Lesson summary
Students will look at the role of humans in threatening wild lion populations. Students will explore how climate change, the illegal wildlife trade, habitat destruction and human-lion conflict are causing a decline in lion numbers and will investigate the conservation actions that can be taken to address these threats.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- understand some of the consequences of human-induced changes to lion habitats
- recognise that actions can be taken to ensure the sustainability of wild lion populations.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- research and explain threats to wild African lions
- develop and pitch ideas for lion conservation.
Lesson guides and printables
Lesson details
Skills
This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:
- critical thinking
- collaboration
- communication
- community engagement
- ethical understanding
Curriculum Mapping
Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description:
Year 10, HASS Geography
- Students learn about the human-induced changes that challenge the sustainability of places and environments (AC9HG10K01)
- Students learn about the environmental world views of people and their implications for environmental management (AC9HG10K02)
Relevant parts of Year 10 achievement standards: Students explain how the interactions of people and environmental processes at different scales change the characteristics of places.
NSW Syllabus outcomes:
A student
- analyses the processes and interactions that transform people, places and environments (GE5-PRI-01)
General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium - facilitate class discussion, oversee group work and support students in creating and delivering a pitch.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.
Resources Required
- device to share presentation and video with the class
- devices for student research
- Student Worksheet (1 per student)
Additional Info
Since Disney released The Lion King, in 1994 and the world fell in love with its story of adventure, friendship, and family on the savanna, Africa has lost half of its lions.
In 2019, Disney released the groundbreaking live-action adaptation of The Lion King and teamed up with the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund and its partners to help bring back lions in the wild. Through this collaboration, Disney and the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund encouraged audiences to “Protect the Pride,” urging fans and wildlife lovers around the world to participate in the conservation of lions and their habitats and help support local people who live alongside lions.
Now, five years later, with the release of Mufasa: The Lion King in theatres on December 19, Disney the Lion Recovery Fund are teaming up again to continue efforts to Protect the Pride, celebrate successes to date, and grow hope for a future where lions and people thrive.
Find out more about how you can Protect the Pride here (disney.com.au/mufasa-the-lion-king-protect-the-pride).
Cool.org would like to extend our thanks to the Lion Recovery Fund and the Zambian Carnivore Programme (zambiacarnivores.org/programme) for their contribution of data, imagery and stories from the field to bring these resources to life. The Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) is a Zambian-registered non-profit organisation dedicated to conserving large carnivores and the ecosystems they reside in through a combination of conservation science, conservation actions, and a comprehensive education and capacity-building effort. We would particularly like to thank PhD candidates Anna Kusler and Johnathan Reyes de Merkle and wish them the best of luck with their continued research.
Related Professional Learning
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.
Welcome back!
Don't have an account yet?
Log in with:
Create your free Cool.org account.
Many of our resources are free, with an option to upgrade to Cool+ for premium content.
Already have an account?
Sign up with:
By signing up you accept Cool.org's Terms and Conditions(Opens in new tab) and Privacy Policy(Opens in new tab).