Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part B: Adaptation to Fire
20 minutes	Part C: After the Fire - Flora
20 minutes	Part D: After the Fire - Fauna
60 minutes	Part E: Communication

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by inviting students to complete a THINK PAIR SHARE routine around the following questions, explaining that even if they have no idea they should just have a go (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What is adaptation?
What is an ecosystem?
What is ecosystem regeneration?
What is ecological succession?
What is primary succession?
What is secondary succession?

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.

Step 2.

You can then invite students to share their thoughts with the class. Use the following definitions to guide your discussion:

What is adaptation?
Suggested answer: Adaptation is the process by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment.
What is an ecosystem?
Suggested answer: All the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors found in an area and the way they affect and interact with each other and the environment. Biotic factors include animals, plants and other organisms. Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and water.
What is ecosystem regeneration?
Suggested answer: The ability for an ecosystem to recover from damage.
What is ecological succession?
Suggested answer: Ecological succession is the process of change in an ecosystem over a period of time. This could be over millions of years, or the time it takes for an ecosystem to regenerate after a natural disaster event (such as a flood or fire).
What is primary succession?
Suggested answer: Primary succession is a type of ecological succession which sees plants and animals first colonise a barren, lifeless habitat, eventually growing and evolving into a healthy ecosystem.
What is secondary succession?
Suggested answer: Secondary succession is a type of ecological succession in which plants and animals recolonise an area after a major disturbance, such as a hurricane, flood or bushfire.

Part B: Adaptation to Fire

Step 1.

Now explain to students that bushfires have long been a part of the Australian landscape, and many Australian plants and animals have had to find ways to live with bushfires, developing adaptations to help them survive bushfire events.

Invite students to suggest any adaptations that they know of.

Explain to students that in this next part of the lesson, they will be focusing on plants and the adaptions they have developed to fire.

Invite students to read this factsheet and watch this clip and work independently to identify their own responses to the following prompts (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Three facts about eucalyptus trees and bushfires
Three facts about other plants

Step 2.

Once students have developed answers to these points, students should pair up with a partner to share their responses.

Once complete, take a few minutes to ensure all students understand some of the ways that Australian flora have evolved to live with fire and recover from bushfire events.

Part C: After the Fire - Flora

Step 1.

Explain to students that many of the adaptations to a bushfire that plants have developed relate to what happens after the fire; for example, seed pods are released and germinate in the nutrient-rich ash that has covered the ground.

Students will now work to explore the steps of regeneration that relate to a bushfire affected ecosystem. These steps of regeneration are known as succession.

Project the following image with students and explain that image shows what might happen in an ecosystem in a place where the plants have not had thousands of years to adapt to fire. In other words, the trees and other plants don't depend on fire to reproduce and are not able to withstand a fire. Therefore, much of the vegetation is destroyed. However, this succession model is still useful to show some of the steps of succession (also available here):

Using the image, explain to students that there are generally three stages to success. These are represented as:

Pioneer species - These are the hardy species that first colonise the degraded landscape after an event like a bushfire.
Intermediate species - These are plants like young trees and saplings, shrubs and more grasses.
Climax community - This is when the ecosystem has reached maturity, the trees are at their full height and the ecosystem is stable. This can take many, many years.

You could leave this image in a place where students can refer to it; it will be useful in the next activity.

Step 2.

Break students into groups of three to four students. Give each group a copy of the Succession Worksheet and some butchers paper and marker pens.

Explain to students that they will now work in their groups to create a succession model like the one they just looked at, but instead, they will imagine that the ecosystem they are looking at and that is regenerating after a fire, is in Australia. Remind students that their model may look a little different (i.e. it may feature Australian plants that are still living after the fire).

Ask each group to make a rough drawing of the steps of regeneration. The drawing should include all the steps/information on the factsheet, and students need to consider the sequence of events to ensure the events happen in the correct order.

Students can add labels to their model for clarification, including labels for pioneer species, intermediate species and climax community.

Step 3.

Once complete, invite each group to share their work with the class, or share the following example and invite students to compare and check their work against this image (also available here).

Part D: After the Fire - Fauna

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now look at the animals in these ecosystems. Invite students to read this article and watch this clip and work in their groups to respond to the following prompts (also available on the Student Worksheet - students can discuss their ideas in their groups, however, each student should be responsible for recording their own ideas in their own words):

The two different types of adaptation – which type is most commonly observed in Australian fauna during bushfire events?
What do larger animals do?
What do smaller animals do?
Examples of animals who make the most of a bushfire event.

Step 2.

You can then direct each group to access the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource and ask them to research:

One bird
One mammal
One invertebrate
One reptile

They need to identify what type of food and shelter these animals need, and then add these animals to their drawing, based on when they think the ecosystem could support these animals. Explain to students that this is not about getting it exactly right; instead, it is about understanding the steps of regeneration that are required to return an ecosystem back to stability and health after an event like a bushfire. The aim here is to have a go based on what they have learnt and to justify their decisions based on your research.

Part E: Communication

Finally, students can work in their groups to create a final version of their ecosystem succession drawing. This could be done as a poster, a 3D model, an animation or any other communication form students are interested in.

You could display this work to an audience.

Reflection

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

Do you think people should have a role in helping ecosystems recover after a major event, like a bushfire or a flood? Why or why not?

Explain your answer using references from the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource to support your argument.

Extension - Invasive Species

Step 1.

Now invite students to look at the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource, focusing on the 119 page. Ask students to look through a handful of different species and take note of the actions that scientists suggest are required to ensure the survival of these species. Suggest to students that in many cases, controlling invasive species is highlighted as crucial. Invite students to suggest why this might be the case.

You can then explain the following:

During a bushfire, many animals leave the area to avoid the fire. With the plants all burnt, there is little food for herbivorous animals, and the carnivorous ones have nothing to eat with the herbivores somewhere else. Native plants take a while to regenerate, many being slow-growing and relying on rain to start growing. Many invasive species rely on these gaps in ecosystems to gain a foothold, with plants growing quickly and smothering the native plants. Invasive animals move into the area, preying on native animals who have remained and who may be weak or without their usual habitat protection. They may also eat the new shoots of native seeds that have germinated or the plants that are sending out epicormic shoots.

Step 2.

Give students another piece of butchers paper and invite them to make a rough drawing of what happens if an invasive plant species and an invasive animal species manage to colonise the ecosystem following a bushfire - how does this affect ecosystem regeneration?

Invite students to create a new model/diagram that shows both ecosystem regeneration scenarios:

Without invasive species
With invasive species

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 - Timeline Of Bushfire Recovery

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