Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part B: What Are Your Dreams For The Ocean?
60 minutes	Part C: Dream Artworks
10 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Where students have completed previous lessons in this unit:

Begin by reminding students of the driving question for this unit: How are you connected to the ocean? Invite students to work in pairs to create a table with two columns in their workbooks. In one column they should record keywords that relate to how we need the ocean. In the other column, they should record keywords that relate to how we impact the ocean.
Once complete, students can team up with another pair to share and discuss their ideas.
You can then engage students in a brief class discussion about some of the ways that we are connected to the ocean that they identified.
Then suggest to students that we are connected to the ocean in one more way; through the ways that we care for the ocean. Invite students to suggest what they think or wonder about this, and explain that in this lesson they will start looking at some of the ways different sectors of our society can take action for our oceans.

Where students have not completed previous lessons in this unit:

Begin by posing the following question to students: How are you connected to the ocean? Invite students to suggest ideas before leading them to the conclusion that two of the ways we are connected to the ocean is how we need it and how we impact it.
Invite students to work in pairs to create a table with two columns in their workbooks. They should label one column as ‘NEED’ and the other as ‘IMPACT’. They should then discuss how we need the ocean and record ideas in the relevant column using keywords. They can then discuss some of the ways we impact the ocean and record their ideas in the relevant column, again using keywords.
Once complete, students can team up with another pair to share and discuss their ideas.
You can then engage students in a brief class discussion about some of the ways that we are connected to the ocean that they identified. Clarify the following to students:
.

Some of the ways we need the ocean	Some of the ways we impact the ocean
We need the ocean for fresh air The ocean controls our climate and weather, having a crucially important role in our access to freshwater We need the ocean for food and transport We need the ocean for recreation and leisure The ocean is vitally important to indigenous peoples Many people need the ocean for spiritual reasons	Plastic waste impacts marine environments, including marine animals and plants Pollution runs off the land, harming marine environments Overfishing and harmful fishing practices harm marine animals and environments Climate change is warming our oceans

• OPTIONAL - in this lesson students will be focusing on the issue of plastic waste in our oceans. If you want to deepen student understanding of this topic before the next part of this lesson, consider sharing the following clip: Take 3 - Plastic.
• Then suggest to students that we are connected to the ocean in one more way: through the ways that we care for the ocean. Invite students to suggest what they think or wonder about this, and explain that in this lesson they will start looking at some of the ways different sectors of our society can take action for our oceans.

Part B: What Are Your Dreams For The Ocean?

Step 1.

Pose the following question to students (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How do you feel about plastic waste in our oceans?

Invite students to work independently to record some keywords in response to this question, for example, do they feel hopeful or worried? Upset or unconcerned?

Step 2.

Now share the following clip with students:

https://vimeo.com/451391283/b1f6db132a

Once complete, invite students to suggest any points they found interesting or important or anything they need clarified.

Step 3.

Then draw students' attention to the second half of the clip where the people in the clip talk about their dreams for the ocean. What sorts of dreams do they have?

You can then share the following quotes with the class (also available on the Student Worksheet):

"My hope is that... all of the world will create legislation to ban single-use plastic items." - Sophia Skarparis
"One of the hopes that I have... is that we can influence people to see the impact they're having on the environment with single-use plastic, and hopefully just ban them in general. I don't think they should have a place in society." - Jordan Gacutan
"My dream for the ocean is that it can be abundant once more." - Tim Silverwood
"I want it to return back to the way the old people talked about it... I'm dreaming of... the day that my grannies or my great-great grannies can go back in the ocean and retell those stories but on a personal level coz they see it back to the way it was." - Bruce Waia-Terare
"I want my kids to be able to see a turtle in nature, not just on telly or on a documentary. I want them to be able to come down and see dolphins swimming along the beach, and just nature at its best." - Russ Molony
"I think my dream for the future of the oceans is for everyone to be able to experience it and appreciate it." - Maddison Carbery
"My dream is I want it to return back to the way the old people talk about it. ... I hope that the ocean starts to thrive again, gets that heart beating powerful again." - Bruce Waia-Terare

Engage students in a brief discussion around these dreams before inviting them to work in pairs to compare and contrast the dreams using the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet).

What is similar about these dreams (which ones have similar themes)?
What is different (which ones have starkly different themes)?
Which ones do you like and why?
Which ones don’t appeal to you and why?

Step 4.

Students will now work independently to think of their own dream for the ocean. They can do this by identifying keywords that relate to their dream, and then combining these keywords to make a dream statement using the space on the Student Worksheet.

Some tips for dreaming big
*No idea is a bad idea - sometimes, it's the little ideas that open the way to big dreams.
*Be brave in sharing your dreams
*Don't worry about what's possible - just focus on what you'd like to see.
*Listen with respect to other people's ideas and dreams, and be inspired by others' people's ideas and dreams.

For example, the keywords could be: clean, healthy, future, animals.

Your statement could be: My dream is to have a clean and healthy ocean where marine animals can thrive both now and in the future.

Allow students time to come up with several versions of this statement. They can then choose the statement they are most happy with and share it with a peer for feedback. The aim here is to ensure that the statement makes sense and clearly communicates the author’s dream.

Students can then incorporate feedback and create the final version of their dream statement.

Part C: Dream Artworks

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work independently to create an artwork around their dream statement. The artwork can communicate the message of their statement artistically, or they can embed their statement within their artwork.

You can choose the medium that students work in, or allow students to choose their own. Options could include painting (such as watercolour), collage or sculpture. If students need some inspiration, you could provide them with this link: https://www.littlethings.com/environmental-art-projects/9.

Students should begin by creating a draft version of their artwork. Through this they will need to:

Explain the medium they will use (if not assigned) and why they have chosen this medium
Explain and justify their choice of visual intentions (e.g. technique, choice of medium, colours)
Ensure their message is communicated clearly.

Give students a set amount of time to create their draft, and emphasise that perfection is not important at this stage; instead, it is more important to have fun and to try to communicate your dream.

Step 2.

Once students have created their drafts, invite them to share them with a classmate and to offer feedback using the following tips:

Some tips for providing feedback
*Be kind - it can be hard sharing your ideas with other people so make sure you remain kind and supportive.
*Be specific - be clear about what you think and why. Rather than saying "I like the colours", say something like "I like the way those colouurs help create a mood that supports your message".
*Be helpful - try not to just say what is strong or weak, but also make suggestions about how things could be improved.

Step 3.

Once feedback has been provided, invite students to create their final artwork, incorporating feedback where necessary.

Step 4.

Now inform students that they need to write an artist statement. Explain to students that artist statements are short written statements of the artist’s intention behind their work. In the case of this artwork, the artist statement can be used to emphasise the dream statement within their artwork.

The following prompts (also on the Student Worksheet) will guide students to write their artist statement:

What is the title of your artwork?
What materials did you use?
What is the message behind your work?
What do you want the audience to do differently after seeing your artwork?

Note: Depending on the depth of literacy and artistic expression of your students, you might like to provide them with one or more of the following examples to help them write their artist statement:

How to write an artist statement - The Creative Independent
How to Write an Artist Statement - Format
15+ Artist Statement Examples & Samples
Artist Statement by Ingrid Koivukangas, Environmental Artist
Artist Statement – Environmental Assemblage Art by John Dahlsen
8 Artist Statements We Love - The Art League

Step 5.

Invite students to draft, redraft and create a 'good copy' of their artist statement so that it can be displayed next to their artwork in an exhibition. They could use a computer to publish their final draft.

Part D: Hosting An Exhibition

Step 1.

An important part of real-world learning - such as in this activity - is the opportunity for students to present their learning in a public arena. The main objective of this is that work is presented publicly, thus making it authentic. Consider creating and hosting an exhibition of student work for an audience (such as other students and parents).

Note:

If you completed Take 3 - How Are You Connected To The Ocean? - HASS - Years 4 to 6, you could incorporate materials from the entry event gallery into your exhibit to reinforce the theme of the ocean, the ways we need it and the ways we impact it.
If you are planning on completing the lesson Take 3 - Take Action For The Ocean - HASS - Years 4 to 6, you could delay the exhibition until after this lesson to allow the opportunity for students to also incorporate their communication pieces into the exhibit.

Step 2.

Ask students to make a list of the people from outside of their class that they would like to invite to attend an opening of an exhibition of their work. Guests might include other students, parents, school leadership, representatives from local environment groups or local council representatives.

Step 3.

Agree on the details for the 'opening', such as a title for the exhibition, the date, time and place, then include those details in an invitation. Encourage students to reach out to their potential audience using an agreed-upon method. This could be email, a hand-delivered written invitation or a phone call.

Step 4.

Allow time to hold your exhibition. Following this, invite students to reflect on the success of the exhibition by engaging them in a class discussion around the following questions:

What was the best part about holding an exhibition?
What was challenging?
What could we improve next time?
How successful was our exhibition in communicating our dreams about the ocean?

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to complete the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What part of my artwork do I like the most and why? What are its best features?
What part of my artwork am I most proud of? (Think of technique, choice of medium, colours, etc.)
Why do you think art can be a good way to communicate personal ideas or dreams?

Take Action for the Global Goals

If you'd like to explore further the United Nations Global Goals, consider sharing this poster with the class. You could discuss where to place it around the school with your students, or encourage them to make their own.

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?

Take 3 - My Dream For The Ocean

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