relevant to the role.

Students could look at existing job descriptions to get an idea of the type of language to use and the information to include. For example, see here - direct students to the section describing the requirements to be successful.

Students should write or print out their job descriptions.

Step 2.

Place all the job descriptions on a table and invite the class to gather around. Explain that they now need to select one of these descriptions and write an application letter for this role.

Explain to students that in their letters they should (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Explain how they would embrace curiosity in this role and how they would demonstrate this
Think about what skills, knowledge or personal qualities that they have that would give them an advantage in this role
Explain why they would be interested in this position (e.g. I want to help the wider community understand the impact of bushfires on flora and fauna).

Differentiation: Students requiring extension could reflect on what scientific skills they have experience in (providing examples) and include these in their letters. You could also differentiate the length of the letter based on age or ability.

Students should write their application as a letter - you could support students with these letter writing tips.

The letters could be submitted for assessment.

Reflection

Share the following clip with students, explaining that it features the voice of an ecologist/biologist who works with invertebrates (particularly spiders) and who has been studying the impacts of the bushfires on some of the spiders in that area:

Jess Marsh, Kangaroo Island Invertebrate Scientist—The importance of invertebrates (https://vimeo.com/537480061)

Once complete, invite students to work independently to reflect on the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What does this clip tell you about being an ecologist/biologist?
What does it tell you about the opportunities for being a scientist in this field?
What would you like to know more about?

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?

Beyond the Bushfires - Being A Fire Scientist

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