A Fire Inside - The relationship between bushfires, climate change and the four spheres

Australian curriculum content descriptions:

Years 8 Science:

• Global systems, including the carbon cycle, rely on interactions involving the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere (ACSSU189)
• Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations. (ACSIS208)

Syllabus outcomes: SC5-12ES, SC5-9WS

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability, Literacy, Personal and Social Capability

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Year 8 Science achievement standards: Students describe and analyse interactions and cycles within and between Earth’s spheres

• A device capable of presenting a video to the class
• Post-it notes, whiteboard and markers
• PowerPoint presentation:  A Fire Inside: The Four Spheres
• Student Worksheets – one copy per student

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• Community engagement
• Communication
• Critical thinking
• Global citizenship
• Problem solving      

Before teaching the lessons, ensure you have watched the feature documentary ‘A Fire Inside’, rated MA15+ and have gained approval from parents and guardians before viewing the documentary. 

To view the film you can rent or purchase an online copy from Google Play, Apple TV, Prime Video, or Ritz at home.
Students may develop heightened emotions and discomfort during the film whilst learning about the psychological effects and impact the fires had on animals, people, families, communities, and the country. It is recommended that you direct students to a school counsellor if they require additional support and read through the Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues: Handling Sensitive Topics and Issues.

About the feature documentary - A Fire Inside:
When a volunteer firefighter drives his car to almost certain death, he does it during the worst fires in Australian history because he ‘has a job to do’. Three months later, the fires are out, but his fight is just beginning.

Turning a sensitive lens on the unprecedented devastation of Australia’s 2019/2020 ‘Black Summer’ bushfires; from a country-wide emergency to the astonishing stories of help that emerged, A Fire Inside presents an inspirational look at how people respond to crisis and the impact it has on the human spirit.