Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: Bushfires and their effects on the environment and the community.
15 minutes	Part B: Needs and wants
25 minutes	Part C: Design a Recovery Pod
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Bushfires and their effects on the environment and the community.

Step 1.

Ask the students what they know about bushfires, the damage they cause to people and the environment, and how communities react to these tragic events. Ask open-ended questions which can elicit a wide variety of responses.

For example:

What are the effects of bushfires on our communities? Examples might include the loss of homes and lives.
What actions can we take before, during and after this event to look after our community and community members? You might briefly touch on preparations you can make before a bushfire event to secure your home and community, what to do when a bushfire is approaching, and how you might support people after the bushfire has passed.

Step 2.

One thing students should be able to identify is that bushfires can cause people to lose their homes.

Dig into this idea further by asking:

What impact would losing a home pose for people? What challenges might they face? Answers might include the emotional and financial damage, the loss of precious items, as well the long-term challenges of not having access to basic amenities such as somewhere to sleep, wash, cook food, or do their homework.
What can we do to help those who have lost their homes?

Step 3.

Explain that the role of organisations such as Minderoo, The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Disaster Relief Australia is to help people rebuild their lives. The government also contributes.

Step 4.

As a class, discuss what essentials are needed to live a relatively comfortable life. Talk about what amenities they could live not live without, and which ones are more of a luxury and are not necessary in emergency situations.

Check out our lesson How to prepare a survival plan and kit to investigate what you might take with you in an emergency evacuation situation.

Part B: Needs and wants

Step 1.

In small groups, students will think about and discuss what sort of rooms and household items are considered necessary to live a basic life. They can write their ideas on their worksheet.

Prompt students by asking them to identify their needs in the following categories:

Physical needs: You’ll probably want to be able to eat and cook food, wash, and have somewhere to sleep.
Emotional needs: Everyone needs a favourite book or a comforting toy. It’s hard living on just the bare necessities.

Step 2.

Reconvene as a class to discuss these ideas. Students should be able to argue for their ideas. You might need to define what ‘necessary’ means in an emergency situation, such as after a bushfire event.

Students might make changes to their list.

Step 3.

Explain to students that they will be building a model of a Recovery Pod using a shoebox as the outer container. Note that this limits the Recovery Pod to a rectangular shape.

Students then sketch a blueprint of what their recovery pod will look like from a top-down point of view. They can divide their blueprint into sections to make different rooms and add the amenities inside each room. It must be functional, with access to living quarters, access to food and water, communications equipment or any other things they may decide are necessary.

Part C: Design a recovery pod

Step 1.

As a class, go through the materials provided by the teacher and see how they could be used to build rooms or furniture. Encourage learners to think creatively. For example, cardstock can be used to create walls inside the shoebox, aluminium foil can be used to make a mirror, toilet rolls can be used as water tanks, paper cups can be cut to make basins, etc.

Step 2.

Students use the materials to build their Recovery Pods inside the shoebox. They can use scissors to cut the supplies into their desired shapes or cut windows and doors into their shoe box. They can also use the tape and glue to stick things down into their shoe box.

As time may be limited, encourage the students to collaborate and divide up their tasks. For example, one student is in charge of making the furniture and another can cut the windows and doors, etc.

Students should try to stay as close to their original blueprint as possible.

Note: Minderoo place their water tanks and generators outside their Recovery Pods. The students can do the same too. Everything else has to fit inside the Pod.

Step 3.

Students can add small details and decorations to their Pod using pencils and coloured marker pens (e.g. they can add floor tiles to their shoebox by colouring the base of their box, or draw a picture frame on the wall).

Reflection

Step 1.

Groups will report back to the class and give a presentation about what they made, and their thought process behind their Recovery Pod.

What are the essentials needed to live a basic life? Did you include them in your Recovery Pod? Why or why not?
If you had more time to complete your Pod, what other items would you like to include? Is there any way you could better utilise the space you have?
If you could design another Pod, what would you do differently?

Step 2.

Watch some of these videos to show the class how Minderoo design their Recovery Pods, what essentials they manage to fit inside, and the impact they have had on the community.

Recovery Pod Film (https://vimeo.com/460058908/2a619d1b03)

Perth Pods (https://vimeo.com/528637604/4404f91077)

You can learn more about the Minderoo Foundation Recovery Pods here.

Groups can then compare their design to Minderoo’s.

Differentiated learning

Extension

For older groups, the teacher could limit the materials available to make it more challenging. This could also add a sense of realism as companies cannot spend too much money and resources on items which need to be delivered in an emergency.

Expand this activity by creating a small town using Recovery Pods. Ask each group to design a Pod that could serve a function in a community affected by bushfires. For example, ask one group to design a Recovery Pod that can act as a shop, another Pod can be a police station, another one can be a pharmacist or post office etc.

Provisions for learning support

If the teacher foresees that students may find it difficult to think about how to design their Recovery Pods, it would be good to have a class discussion about the items/rooms they have at home and whether those can be considered essential in an emergency. Brainstorm ideas as a class during the introduction and write them down on the whiteboard. Leave these ideas at the front of the class for students to use as a guide or reference during Part B and C.

You may not have the time or materials to build a model Recovery Pod, in which case, just produce a blueprint.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Resilient Australia - What is Needed in a Recovery Pod?

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