Climate Insights from the World's Oldest Culture

Climate Insights from the World's Oldest Culture

Lesson 1 of 7 in this unit

  • Secondary
  • Year 10
  • Science
  • Earth and Space
  • Environmental
  • Climate Change
  • Disaster resilience
  • Social
  • Indigenous Education
  • ...

Lesson summary

As the world experiences a changing climate, what can a country like Australia learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' experiences over millennia? What First Nations knowledges and expertise can help inform Australia's understanding of climate and preparation for disaster resilience? Through a series of case studies, students will explore different climate change events and how people adapted to them.

Learning intentions:

Students will...

  • explore how we know that the climate has changed over the history of the Earth and how people have previously responded to these changes.

Success criteria:

Students can...

  • identify how the climate has changed in Australia and how First Nations peoples have and continue to display resilience to these changes
  • consider how we might apply First Nations peoples’ expert knowledge to Australia's future climate change events.

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Plan
Student Worksheet
Teacher Content Info
Visual Explainer

Curriculum links

Select your curriculum from the options below.

Lesson details

Skills

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

  • critical thinking
  • collaboration
  • communication
  • cultural understanding
  • curiosity
  • ethical understanding
  • intercultural understanding

Curriculum Mapping

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description: 

  • Use models of energy flow between the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere to explain patterns of global climate change. (AC9S10U04)

Relevant parts of Year 10 achievement standards: By the end of Year 10, students describe trends in patterns of global climate change and identify causal factors.

NSW Syllabus outcomes:

  • SC5-ENV-01: Analyses the impact of human activity on the natural world.

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Intercultural Understanding

Cross-curriculum priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and CulturesSustainability 

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium - Guide students with reading, reflecting and analysing articles from different sources.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

UN SDG 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

  • Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

Resources Required

Additional Info

Minderoo Foundation's Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative aims to reduce the harm caused to communities and the environment by fire and flood. It harnesses the collective power of communities, industry, government, philanthropy, and the research sector to lift Australia to be the global leader in fire and flood resilience by 2025. For more information, see Minderoo Foundation’s website.

We would like to acknowledge and express our gratitude for the expertise and advice provided in the creation process of these resources from the following parties.

The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) 

Bhiamie Williamson (Monash University)

Related Professional Learning

How to Teach a Unit on Fire and Flood Resilience

Quick summary: This course will provide a roadmap for how to approach teaching a unit on fire and flood resilience. While primarily focused on fire and flood resilience, it will reference the importance of an all-hazards approach to disaster resilience education.

lesson saved in resources

Save

Download

Share

More from this unit

See all
  • Lesson 2 of 7
  • ...

Perspectives on Flooding

  • Secondary
  • Year 10
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Geography
  • Environmental
  • Climate Change
  • Disaster resilience
  • Land Management
  • Lesson 3 of 7
  • ...

Fire, Floodplains and First Nations Peoples

  • Secondary
  • Year 10
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Geography
  • Environmental
  • Climate Change
  • Disaster resilience
  • Land Management
  • Social
  • Indigenous Education
  • Lesson 4 of 7
  • ...

Building Community Resilience

  • Secondary
  • Year 9
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Civics and Citizenship
  • Environmental
  • Disaster resilience
See all

Related content

Loading content...
Loading content...
Loading content...
Loading content...