Teacher Preparation

Students will...

... understand what a bushfire is
... recognise some of the causes and impacts of bushfires
... become familiar with the Flora, Fauna, Fire resource.

Students can...

... know and research facts about bushfires
... read, analyse and reflect on bushfire research
... work independently and collaboratively
... create discussion guidelines.

Make the learning intentions and success criteria visible for students throughout this lesson.

Teacher content information:

This lesson uses the Flora, Fauna Fire resource from The Conversation. This resource examines and describes the impacts of the Black Summer bushfires on native flora and fauna species.

Important: Talking about bushfires often involves addressing sensitive issues. Bushfires are innately linked to death and dying, and as such, may evoke strong emotions, opinions, or raise challenging questions about values and beliefs that have no easy answers. What students learn in class may be different to what they hear and see from home and those around them. It is important to handle these issues without reinforcing stereotypes, increasing confusion or raising tension between students.

When talking about sensitive topics, it is important to create a safe and positive classroom environment that encourages participation and cooperation. By helping to create an environment where students are encouraged to act with empathy, students can actively take part in increasing respect and empathy in the classroom and beyond. When using teaching and learning activities from this resource, be mindful of the different learning abilities, maturity levels and personal backgrounds of your students. In particular, efforts should be made to ensure that students feel that they are in a safe learning environment. One of the primary ways of doing this is by setting group rules by establishing a mutually agreed list of sharing guidelines, displaying them in a highly visible place, and encouraging the class to kindly remind each other of the guidelines. These guidelines could include:

Own your ideas by using “I think” rather than “you should”
Respect each other by remembering that each person has their own beliefs and values and their own world views, experiences and opinions
Each person has a right to contribute their ideas so listen politely
Be brave in sharing your ideas, experiences and opinions
Consider the privacy of your classmates and appreciate that everyone has the right to uphold their privacy; this might mean they don’t want to share their ideas or experiences
Share feedback in a way that is considerate and positive: remember to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback.

By helping to create an environment where opinions and perspectives are respected, students are encouraged to actively take part in advancing respect for the rights of others.

Additional Resources

How to talk to your children about Australia's bushfire emergency - Unicef Australia (https://www.unicef.org.au/blog/news-and-insights/january-2020/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-australia-s-bushfires)

Talking to children about bushfires - Victorian Government Health (https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/talking-to-children-about-bushfires)

In cases where students require counselling or support, refer them to assistance from the school counsellor or from one of the organisations listed below.

Kids Helpline
Kids Helpline is a counselling service for Australian children and young people aged between 5 and 25 years.

Website: http://www.kidshelp.com.au/

Phone: 1800 551 800

Headspace
The National Youth Mental Health Foundation provides information and advice for young people going through difficulties through their Headspace centres and online and telephone support services.

Website: https://www.eheadspace.org.au/

Beyond Blue Youth
Beyond Blue Youth has been established to provide information about anxiety, depression and suicide to young people in Australia aged 12–25.

Website: https://www.youthbeyondblue.com/home/

Phone: 1300 22 4636

Lifeline
Lifeline provides 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services.

Website: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Beyond the Bushfires - Tuning In

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