Celebrating Harmony Week: Everyone Belongs

This lesson is an ideal opportunity to celebrate Harmony Week. Harmony Week is a time to celebrate Australian multiculturalism and the successful integration of migrants into our community. The central message is "Everyone Belongs," fostering inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for all Australians, regardless of cultural or linguistic background.

Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

8 minutes

Tune In: The diversity debate

30 minutes

Find Out: Ecosystem web of life & diverse perspectives

25 minutes

Take Action: Designing diverse solutions

Learning intentions and success criteria

Learning intentions

We are learning to understand how biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient and healthy.
We are learning to examine how diverse perspectives, including cultural knowledge, can contribute to scientific responses to environmental issues.

Success criteria

I can explain how biodiversity contributes to the health and resilience of an ecosystem.
I can identify how different cultural perspectives offer valuable insights into addressing environmental challenges.

💡 The diversity debate

Step 1

Display the statement:

“An ecosystem with many different species is always healthier and more resilient than one with only a few.”

Step 2

Instruct students to move to one side of the room if they strongly agree, the other side if they strongly disagree, or the middle if they are unsure.

Step 3

Ask students from each position to briefly explain their reasoning (e.g., "Why did you choose that side?"). Encourage respectful listening and varied opinions.

Step 4

Conclude by affirming that the statement touches on a key scientific concept we will explore today, linking the idea of diversity to strength and resilience.

🔍 Find Out: Ecosystem web of life & diverse perspectives

Step 1

Begin by explicitly defining biodiversity as the variety of all living organisms, from tiny bacteria to massive whales, and the ecosystems they inhabit.

Explicitly define biodiversity as:

The variety of living organisms
The genetic variation within species
The diversity of ecosystems

Clarify that biodiversity supports stability and recovery after disturbance.

Step 2

Introduce the concept of a food web as a model showing how matter and energy flow through an ecosystem. Provide a simple example (e.g., a forest food web with sun, plants, insects, small birds, foxes, fungi). Explain the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Share the diagram below to demonstrate a more complex food web.

Here is a great presentation on Food Webs in Our Country
Here is a great video on Food Webs

Step 3

In small groups, provide each group with cards listing various organisms and abiotic factors from a specific Australian ecosystem (e.g., a coastal marine environment, a desert, a rainforest). Challenge them to collaboratively construct a food web on a large sheet of paper, using arrows to show the flow of energy.

Step 4

Discuss as a class:

What happens if one species is removed from your food web?
How does biodiversity make an ecosystem more resilient?" (Referencing AC9S7U02).
Emphasise that more connections make an ecosystem better able to cope with changes.
Resilience Discussion
Why might simplified ecosystems be more vulnerable? Make explicit links to: Climate change, Habitat destruction, invasive species

Step 5

Transition to how human diversity also strengthens our ability to understand and respond to challenges.

Explain that just as a diverse ecosystem is stronger, diverse human perspectives lead to richer understanding and more effective solutions, especially for complex issues like climate change or environmental management.

Explain that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have developed deep ecological knowledge over tens of thousands of years through continuous connection to Country.

Clarify:

This knowledge is living and evolving
It is place-based
It is science grounded in long-term observation and practice

Introduce the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from First Nations peoples. Explain that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have developed sophisticated understanding of Country and sustainable practices.

Provide specific examples relevant to the students' local or regional area, if possible, and emphasise that this knowledge is living and dynamic.

Examples:

In regions such as the Western Desert, Martu rangers combine satellite mapping with cultural burning practices informed by seasonal knowledge of Country.

These practices:

Reduce fuel loads
Support biodiversity
Protect habitats
Reduce catastrophic wildfire risk

This is an example of collaboration between knowledge systems.

The Koorie people of Victoria use knowledge of seasonal changes (like the flowering of specific plants) to predict the best times for sustainable harvesting and resource management, ensuring the continuation of species and ecosystems. (Referencing AC9S7H03).

Step 7

Facilitate a brief class discussion: "How might incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and other diverse cultural perspectives enhance scientific responses to contemporary environmental issues?"

✨ Take Action: Designing diverse solutions

Step 1

Divide students into small "Environmental Action Teams." Explain that they will choose a local environmental issue (e.g., litter in the schoolyard, water conservation, protecting a local creek) and brainstorm diverse solutions.

Step 2

Instruct each team to consider the issue from three different perspectives:

1. A "Scientific Researcher" focusing on data and ecological impacts.

2. A "Community Member" (representing diverse cultural backgrounds, including a First Nations perspective) focusing on social impact and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

3. A "Local Council Planner" focusing on practical implementation, resources, and community engagement.

Step 3

Challenge teams to design an "Integrated Solution" poster or digital presentation that combines ideas from all three perspectives. Their solution should demonstrate how diverse approaches create a more comprehensive and effective response to the environmental issue.

To deepen their understanding of adaptability, after initial brainstorming, present each team with an unexpected ecological disruption relevant to their chosen issue. This could be the introduction of a new invasive species (e.g., a pest affecting local plants, a new type of weed), a sudden environmental change (e.g., a prolonged drought, a significant flood event), or a resource scarcity.

Teams must then adapt their "Integrated Solution" to address this new threat, explicitly incorporating how their diverse perspectives (scientific, community/TEK, council) help them to respond effectively to the unexpected challenge. For example, if a drought is introduced, how might TEK offer insights into water conservation that scientific data alone might miss, or how could a community member's perspective highlight social impacts of water restrictions?

Step 4

Each team will present their "Integrated Solution" to the class, highlighting how their diverse perspectives led to a stronger, more well-rounded plan, and how they adapted their plan to the unexpected disruption.

🌱 Story of Change: Greening the desert: Indigenous knowledge for a sustainable future

The Martu rangers of the Western Desert combine satellite imagery with Traditional Ecological Knowledge, passed down through generations, to manage their Country. Their controlled burning practices, informed by deep understanding of Country and seasons, aim to prevent destructive wildfires and promote the health of native plants and animals. This blend of ancient wisdom and modern science is not only restoring habitats and supporting native species but also creating sustainable livelihoods and demonstrating the profound value of First Nations leadership in environmental stewardship and fostering resilience.

Assessment opportunities

Observe student participation and reasoning during the "Diversity Debate."
Review group food web models for accurate representation of matter and energy flow.
Listen to group discussions during "Ecosystem Web of Life" for understanding of biodiversity and diverse perspectives.
Evaluate "Designing Diverse Solutions" posters/presentations for demonstrating integrated thinking and incorporating varied viewpoints, including an understanding of the role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Specifically assess how well students adapted their solutions to the introduced ecological disruption, demonstrating critical and creative thinking in response to unforeseen challenges.

Differentiation

Support: Provide pre-filled food web components or partially completed diagrams for students to arrange. Pair students with stronger peers. Offer sentence starters for discussions on diverse perspectives, explicitly including prompts related to TEK. For the "Take Action" activity, provide a more specific disruption with clearer potential impacts or offer a structured template for adapting their solution to the new challenge.

Extension: Challenge students to research and present on a specific example of Traditional Ecological Knowledge being used in environmental management in their state or territory, or to design an experiment to test the resilience of a simplified model ecosystem. For the "Take Action" activity, students could research potential future ecological disruptions (e.g., related to climate change projections) and proactively integrate adaptive strategies into their initial "Integrated Solution."

Extension: Literacy: Students could read an article (e.g., from The Conversation or a reputable environmental website) about a specific environmental challenge in Australia and then write a short paragraph explaining how incorporating diverse cultural viewpoints (including specific examples of TEK) could enhance the proposed solutions. They could then extend this by writing a follow-up paragraph on how these diverse perspectives would help them respond to an unforeseen ecological disruption.

Where to next

This lesson provides a foundation for deeper exploration into specific Australian ecosystems, the impacts of human activities on environments (e.g., climate change, pollution, invasive species), and the scientific methods used to monitor and manage these impacts. Students could also delve further into specific examples of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in action, researching local First Nations groups and their connection to Country and conservation efforts.

Key vocabulary

Abiotic factors: Non-living physical and chemical parts of an ecosystem (e.g., sunlight, water, soil, temperature).
Biodiversity: The variety of all living organisms and the ecosystems they inhabit.
Biotic factors: Living or once-living components of an ecosystem (e.g., plants, animals, fungi).
Ecosystem: A community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with their non-living environment (abiotic).
Food web: A model that shows how matter and energy flow through an ecosystem by illustrating the feeding relationships between different organisms.
Matter: Anything that has mass and takes up space.
Energy: The ability to do work; in ecosystems, it flows from one organism to another through feeding.
Multiculturalism: The presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.
Resilience: The ability of an ecosystem to recover from disturbances or changes.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK): The knowledge, practices, and beliefs about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with their environment, which has accumulated over generations and is passed down through cultural transmission within Indigenous communities. This knowledge is often deeply connected to specific Country and is communicated through stories, ceremonies, and practical application.

This lesson was created by Thea + CoolPlus AI

Celebrating Diversity: The Science of Strong Systems & Societies

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Summary

Learning intentions

Success criteria

Lesson Guides and Printables

Lesson Details

Prior Knowledge

Skills Required

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Information

Related Professional Learning

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