Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Why marine sanctuaries?

15 minutes

Find Out: Protected areas

25 minutes

Take Action: Community viewpoint

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will:

understand the role of people and science in the creation of Australia’s marine protected areas
recognise how marine protected areas help marine biodiversity now and in the future.

Success criteria:

Students can:

understand how important the ocean is in supporting all life on Earth
assess how change over time can be observed and can be used to help inform future decision-making
participate in a role-play exercise.

Preparation

Print enough copies of the Community Profiles and cut out the profiles so that each student has one profile.

Tune In: Why marine sanctuaries?

Step 1

Begin this lesson by watching the following clip as a class. As they watch, ask students to record any thoughts they have about the ocean conservation issues raised by Lucas Handley in this clip:

Marine sanctuaries - (https://vimeo.com/1056609500/dd132507b1)

Once complete, facilitate a discussion around student thoughts. Consider the following questions in your discussion:

What was this clip about?
What issues relating to ocean conservation did you observe in this clip?
Which of these issues are you familiar with?
Do you have any questions about the content of this clip?

Tip: You could record students thoughts and use some of these ideas to guide further discussion or inquiry.

Step 2

Distribute a copy of the Student Worksheet to each student and invite them to use their own words to describe the following terms:

Multi-use areas (suggested definition: an area that can be used for many different activities)
Zones (suggested definition: an area that has a particular feature or characteristic and that has a designated use or purpose)
No harm (suggested definition: activities shouldn't cause any harm or damage to organisms or habitats)
Sustain (suggested definition: strengthen or support)
Replenish (suggested definition: fill something up again or return it to it's former state)
Chance (suggested definition: the possibility of something happening)
Future generations (suggested definition: the people who could be your children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren)

Once complete, invite students to team up with a classmate to share their definitions. Students can then amend their definitions based on their discussion. You could also invite student volunteers to share their definitions with the class, using this as an opportunity to ensure all students understand these key terms.

Find Out: Protected areas

Step 1

Share or display the WWF - Marine Protected Areas - Infographic to students (infographic also available here). Highlight that a Marine Protected Area (MPA) is similar to a marine sanctuary.

Lead students in a class discussion around the following questions:

What information is presented in the infographic?
How might Marine Protected Areas improve the marine habitat and number of marine species within the Marine Protected Area?
How might Marine Protected Areas help coastal communities?

Step 2

Share or display the Map of Australia’s Marine Reserves to students (image also available here).

Work with students to identify all of the different types of zones that are found in the key. While viewing the map facilitate a discussion with students using the following questions:

Why do you think there are different marine categories to the marine reserve network? (Suggested answer: to protect many different marine and coastal habitats.)
Why are they not all in the same area? (Suggested answer: habitat types vary around the coastline of Australia.)
How might Marine Protected Areas help oceans in general? (Suggested answer: Marine Protected Areas offer species whose numbers have been depleted the chance to recover, or may provide juvenile species the chance to mature. This has beneficial knock-on effects on ecosystem health right across the ocean.)

Take Action: Community viewpoint

Step 1

Explain to students that when a marine sanctuary is created, it involves scientists, special interest groups (such as fishers, divers, and boat users) and the wider public. Ecosystem information (data) is collected by marine scientists and the community. The government looks at this information and then defines the area, the level of protection required and eventually approves the recommendation. This process can take many years to complete, but once in plac,e the marine sanctuaries or parks are a positive solution in helping protect our oceans for the future.

Students will now be using their critical thinking skills to explore and develop alternative points of view about how different people are involved in establishing marine sanctuaries.

Step 2

Divide the class into eight groups. Provide each group with one of the Community Profiles. Invite students to read their profile and think about the way the character would respond to the creation of a new marine sanctuary.

Groups should then discuss and complete the following sentence starters according to the profile they have been assigned:

This marine sanctuary is important to me because...
This marine sanctuary could help/harm me by...
I would support this marine sanctuary if...

Note: Students can discuss their ideas in their groups; however each student is responsible for recording their own thoughts in their own words.

Step 3

Organise all of the students to move out of their original group and form new groups of at least 8 people, with each group containing at least one representative of each of the community profiles.

Now inform the students that a local meeting has been called to discuss the formation of a marine sanctuary nearby. In their groups, the students should take turns in discussing this issue from their profile's viewpoint. Encourage the students to listen to each other with only one person speaking at a time.

Each person should share the answers to the sentence starters (completed earlier) from the point of view of the profile they are representing.

After each student has had a turn offering the opinion of their profile, it is time to vote on whether the marine sanctuary should go ahead. Representing their profile, the students need to decide if the marine sanctuary is a good idea by way of an informal vote (i.e. hands up/voting ballot).

Step 4

Bring the students back together and ask how the discussions went at the local meeting. Use these questions to guide students' critical thinking:

Firstly was a group agreement reached? How was this reached?
Did they need more information on the marine sanctuary?
Who in the group would they get this from?
Are there ways that they can work together to find a solution?
Did everyone get their way? Was compromise involved?
Did the marine life have a say? Who represented the marine life?

Reflection

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

How do you feel about the formation of marine sanctuaries?
Have your thoughts changed as a result of the viewpoints discussed?
How do you think marine sanctuaries impact communities? Is it positive or negative or both? Explain your answer:

Assessment

Teachers can use the following items as part of their formative assessment:

Participation in discussions and role play scenario.
Watched a video clip for understanding.
Creating a character profile for the marine sanctuaries activity.
Critical thinking skills about problem solving, collaboration and perspectives.

For summative assessment, visit the Drawing Conclusions lesson: Blue: We Owe The Ocean - Years 5 & 6.

Take it further

Invite students to apply their learning in a real world context by participating in the Social Action lesson: Blue: Ocean Guardians Preventing Plastic Pollution - Social Action - Year 5 & 6.

Blue - Marine Protected Areas

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will:

Success criteria:

Students can:

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson