Blue - Ocean Guardians Preventing Plastic Pollution

Australian curriculum content descriptions:

Year 5 & 6 HASS inquiry and skills:

• Work in groups to generate responses to issues and challenges (ACHASSI102, ACHASSI130).
• Use criteria to make decisions and judgements and consider advantages and disadvantages of preferring one decision over others (ACHASSI103, ACHASSI131).
• Reflect on learning to propose personal and/or collective action in response to an issue or challenge, and predict the probable effects (ACHASSI104, ACHASSI132).

Year 5 Science:

• Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE083).

Year 6 Science: 

• Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE100).

Year 5 English:

• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704).

Year 6 English:

• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714).

General capabilities: Critical and creative thinking

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.4, OI.5, OI.7, OI.9

Relevant parts of Year 5 & 6 achievement standards: 

• HASS: Students locate and collect data and information from a range of sources to answer inquiry questions. They work with others to generate alternative responses to an issue or challenge and reflect on their learning to independently propose action, describing the possible effects of their proposed action. Students present their ideas, findings and conclusions in a range of communication forms using discipline-specific terms and appropriate conventions.
• English Year 5: They make presentations which include multimodal elements for defined purposes.
• English Year 6: They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using a variety of strategies for effect.

Unit of work: Blue the Film Inquiry – Years 5 & 6.

Time required: 3.5+ hours.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – lead students in discussion and class activities, oversee group work.

Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

• Target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution.

• Student Worksheet – one copy per student
• Device capable of presenting a website and video to the class
• Student computers
• A3 paper and textas
• Lesson presentation
• “How Might We…?” question poster

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• Collaboration
• Communication
• Community Engagement
• Creativity
• Digital Literacy
• Empathy
• Ethical Understanding
• Global Citizenship
• Initiative
• Leadership
• Problem Solving
• Social Skills

Blue is a feature documentary film charting the drastic decline in the health of our oceans. With more than half of all marine life lost and the expansion of the industrialization of the seas, the film sets out the challenges we are facing and the opportunities for positive change. Blue changes the way we think about our liquid world and inspires the audience to action. Find out how to screen or download the film here. Along with the film is an ambitious global campaign to create advocacy and behaviour change through the #oceanguardian movement. To become an ocean guardian, see the website.

How To Teach Sustainability With Hope

Quick summary: This course is for both primary and secondary teachers of all subjects, but especially for English, Science, Humanities and Geography teachers who are covering climate change and the cross-curriculum priority of sustainability.