Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: We love Country

15 minutes

Find Out: A history of waste

30 minutes

Take Action: How do we live now?

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions & success criteria

Students will:

understand how First Nations peoples care for Country and use sustainable practices
use questioning skills to identify changes in living.

Students can:

use questioning techniques to predict changes in living
identify changes to Australia’s waste management practices.

Tune In: We love Country

Step 1

Begin by sharing the following story with students, explaining that it tells a story of First Nations peoples experiencing and caring for Country in Lutruwita (Tasmania):

We Love Country - Audio book (youtube.com/watch?v=CxGh83o-bzQ)

Step 2

Draw student attention to the following lines from the end of the story, “our old people looked after this Country, Nanna says that we should too”. Allow students to reflect on this statement before posing the question:

Based on what we know about how First Nations peoples care for Country, what predictions can we make about how they lived prior to colonisation?

You might like to consider the following points in the discussion:

food sources
native resources used for making things like tools, weapons, baskets and other items
waste.

Find Out: A history of waste

Step 1

Distribute or project the Caring for Country Factsheet. Invite students to take turns to read aloud sections of the factsheet.

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion about how their predictions compare to the information presented in this fact sheet. What information in this fact sheet was new or interesting to them?

Step 2

Invite students to think about what questions they may have about the information they’ve learnt from the video and factsheet. Students can write their questions on sticky notes.

Encourage students to construct questions that can’t be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. They could do this by starting with a simple yes/no question and then practising rewriting this question so that it becomes an open-ended question. The teacher can model this activity, for example:

Yes/no question: Did First Nations peoples use compost bins or heaps before the British invasion?
Open-ended question: Before colonisation, how did First Nations peoples get rid of food waste?

Questioning is a key literacy skill that encourages students to actively engage with a topic by seeking clarification and deeper comprehension. By asking questions, students enhance understanding, stimulate curiosity, and stay focused on the content.

Learning support: Provide students with this factsheet to guide them on how to create great questions.

Step 3

Invite students to share the questions they wrote on their sticky notes with the class. Encourage students to consider how they might find the answers to these questions.

Learning extension: Select two or three questions to research as a class, modelling how to identify reliable information online for students. It is recommended that you use First Nations-led or operated websites to ensure the information is accurate and authentic.

Take Action: How do we live now?

Step 1

Invite students to turn and talk to the person next to them, and ask them:

How do we manage our waste now?
How have the ways we manage waste changed since colonisation?

Invite students to share their answers by facilitating a class discussion.

Step 2

Explain to students that they are going to think about how we source food, use materials and dispose of waste. Lead students to the Student Worksheet to respond to the questions. The questions and suggested answers are below:

Where do we get all the things that we eat, live in, wear and use?
Suggested answer: Almost everything we eat, live in and wear has been made out of something by someone else.
If things break or wear out, what do we do with them?
Suggested answer: Most of the time we throw things away, although often we could try to repair, reuse and recycle them or parts of them.
What do we do will our food waste?
Suggested answer: Most of our food waste gets thrown in the bin and sent to landfill. Some food waste goes into compost or worm bins.
Why do you think reducing waste is a great way to help the environment?
Suggested answers: Waste causes pollution in our environment if it is not managed appropriately, and can harm the plants and animals that live there. Waste that goes to landfill is just wasted: it isn’t turned into new reusable products. Food waste in landfills can contribute to climate change.

Learning support: Adjust the number of questions asked and the time to answer questions based on your cohort and the other lessons already completed in this unit.

Step 3

Finally, pose the question to students:

What do you think waste management will look like in the year 2050? Do you think there will be any waste? Why or why not?

Write the questions on a whiteboard, an invite students towork in pairs to brainstorm ideas about future waste management and record their ideas on a piece of butcher’s paper. You could provide the following keywords as prompts:

reduce
repair
reuse
recycle
food waste
plastic waste
glass waste
paper and cardboard waste
aluminium waste.

Step 4

Invite each pair to share their butcher’s paper brainstorm with the class.

Reflection

Invite students to respond to the following through class discussion:

What actions can we take now to have a better waste future?

Doorways to Waste

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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

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