Bushfire-Resistant Housing - Evaluation Phase

Australian curriculum content descriptions: 

Years 7 and 8 Design and Technologies:

• Generate, develop, test and communicate design ideas, plans and processes for various audiences using appropriate technical terms and technologies including graphical representation techniques. (ACTDEP036)
• Select and justify choices of materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to effectively and safely make designed solutions (ACTDEP037)
• Independently develop criteria for success to evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions and their sustainability (ACTDEP038)

Year 7 English:

• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to promote a point of view or enable a new way of seeing (ACELY1720)

Year 8 English:

• Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate (ACELY1736)

Visual Arts:

• Experiment with visual arts conventions and techniques, including exploration of techniques used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, to represent a theme, concept or idea in their artwork (ACAVAM118)
• Practise techniques and processes to enhance representation of ideas in their art-making (ACAVAM121)
• Present artwork demonstrating consideration of how the artwork is displayed to enhance the artist’s intention to an audience (ACAVAM122)

Syllabus outcomes: T4.3.1, T4.3.2, T4.6.1, EN4-4B, VAS4.1, VAS4.3, VAS4.4, VAS4.5, VAS4.2

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Years 7 & 8 Design and Technologies achievement standards: Students explain how social, ethical, technical and sustainability considerations influence the design of innovative and enterprising solutions to meet a range of present and future needs. Students explain a range of needs, opportunities or problems and define them in terms of functional requirements and constraints. Students generate and document in digital and non-digital form, design ideas for different audiences using appropriate technical terms, and graphical representation techniques including algorithms. They develop criteria for success, including innovation and sustainability considerations, and use these to judge the suitability of their ideas, solutions and processes.

Relevant parts of Years 7 English achievement standards: Students make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using language features to engage the audience.

Relevant parts of Year 8 English achievement standards: Students make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using language patterns for effect.

Relevant parts of Years 7 & 8 Visual Arts achievement standards: Students explain how an artwork is displayed to enhance its meaning. They demonstrate use of visual conventions, techniques and processes to communicate meaning in their artworks.

This lesson is part of the wider unit of work Beyond the Bushfires: Bushfire Resistant Housing

Time required: 130 mins

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – Facilitate class discussion, support student thinking, scaffold students through tasks and resources.

Be aware that the Design Process challenges the traditional roles in learning of instructors as the main disseminator of information and students having reduced agency. In this model, the instructor’s task is to challenge students’ pre-conceived ideas, foster their curiosity, pose challenging questions, and provide support and guidance to students as they are self-directed in pursuing knowledge.

• Art supplies – coloured pencils and textas
• Design Document – physical or digital – one copy per student
• Device capable of creating digital work
• Device capable of presenting a video to the class
• Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues factsheet
• Ruler – one per student
• White Paper – A3 Size

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

• Communication
• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Digital literacy
• Enterprise
• Empathy
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Social skills
• Collaboration

In partnership with The Conversation, the Beyond the Bushfires series brings the words of scientists who are actively involved in research and science communication into classrooms throughout Australia. Students will explore evidence-based research embedded in the context of real-world practice.

Additional thanks to the Ian Potter Foundation, John T Reid Charitable Trusts and The Myer Foundation, for generously supporting the development of these lessons.