Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes	Part B: Article Analysis
20 minutes	Part C: Developing A Set Of Arguments
30 minutes	Part D: Running Your Debate
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by sharing the following clip from War On Waste with students. As they watch, invite them to record anything they find important or interesting. View on iTunes or Enhance TV:

Episode 1, The Battle Continues - 3:13 to 7:46

Once complete, invite students to share their observations about this clip through class discussion. You could also use the following questions to engage students more deeply in the content of this clip:

In this clip we find out that globally, only 9% of the plastic waste ever created has been recycled (12% has been incinerated and the other 79% is in landfills and our environment); what does this make you think or wonder about?
In Australia we recently had a recycling crisis; what do you know about this crisis?
Suggested answer: Australia has been sending its recyclable waste overseas for recycling. However, in 2018, China – one of the main recipients of our waste – decided to stop importing our waste. This meant the waste had to be dealt with here. The problem is that we didn’t have the facilities to treat our waste and the recyclable waste started to pile up and much of this recyclable waste had to be sent to landfill instead of recycled.

Step 2.

Now explain to students that in this lesson they will be analysing a current news article about waste and then participating in a class debate about the article (or elements of it). As part of this process they will be developing their skills of persuasion by looking at the persuasive techniques used in the article and employing persuasive techniques in the debate.

Note: If students are unfamiliar with or need revision on persuasive techniques and language, distribute a copy of the Persuasive Language Handout. You could then read through each of the techniques listed and invite students to ask any clarifying questions. Students should be encouraged to make additional notes about these techniques on the handout.

Part B: Article Analysis

If time allows, you could ask students to find a recent article about plastic waste to analyse. Direct them to a news website, such as ABC News, The Guardian, The Australian, The Conversation, or any major online newspapers in your state or territory. Alternatively, use this News Article.

Step 1.

Distribute one copy of the article to each student and invite them to work independently to read through the article. Once complete, engage students in a brief class discussion to ensure students understand the content and context of the article (such as what it is about, where it is set, who the article is about, what is the history of this story). Explain that they will be analysing the article in depth in the next part of the lesson.

Step 2.

Break the class into pairs and distribute one copy of the Student Worksheet to each student explaining that they should work in their pairs to analyse the article. Working collaboratively they should discuss and answer the following question, with each student recording their answers in their own words (questions also available on the Student Worksheet):

ANALYSIS

Summarise this article in 30 words or less.
Describe the key messages of this article.
What persuasive techniques have been used in this article? List the argument and the technique used.
What information presented in this article is contentious or disputed by those featured in this article? Provide justification.
What is the author’s point of view on the content of the article? How can you tell?

REFLECTION

How does this article remind you of what you already knew about this topic?
What information in this article is new to you?
Do you agree with the messages presented in this article? Why or why not?
How do you feel about this article?
What questions do you have about this article?

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to share their thoughts with the class through a class discussion. Use this time to clarify any concerns students have.

Step 4.

Still working as a class, ask students to suggest what kinds of issues are presented in this lesson that could be used in a debate; what issues could be presented as having two clear, opposing stances. For example:

Some people might suggest that it’s actually up to the people who create the waste (such as the producers who make products and the consumers who buy them) to be creating less waste, and that it shouldn’t be up to governments to find ways to dispose of it.
Waste that is shipped to Indonesia provides some of the people who live there with a livelihood, so you could argue that shipping waste there is actually helping Indonesian people.
The waste crisis is so serious that governments should do whatever they can to address plastic waste, even if that means shipping it to other countries; it’s better than waste being left to pollute our environment.

Part C: Developing A Set Of Arguments

Step 1.

Now explain to students that they will be using the information they read in a class debate.

The first step in this process is to define the topic of the debate. The teacher could choose the debate topic based on the news article students have read, or students could work to develop the debate topic as a class. You could do this by reflecting on what issues students identified as contentious or disputed within the article itself or in the way students responded to the article. You could frame your debate topic as either a question or statement. In the case of the issues suggested earlier these could be refined as a debate topic or question in the following ways:

Issue identified in the article	Debate topic	Debate question
Some people might suggest that it’s actually up to the people who create the waste (such as the producers who make products and the consumers who buy them) to be creating less waste, and that it shouldn’t be up to governments to find ways to dispose of it.	Producers and consumers should be creating less waste, not leaving it to governments to find ways to dispose of it.	Should governments be trying to find better ways to treat waste or should producers and consumers be trying to create less waste?
Waste that is shipped to Indonesia provides some of the people who live there with a livelihood, so you could argue that shipping waste there is actually helping Indonesian people.	Waste provides people in Indonesia with a livelihood so shipping waste there is actually helping them and helping us.	Does shipping waste to other countries really create ways for people in those countries to earn a living, or does it just contribute to the waste crisis in those countries?
The waste crisis is so serious that governments should do whatever they can to address plastic waste, even if that means shipping it to other countries; it’s better than waste being left to pollute our environment.	Governments should do whatever they can to address plastic waste, even if that means shipping it overseas.	Is it better for our government to do whatever it takes to treat waste, even if that means sending it overseas?

Note: If you choose to create a question, consider using this Generating Questions Factsheet.

Step 2.

Once you have chosen your debate question or statement, write it on the board.

On the board create three columns. Label these columns as ‘AFFIRMATIVE’, ‘NEGATIVE’ and ‘NEUTRAL’ – the ‘NEUTRAL’ column can be used for any students who don’t want to engage in the debate. These students will form the panel that the two debating teams will present their arguments to. This means the teacher/instructor can stay focused on facilitating the debate.

Invite students to approach the board and add their name to the column representing the side of the debate they wish to join. Each team needs at least three speakers and additional team members to provide supporting notes and materials to speakers throughout the debate.

Invite students representing the ‘AFFIRMATIVE’ to move to one side of the room, the ‘NEGATIVE’ students to the other side of the room and the ‘NEUTRAL’ panellists to the front of the classroom.

Step 3.

Students will now need to develop their lines of argument for the debate. In order to do this, they will need to develop their powers of persuasion. Refer students to the Persuasive Language Handout.

Students representing NEUTRAL should be encouraged to create a checklist/assessment tool that can be used to assess the debate teams. This Debate Assessment Rubric could be used as a guide.

Step 4.

Now invite students to return to their groups and to begin brainstorming ideas on the arguments they could present in the debate and what persuasive techniques they could use to present these arguments. Students could brainstorm ideas on a piece of butcher’s paper, with each student adding suggestions to the paper and being inspired by what other students are suggesting.

Give students five to ten minutes to develop some ideas. They could then begin refining their ideas and building their arguments. Explain to students that the basic process here is that they present an idea and then provide a justification for that idea. Remind students to think about the persuasive techniques that might be best for each line of argument, and to test these ideas on each other.

Students may also need to conduct further research in support of their arguments; when conducting research online remind students of the Online Search Strategies.

Part D: Running Your Debate

Step 1.

Use these Debate Guidelines to conduct your debate.

Step 2.

Following your debate, you could invite students to share their thoughts about the debate, including:

What worked well in the debate? How was it successful?
What would you do next time to improve the debate?
How did participating in or listening to the debate influence thoughts and opinions about the topic being debated?

Extension: You could also watch the following clip from War On Waste, which explains more about the recycling crisis and our government’s response to this crisis. View on iTunes or Enhance TV:

Episode 3, The Battle Continues - 8:55 to 11:53

Reflection

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

Have your thoughts or opinions about the article changed through the course of this lesson? Explain your answer.
What has this lesson made you think about?
How has it made you feel?
What is still challenging for you about this topic?
What questions do you now have about this topic?

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

War On Waste - The News About Plastic Waste

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